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Republicans praise ‘big, beautiful bill’s’ work requirement for Medicaid: ‘We’ve got to get back to work’
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While Democrats predict major problems with a provision within the «one big, beautiful bill» that adds a work requirement for adults to be eligible for Medicaid, Republican senators are praising the requirement, saying, «We’ve got to get back to work.»
The provision requires able-bodied, childless adults between the ages of 18 and 64 to work at least 80 hours a month to be eligible to receive Medicaid benefits. Individuals can also meet the requirement by participating in community service, going to school or engaging in a work program.
«We have folks back home right now harvesting wheat that are working 20 hours in a day,» Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital. «We want you to go to college, we want to volunteer, work 20 hours a week, it brings dignity, it brings purpose to your lives. Work is a great thing; it’s nothing to be ashamed of.»
«Seven million healthy American men out there of working age are not working right now,» Marshall continued. «We happen to have seven million open jobs as well. I think I want to do everything I can to help those seven million men find a job. Whether that’s through an education or community colleges, technical colleges, I think there’s lots of opportunity out there.»
MIKE JOHNSON TOUTS ‘BEAUTY OF UNIFIED GOVERNMENT’ AFTER TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ SAILS THROUGH CONGRESS
From left to right, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images | Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said «the disincentives to work are a real problem here in America.»
«It’s amazing that Democrats are trying to make this argument,» he said. «I don’t think that taxpayers should be footing the bill at all for able-bodied citizens. And certainly, non-citizens should not be getting the benefit of this.»
«We need to incentivize work,» Hagerty went on. «And certainly, you don’t want to be incentivizing a burden on taxpayers.»
«We’ve got to take care of the people that need to be taken care of and it’s just unfortunate you’ve got a lot of freeloaders in this country,» said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE THE SENATE’S VERSION OF TRUMP’S BILL
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, speaks to members of the media outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York on Monday, May 13, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Tuberville claimed that many of those he deemed as freeloaders «are coming from the younger ranks because they’ve grown up, they’ve got all these student loans, they got a degree that’s not worth anything, they can’t get a job or they don’t want to work and so the way they’ve done they’ve turned into socialists, they started living off the government.»
«We can’t have that. We’ve got to get back to work. This country is built on hard work,» he said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he also agrees with the work requirement, telling Fox News Digital that «quite honestly, what we’re trying to do is stop enrollment in that Obamacare addition to Medicaid.»
«They call it Medicaid expansion, but it’s Obamcare. It was Democrats’ way of trying to turn us into a single-payer system. And so, it incentivized the states to sign up single able-bodied individuals,» he claimed.
TREASURY SECRETARY PREDICTS UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH WITH TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) speaks to reporters on Feb. 12, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
«As a result,» he went on. «We’ve created all kinds of [what] I would call legalized fraud on the part of states … Now that they’ve designed their budgets around that scam, now they’re screaming when we’re trying to end the scam.»
Additionally, while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., expressed that «of course, we should always eliminate any kind of fraud and that kind of a waste,» other Democrats were much less enthusiastic about the work requirement.
«That provision is not designed for efficiency or to save people money that provision is designed to kick people off of Medicaid, like don’t believe the hype,» said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
Murphy claimed that Republicans «have built a work requirement that they know people won’t be able to satisfy because they hate the idea that Medicaid actually helps the working poor in this country.»
«So, there’s going to be a whole bunch of people who work for a living who are not going to be able to comply with those provisions and are going to lose their healthcare, even though they’re working,» he said. «That’s the intent of the provision and everybody should just be honest about that.»
HAKEEM JEFFRIES BREAKS KEVIN MCCARTHY RECORD WHILE STALLING TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., indicated that the provision will «kick 17 million people off of health insurance.» (Eric Lee/Bloomberg)
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., indicated that the provision will «kick 17 million people off of health insurance.»
«These are life and death situations that people are making,» he said, adding, «This legislation is going to kick 300,000 of my constituents off of their health care coverage.»
«These are people that I’ve spoken to that can’t afford it,» he continued. «They have no money in their budget to go and buy health care. So, then they got to make a decision between eating and their rent, or they just don’t go to the doctor.»
James Agresti, president of Just Facts, a public policy research institute, told Fox News Digital that despite Democrats’ claims about the work requirements, he believes reality tells a different story.
