House Speaker Mike Johnson and Elon Musk have given Americans a preview of the sweeping changes a potential Trump presidency could bring to healthcare and government spending. Speaking in Pennsylvania, Johnson vowed “massive” healthcare reform in Trump’s first 100 days if elected, promising a major overhaul to address issues he says were created by Obamacare. Johnson emphasized that healthcare reform would be a critical priority, signaling a commitment to reshaping America’s healthcare system as part of an aggressive legislative agenda.
Elon Musk, who Trump has promised would oversee government “efficiency,” offered a stark perspective on the broader fiscal impacts, predicting a period of “temporary hardship” for Americans under Trump’s plan to address the national debt. In a recent virtual town hall, Musk outlined that tackling this issue would require tax code changes and major spending cuts, which may impact Americans financially in the short term. He argues that these sacrifices are essential for “long-term prosperity,” implying a significant reconfiguration of government spending aimed at reducing the deficit.
The message each men want Americans to expect from a potential second Donald Trump presidency is simple: expect to suffer.
Instead of seeking to reduce health care costs, Trump’s healthcare policy proposals (as outlined in Project 2025) would have the opposite effect: they would cut back on medical care for those who can least afford it, increase prescription drug costs, and leave more people without health insurance. Lifetime healthcare caps, or time limits, would be implemented on Medicaid. It would require states to implement stricter eligibility determinations for Medicaid, leaving many needy people without coverage. The Center for American Progress (CAP) put it, “Project 2025’s Medicaid proposal is a threat to the health and economic security of millions of Americans. Stripping people of their Medicaid benefits would leave many low-income enrollees … without any affordable coverage options, forcing them to forgo essential medical care and undermining their ability to work.” Also, health insurance companies will be able deny coverage based on preexisting conditions, leave tens of millions of people without health coverage, restrict women’s access to contraception, make it harder for women to access no-cost emergency contraception, and eliminate any forms of arbortion access by criminalizing abortion outlined under the Comstock Act.
Elon Musk claims he can save at least $2 trillion from the federal budget and laid out a vision of substantial spending cuts. At Sunday’s MAGA rally in New York if he (Musk) is placed in charge of government efficiency, as planned, he can cut “at least $2 trillion” from the current federal budget. To achieve this, writer Brett Arends stated the government would have to cut 85% of all spending on highways, disaster relief, federal bank-deposit insurance and the departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security and Justice; close all U.S. embassies; and abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, NASA and nearly all welfare, income-support, food-stamp and childhood-nutrition programs. Or, the plan is to cut Social Security and Medicare, despite Trump’s promises to the contrary.
Arends further notes, that according to U.S. Treasury data, Social Security ($1.46 trillion), Medicare ($874 billion), debt interest ($882 billion), defense ($874 billion) and veterans ($325 billion) account for $4.4 trillion, or account for 65%, of this year’s $6.75 trillion federal budget. That leaves $2.35 trillion for everything else, from which Musk proposes to cut “at least” $2 trillion, or 85%. Thus, say goodbye, departments of Justice, State, Homeland Security and Agriculture. Goodbye to the Small Business Administration, NASA and the National Institutes of Health. Goodbye to the Food and Drug Administration. Goodbye to farm income support. Goodbye to the national parks. Goodbye to Secret Service protection, for the president or anyone else. You can also say goodbye to all Medicaid (apart from nursing homes and home healthcare), food stamps, WIC and obvious conservative targets like the Education Department.
Still want Trump?