Harrisburg, Pa. (AP) – The newly shaped US representative Rob Bres Nahhan swore that he would not support that the state advantages like Medicaid leave the inhabitants of his northeastern district in Pennsylvania.
Then the Republican voted in the first Republican for a law that could do that.
Bresahn and two other Republicans in Pennsylvania won in November by some of the smallest margins of the entire congress, which prevailed in a critical battlefield state that not only contributed to the decision of the presidency, but also supported the GOP in checking the US house.
Bresnahhan, newcomer Ryan Mackenzie and Rep. Scott Perry, now navigates the sensitive policy of a shared electorate, this time in the first weeks of the second term of President Donald Trump when he makes economic selection decisions.
This includes tariffs for raw materials such as steel and aluminum, the release of federal workers, the replacement of German offices and finally to urge voices about budget legislation that are expected to require significant cuts against Medicaid and other programs in Pennsylvania.
There is no time to hide: Mackenzie already pulled a democratic challenger in 2026, and rumors about challengers to Breschane, who tries to reconcile loyalty to the Republican President with the needs of his voters.
Before the budget budget of the past Tuesday evening, Bresnahhan had said that he would vote against a bill that “the advantages that my neighbors are dependent on”.
“These advantages are promises that have been made to people (northeastern Pennsylvania) and where I come from, people keep their word,” said Breschan in an explanation.
Bresnahhan then agreed for a GOP blueprint, which forms the patterns of $ 2 trillion for over $ 10 years. Democrats and many analysts say that medical care for medicaid, medical care and long -term care for around 72 million people covers nationwide, inevitably needs a mighty cuts for medicaid.
He played the vote and said it was a “process -related” step to start the budget negotiations and did not contradict his previous position.
“I will fight to protect families of the working class in the northeast of Pennsylvania and to stand with President Trump to meet Medicaid,” said Bresnahan in a statement. “My position has and will not change.”
Trump insisted that he will not touch Medicare, Medicaid and Social Insurance Programs and will only reduce waste and fraud. The Republican legislator insists that Medicaid will not have any direct cuts in health care.
Nursing home operators are careful, also in the neighboring districts, which are represented by Mackenzie and Breschan on the eastern border of Pennsylvania, where the municipalities are still trying to recover from the disappearance of the coal and steel industry that they have built.
There and in Perry’s South Central district of Pennsylvania, many fear devastating financing, which is cut after years of scratch after years of scratching, and they doubt that there are still a lot of undiscovered waste and fraud.
“It is definitely a very hot topic for us, 100%,” said Mary Kay McMahon, President and CEO of the non -profit scholarship community, which runs a nursing home outside of Allentown in Mackenzie’s district.
McMahon estimated that Medicaid covers around 35% to 40% of the costs for the care of an experienced nursing patient, and a medicaid shortening could force the community of scholarships to sell the service or to eliminate beds.
“There are very few options left to be honest, and I don’t know where these people will take care of this care,” said McMahon. “That is what concerns me.”
Jim Brogna, Vice President of Allied Services Integrated Health Systems, a non -profit organization that operates three nursing homes in the district of Breschane, said that the representatives had met with the employees of Bresnahhan to urge him not to support Medicaid.
Any reduction in the program would mean cuts in services, said Brogna.
The operators of nursing home promoted Pennsylvania for Medicaid interest rate increases to manage their costs, and Brogna said that the prospect of less federal financing was at a time when nursing homes close their doors or eliminate beds.
Bresnahhan did not answer an interview request from the Associated Press. He also did not answer an email from Chris Chesek, which was motivated by the release of five employees at the Steamtown National Historic Site to organize his first rally.
Last Saturday, “Save Steamtown” rally moved dozens of downtown Scranton and for Chesek: Steamtown, the Scranton’s rise as a railway and cabbage recipient in the 1900s, is like a second home in which the Rangers fascinated the fascination of his 10-year-old son with steam engines.
“Steamtown is an integral part of Scranton’s economy, it brings people from all over the country and the world,” said Chesek.
The Times tribune of Scranton’s editorial side repeated this feeling and decrypted Trump’s “stubborn, indiscriminately upgrading of federal expenses”.
A mighty concentration of federal employees also houses a mighty concentration in Bresnahan’s district, possibly a sensitive place, since Trump for large-scale layoffs of federal workers-80% of which are based outside the Washington region.
Most of the federal employees in Bresnahan’s district district work in military-related installations, including in the Scranton Army ammunition work, where they forge 155 mm-haubitzer shells that support Ukraine ward off the Russian invasion, and Tobyhanna Army Depot, one of the largest employers in the region.
“At the moment there are many people of pencils and needles,” said Bill Cockerill, a Labor connection to the local AFL CIO Council of Scranton. “Nothing has been hit so far, but they just don’t know when the shoe will fall.”
Rumors circulate about who could challenge Bresnahhan. The developer headed a family construction company before defeating the Six-Term Democratic MP Matt Cartwright, who said he was considering running again in the 2026 election.
Mackenzie, a former legislator of the state who defeated the three-time democratic MP Susan Wild, pulled an opponent barely 48 hours after the coordination for the budgetary budget law when the two-term executive by Northampton County, Democrat Lamont McClure, announced his candidacy.
In a statement, Mackenzie described the budget vote as a “starting point”, which does not make a specific reference to Medicaid and said that if the program occurs in negotiations, he would “fight for waste, fraud and abuse of the system and protect services for those you need”.
In his press conference on Thursday in the courthouse of Northampton County, McClure did not hesitate to link this legislation with Mackenzie.
Mackenzie’s first instinct to go to Washington consisted of “intestinal” health care for thousands in the district, said McClure: “At a time when people are most concerned about the costs of health care and access to health care.”
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Follow Marc Levy on X at: https://x.com/timelywriter.