«The notion that able-bodied adults without young children cannot work, get an education, or volunteer for 20 hours a week is absurd,» he said.
AMERICANS WEIGH IN ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’: POLLS
U.S. Capitol Building at sunset on Jan. 30, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
«Murphy’s rhetoric is refuted by decades of experience with other welfare programs that have work requirements, like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,» he explained.
Agresti said that according to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 1.4 million noncitizens and 9.2 million able-bodied adults who won’t work or are engaged in fraud will be removed from Medicaid eligibility.
A spokesperson for Kelly’s office told Fox News Digital that «a bunch of actual experts and media outlets correctly interpreting that same CBO report» estimate that 11.8 million people will be without health insurance by 2034 because of the provision, plus an additional 5.1 million because of the bill ending expanded Affordable Care Act credits.
In response, Agresti said the bill «doesn’t revoke the expanded Obamacare subsidies, which were a temporary COVID-era handout that Democrats enacted in the American Rescue Plan and extended in the Inflation Reduction Act.»
«Even the New York Times has reported that adding these numbers into the tally for the big, beautiful bill ‘is an exaggeration’ and not ‘the real number,’» said Agresti.
He also said that numerous studies have proven that the disincentive to work is a real problem in America.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON RECEIVES STANDING OVATIONS DURING ADDRESS PRIOR TO HOUSE VOTE ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’
Vice President JD Vance, center, arrives during a vote-a-rama at the U.S. Capitol on July 1, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
«Even Lawrence Summers, Obama’s chief economist and Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, has written that ‘government assistance programs’ provide ‘an incentive, and the means, not to work,’» he said.
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Murphy’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
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President Donald Trump delivered a sweeping to-do list to Congress during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, urging lawmakers seven separate times to take action on priorities ranging from drug pricing and border security to crime and housing policy.
Codify «Trump Rx» Prescription Drug Pricing
Trump urged Congress to enshrine his «Most-Favored-Nation» drug pricing policy into law as part of his «Trump Rx» initiative. The policy aims to tie U.S. prescription drug prices to the lowest prices paid by other developed nations.
Earlier this month, his administration launched the TrumpRx website, a federal platform designed to allow Americans to search for select brand-name medications and access lower negotiated prices.
The site stems from agreements the White House said in December it reached with nine major pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi and Bristol Myers Squibb. It lists dozens of high-cost drugs offered at discount prices to treat conditions such as diabetes, asthma, HIV, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
A page on the TrumpRx site is displayed on Feb. 9, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Despite suggesting it would be politically difficult to reverse the policy, Trump told lawmakers to «codify it anyway.»
Make Ban on Wall Street Home Purchases Permanent
After highlighting the story of a Houston mother outbid on 20 homes by investment firms, Trump asked Congress to make permanent his executive order banning large Wall Street-backed firms from buying single-family homes in bulk. «We want homes for people, not for corporations,» he said.
Pass the «Stop Insider Trading Act»
While outlining retirement policy changes and pledging to protect Social Security and Medicare, Trump pivoted to ethics reform, calling on lawmakers to «pass the ‘Stop Insider Trading Act’ without delay.»
The measure would ban members of Congress from buying individual stocks and require advance public notice before sales.
TRUMP TAKES JAB AT PELOSI BY NAME OVER HISTORY OF CONTROVERSIAL STOCK TRADING
Lawmakers attend the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., who introduced the bill, told FOX Business in January, «If you want to trade stocks you should go to Wall Street, not to Capitol Hill. I think we have an opportunity here to dramatically improve America’s trust in Congress.»
Pass the «Dalilah Law»
Following the story of a young girl seriously injured in a crash involving an illegal immigrant truck driver, Trump called on Congress to pass what he dubbed the «Dalilah Law,» barring states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to people in the country illegally.
«Dalilah Coleman was only 5 years old in June 2024 when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer plowed into her stopped car, traveling at 60 miles an hour or more,» Trump said. «The driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver’s license by open borders politicians in California.»
Coleman’s father said the crash left her in a coma for three weeks and required six months of hospital treatment before her family could bring her home.
Restore Border and Homeland Security Funding
Trump accused Democrats of cutting off funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is currently operating under a partial shutdown after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a funding bill.
He demanded the «full and immediate restoration» of border and homeland security funding, framing it as essential to protecting Americans from crime and terrorism.
