Protesters affiliated with several leftist groups, including the People’s Action Institute, flooded a Capitol Hill office building in Washington on Wednesday as the House prepared to vote on the “big, beautiful” budget bill backed by President Donald Trump.
Capitol Police have responded to several protests over Medicaid cuts that disrupted activities in Capitol office buildings over the last several weeks.
On Wednesday, protesters affiliated with the People’s Action Institute shut down a hallway in the Longworth House Office Building as part of a protest against cuts to Medicaid in the budget bill.
In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, protesters could be seen blocking a hallway and shouting, “We got the power,” while raising their fists. Many protesters held signs reading “Medicaid Cuts Kill.”
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Capitol Police quickly cleared the protesters from the building; there appeared to be no arrests.
Democrats have been shining a spotlight on portions of the budget bill that restructure Medicaid, the nearly 60-year-old federal government program that provides health insurance for roughly 71 million adults and children with limited income.
The cuts to Medicaid, being drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump’s 2017 tax cut law that is set to expire this year, include a slew of new rules and regulatory requirements for those seeking coverage. Among them are a new set of work requirements for many of those seeking coverage.
Wednesday’s protest was not the only one that has disrupted activity in the Capitol office buildings this month. Fox News Digital reported on Medicaid protesters disrupting a budget markup by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on May 13.
Video taken by Fox News Digital of the protests showed Capitol Police attempting to gain control of the situation, shouting repeatedly, “If you’re not getting arrested, then go!”
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The video also shows a woman in a wheelchair being removed from the committee chamber while screaming, “They want to kill the disabled, they want to kill the sick, they want to kill the veterans who have fought for us.”
Amid the chaos, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spurred on the crowds, saying, “Keep fighting, stay strong, we’re not going to let them take away healthcare. You are leading the way. Thank you very much.”
In response to criticism about disrupting activity in the congressional office buildings, Unai Montes-Irueste, a spokesperson for the People’s Action Institute, told Fox News Digital that “Medicaid cuts kill. Nothing is more disruptive than death.”
Montes-Irueste said “there is no congressional district in the country that supports ripping healthcare coverage away from Medicaid recipients so that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg can buy new yachts.”
Despite the accusations that Republicans want to cut Medicaid, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital this month that “Republicans are ending waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid so the most vulnerable get the care they need.”
Hudson said that “Democrats are lying to protect a broken status quo that lets illegal immigrants siphon off billions meant for American families. We’re strengthening Medicaid for future generations by protecting taxpayers and restoring integrity.”
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the budget bill sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the timing dependent on passage of a rules resolution from the House Rules Committee.
