Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia recently posted on X to express his anger, writing, “We can’t lose sight of this. Our President cut health care, cancer research, and food for hungry families. And then turned around to spend billions on war.” His statement comes as Republican lawmakers look at major cuts to federal health spending to fund President Trump’s military operations in Iran, known as “Operation Epic Fury.”
The war, now in its fifth week, has already seen thousands of U.S. troops sent to the region. To help fund a budget bill that could reach $200 billion, top House Republicans are considering big changes to existing healthcare programs, Axios reports. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise confirmed these plans, saying lawmakers are looking at “fraud and waste and abuse” as part of their review.
One key proposal would cut health insurance subsidies for lower-income Americans. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington of Texas is pushing a plan to take back over $30 billion by reducing the help people get to pay their monthly premiums. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that this change would leave an additional 300,000 Americans without health insurance.
Democrats are pushing back hard as military spending rises and healthcare takes the hit
While average premiums might look like they drop by around 11 percent on paper, the reduced financial help would mean those savings would be invisible to the people who need them most. Beyond healthcare, these cuts are also meant to increase funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has become a key issue in the current partial government shutdown. Arrington wants the legislation passed within “60 to 90 days.”
However, getting it through Congress will not be easy. Scalise acknowledged the need to “put the vote coalition together,” hinting at possible resistance from moderate Republicans. Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska admitted, “I mean, I really don’t know what they’re gonna do. I think Speaker Mike Johnson will be smart.”
Democrats have strongly opposed the proposal. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote on social media, “Republicans in Congress want to cut Americans’ health care to pay for more war in Iran. Let that sink in.” Polling from the Pew Research Center shows that around 61 percent of Americans disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the conflict, with only 37 percent expressing approval. Many prominent voices outside of politics have also been speaking out against Trump’s decisions.
The military conflict is growing. Scalise refused to rule out sending ground troops into Iran, telling reporters, “We’re having a lot of conversations about what could happen next.” Thousands of U.S. ground troops, including Special Operations forces like Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, along with Marines and Army paratroopers, are already gathering across the Middle East.
Potential missions include forcing the Strait of Hormuz back open, seizing Iran’s oil depots on Kharg Island, and removing the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium. President Trump has publicly considered taking Kharg Island, though he admitted that any such operation “would also mean we had to be there for a while.”
According to the Atlanta Civic Circle, Warnock recently joined thousands of Georgians at the third Atlanta No Kings rally, one of more than 3,000 protests worldwide that drew 8 million people across the U.S. During his speech, he stated, “In this moral moment in America, in this defining season, we the people determine what kind of country we intend to be.”
He also criticized “Donald Trump’s version of ICE” and the “so-called SAVE Act,” saying he spent time “all week fighting Donald Trump, tooth and nail, on the SAVE Act” on the Senate floor.
Warnock pointed out that ICE’s budget, at $75 billion, is larger than the Marines and all federal law enforcement agencies combined, including the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Marshals Service. He declared, “I will not vote to give ICE another single dime!” He also said he believes President Trump “intends to use ICE as his own private army to do his bidding, to make him king, but he is not a king. This is our land; it belongs to we the people.”
Warnock is not alone in this view, as critics warning Trump is not a monarch have been growing in number. On the SAVE Act, Warnock said it “is not about saving our democracy. It’s about saving their power at all costs,” calling it a form of voter suppression targeting women, poor people, young people, and rural communities.
Published: Apr 1, 2026 06:37 am