DHS TOUTS ‘MOST SECURE BORDER’ IN US HISTORY AMID DEPARTURE OF NEARLY 3M ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
President Donald Trump speaks during the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
End Sanctuary Cities
The president also urged lawmakers to end so-called sanctuary city policies, calling for «serious penalties» against public officials who block the removal of criminal illegal immigrants.
«They’re blocking the removal of these people out of our country. And you should be ashamed of yourself,» Trump told Democrats to loud Republican cheers.
ICE ARRESTS CONVICTED PEDOPHILES, VIOLENT ASSAILANTS AS TRUMP MEETS WITH ANGEL FAMILIES
President Donald Trump leaves after delivering the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Pass Tougher Laws for Repeat Offenders
Closing his legislative appeals, Trump asked Congress to pass stricter sentencing laws to ensure «violent and dangerous repeat offenders are put behind bars — and, importantly, that they stay there.»
He cited the death of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, who was stabbed to death on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August.
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«Iryna was riding home on the train when a deranged monster who had been arrested over a dozen times and was released through no cash bail, stood up and viciously slashed a knife through her neck and body. No one will ever forget there were people on that train,» Trump said. «No one will ever forget the expression of terror on Iryna’s face as she looked up at her attacker in the last seconds of her life. She died instantly. She had escaped a brutal war, only to be slain by a hardened criminal set free to kill in America.»
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Ukraine to meet Trump envoys ahead of high-stakes Geneva talks with Russia as war enters fifth year
Russia-Ukraine war enters fifth year
Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss the start of the fifth year in the war between Russia and Ukraine, the impact it has had on both countries and the ongoing efforts to negotiate peace.
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Representatives from Ukraine and the U.S. are reportedly set to meet ahead of high-stakes trilateral talks in Geneva that will include Russian envoys. The report about the meeting comes just after the Russia-Ukraine war entered its fifth year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters about the Thursday U.S.-Ukraine meeting, The Associated Press reported. The Ukrainian leader reportedly said that Thursday’s meeting would focus on the possibility of post-war recovery for Ukraine as well as preparations for an upcoming trilateral meeting with Russia, according to the AP.
The meeting is expected to involve Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Secretary, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to the AP, which cited Zelenskyy. Additionally, Umerov’s press secretary Diana Davytian told the AP that the meeting would take place in Geneva. The outlet noted that the Swiss city is also expected to be the site of U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations on the same day as the trilateral talks.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during their meeting at the sidelines of the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Zelenskyy said that he had tasked Umerov with discussing a possible prisoner exchange, the AP reported. He added that Ukraine would like the talks with Russia to take place next week.
The Trump administration’s push to end the years-long war has brought Russian and Ukrainian envoys to the table in both Abu Dhabi and Geneva, though the meetings have yet to produce a breakthrough for peace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have both met separately with President Donald Trump. Despite a peace deal agreement being close, territorial disputes remain, Zelenskyy said. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP; Christian Bruna/Getty)
PUTIN PUTS ‘NUCLEAR TRIAD’ ON FAST TRACK, ZELENSKYY CLAIMS ‘WORLD WAR 3’ UNDERWAY
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X that he had met with Zelenskyy and discussed «Ukraine’s security and deepening defense and economic partnerships.»
«President Trump wants a solution that ends the bloodshed once and for all,» Rubio wrote.
Additionally, last week, Zelenskyy said that he spoke with Witkoff and Kushner ahead of the trilateral meetings in Geneva, which he said the Ukrainian government expects to be «truly productive.»
«We also discussed some developments following the meetings in Abu Dhabi. Not everything can be shared over the phone, and our negotiating team will present Ukraine’s position next week. I also spoke about our meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. We greatly appreciate that America consistently maintains a constructive approach and is ready to assist in protecting lives,» Zelenskyy wrote on X. «I thank President Trump, his team, and the people of the United States for their support.»
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the U.S. gave Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to end the war. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images; Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Kristina Solovyova / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
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On Tuesday, which was the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy stood firm, saying that Putin had not defeated Ukraine nor broken the country’s spirit. The statement came as Ukrainian forces made the biggest gains since 2024, according to the AP, which cited the Institute for the Study of War. The institute noted that Ukranian forces have pushed back on Russia’s army at points along the front line in eastern areas of the country.
The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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