>> It's been two months since Donald Trump signed
into law his big, beautiful bill. And while the cuts to
Medicaid included in the bill don't take effect
until 2027, Democrats are already sounding the alarm
on the overall impact. Joining us now is U.S.
Senator Tammy Baldwin. Thanks for joining us.
>> Thanks for having me. >> So you've been touring
the state to talk with providers and patients
about these cuts. What are you hearing?
en visiting critical access hospitals
in rural areas of the state. Their margins were thin to
begin with before the passage of this. Now
they're looking at heartbreaking decisions
about perhaps closing off certain departments because
they are not profitable, and to help them stay
afloat. And some we know in Wisconsin will be looking
at shutting their doors, particularly troublesome is
the decision some hospitals have made to stop having
obstetrics delivery, meaning that there are
places in Wisconsin where women have to travel
literally hours to get the services they need. And
it's harming the health and well-being of Wisconsin.
And it's not just one small example. You know, there
were big nutrition cuts in the bill. And so visiting
food pantries and those who are focused on food
security and recognizing the impact that those cuts
are going to have. And we also deal with an issue of
the premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act health
coverage. Those will end at the end of this year, and
we're going to see those impacts almost immediately.
All of us are going to pay more. And what's so ironic?
You know, this is Trump's signature legislation. He
came into office vowing to lower costs on everything.
Right. Groceries, but health care, etc. this bill
that has just passed, which is predominantly tax
legislation benefiting large corporations and the
very richest, it's going to bring costs up for everyone
and especially health care costs.
>> Republicans claim the bill only creates work
requirements for Medicaid. It doesn't push anybody off.
>> You can't cut $1 trillion out of Medicaid
over ten years without kicking people off who are
eligible. And that's what we're going to see
happening. But again, the Affordable Care Act tax
credits expire at the end of this year. We're going
to see a lot of Wisconsinites losing access
to private insurance through the health care
marketplace much sooner than the impacts of the
Medicaid cuts. >> Now, yesterday, we saw
the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert
Kennedy, RFK, Jr. testify before a Senate committee
about his decision to fire the CDC director, among
other things, that he's done. There's a growing
list of Democrats and organizations calling for
him to be fired or resign. Are you on that list?
>> I am among them. I call on him to resign. Look,
between his massive layoffs, mass firings, and his
refusal to administer grants that he's required
by law, and the cutting off of biomedical research
and his choice to put his own personal politics on
vaccines above science is literally endangering the
health of Wisconsinites who I represent. And I would
not only call on him to resign, but I'd call on my
Republican counterparts, many of whom got assurances
directly from RFK Jr that he would not put his own
conspiracy theories ahead of rock solid science as
he's doing. And they feel betrayed. I think, by by
RFK Jr. And I hope they'll stand up with me calling on
him to resign. >> Speaking of vaccines, we
saw Florida announced they're moving to eliminate
vaccine requirements. We have a measles outbreak in
Oconto County in Wisconsin. How do you draw the line
between vaccine mandates or requirements and personal
health care choices that some people make of whether
or not to vaccinate themselves or their
children? >> Well, first of all, I
feel that it would be incredibly unwise to start
having a patchwork quilt of state regulations on these.
We need to follow the science, and there is rock
solid science that, like the measles vaccine work,
and they prevent outbreaks like we've seen not only in
Wisconsin but in Texas, where two children have
died unnecessarily. And so I think that these
decisions do have to be made by parents in
consultation with their ors. But science needs
to be in the lead here. And RFK Jr has spent his career
prior to getting nominated as as Health and Human
Services secretary, peddling in these
conspiracy theories about vaccines. And so it's very
dangerous to have him at the helm right now.
>> Switching from health care. Earlier this week,
the president of the Milwaukee Police Union said
he'd be okay with Donald Trump deploying National
Guard troops to Milwaukee to Republicans running for
governor of Wisconsin have joined that call. Would you
support troops in Milwaukee? >> Look, what I support is
safety and cracking down on crime. And I think that,
you know, the the National Guard are totally unsuited.
They sign up for guard duty because of a different
mission entirely. And we should be spending those
resources helping cities like Milwaukee or other
communities have the adequate policing staff
that they need. >> There are a lot of
Democratic voters around the state that are
frustrated with Democrats in Washington saying they
haven't done enough to stand up to Donald Trump.
What would you tell them? What what is being done
that maybe they aren't seeing? Or is it more that
could be done? >> Look, I think that we
have seen in this president somebody who is willing to
violate the Constitution, violate the law, and where
the the president is breaking the law and
violating the Constitution. We're bringing this up in
court. And frankly, we're winning a lot of those
cases. The justice system is working in many of these
instances. And then lastly, it's us standing with our
constituents and fighting back through, through, you
know, preparing for elections in the ballot box,
but also to stand up as citizens and speak out
against the overreaches and against the overreaches and