Fraud and Waste Mike Johnson

Appearing on Sunday's Meet the Press, House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about imprisoned sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, accomplice of the late Jeffrey Epstein. Of course, he did a tough on law and order bit, remarking

If you're asking my opinion, I think 20 years was a pittance. I think she should have a life sentence at least. I mean, think of all these unspeakable crimes. And as you noted earlier, probably 1,000 victims. I mean, you know, this is, it's hard to put into words how evil this was. And that she orchestrated it and was a big part of it, at least under the criminal sanction, I think is an unforgivable thing.

Of course, he also left himself maximum flexibility on the issue, having stated a moment earlier "Well, I mean, obviously that's a decision of the President. He said he had not adequately considered that.  I won't get in front of him. That's not my lane." After host Kristen Welker followed up, Johnson added "so again, not my decision...."

Look for the Speaker to be upfront defending the President when Trump ultimately extends a measure of leniency to Maxwell because Johnson is so far up Donald Trump's rear end that.... (You finish the punch line.)

Still, the Epstein saga is a scandal not for the House of Representatives but for the White House and the Justice Department, who are working a strategy to pin any blame for the crimes of Epstein's best friend not on that best friend but on Democrats. However, the House leader does bear considerable responsibility for the disastrous impact the Administration's recently enacted megabill will have on the American people.

 

WELKER: Why would Josh Hawley introduce a bill to roll back cuts in Medicaid if there are not cuts in Medicaid? He says the people in his state are going to suffer

MIKE JOHNSON: I will tell you that the one big beautiful bill safeguards the program pic.twitter.com/ikT8XeVxB4

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2025

Welker led off with

Two more critical topics to get to with you, Mr. Speaker. Let's talk about what has been called the Big Beautiful Bill. In June, you told me the bill would not cut Medicaid. But two Republican senators ultimately voted against it because of what they thought were cuts to Medicaid. And Senator Josh Hawley is already out proposing legislation to actually roll back some of the Medicaid cuts that he just voted for. Did the Medicaid cuts go too far, Mr. Speaker?

Oh, dear Lord. Why must the mainstream media, most of whose members (Welker among them) left-of-center, consistently adopt Republican messaging? Call it President Trump's, or the Administration's, or the Republican megabill of tax-and-spending bill. "Big Beautiful Bill" is obviously Trump's branding, an effort to manipulate the media, which was eager to accommodate him.

Johnson replied

The bill does not cut Medicaid. The One Big Beautiful Bill does not cut Medicaid. What it does is strengthen the program. And we talked about this, Kristen, is that the problem is there's a high degree of fraud, waste and abuse in that program. I'm talking about 10s of billions of dollars every year. What we did is we went in to go in and fix that.

He followed with fourteen sentences, none of which answered the question. But when in doubt, simply say "fraud, waste, and abuse," even though fraudsters would be prosecuted and abuse can mean anything in the world, though its most direct and accurate application is to violence against a member of a family and/or household, as in domestic abuse.

In early July, NPR reviewed the likely impact of the cuts Johnson says will "strengthen the program" and explained

The deepest cuts to health care spending come from a proposed Medicaid work requirement, which is expected to end coverage for millions of enrollees who do not meet new employment or reporting standards.

In 40 states and Washington, D.C., all of which have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, some Medicaid enrollees will have to regularly file paperwork proving that they are working, volunteering, or attending school at least 80 hours a month, or that they qualify for an exemption, such as caring for a young child. The new requirement will start as early as January 2027.

The bill's requirement doesn't apply to people in the 10 largely GOP-led states that have not expanded Medicaid to nondisabled adults.

Health researchers say the policy will have little impact on employment. Most working-age Medicaid enrollees who don't receive disability benefits already work or are looking for work, or are unable to do so because they have a disability, attend school, or care for a family member, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

State experiments with work requirements have been plagued with administrative issues, such as eligible enrollees' losing coverage over paperwork problems, and budget overruns. Georgia's work requirement, which officially launched in July 2023, has cost more than $90 million, with only $26 million of that spent on health benefits, according to the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization.

 "The hidden costs are astronomical," said Chima Ndumele, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health.

Briefly: Onerous reporting requirements will result in many millions of Americans losing their health coverage, in a country in which "(54%) of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level."

Additionally, "belt-tightening that targets states could translate into fewer health services, medical professionals, and even hospitals, especially in rural communities." As in will translate. And Affordable Care Act

marketplace policyholders will be required to update their income, immigration status, and other information each year, rather than be allowed to automatically reenroll — something more than 10 million people did this year. They'll also have less time to enroll; the bill shortens the annual open enrollment period by about a month.

That is to "strengthen the program" in a country in which a majority of Americans read no better than does an 11-year old.

Co-pays will increase for many Medicaid enrollees in states which have expanded Medicaid, thus discouraging individuals from seeking primary care. More people will get sick, then get help only when their situation is dire, boosting overall health care costs. 

Welker then asked

Josh Hawley says he is worried about cuts to payments and Medicaid reimbursements. Why would he be introducing a bill to roll back cuts to Medicaid if there were no cuts to Medicaid? He says the people in his state are going to suffer.

And Johnson responded

I haven't talked to my friend Josh Hawley about his legalization. I'm not sure what that's directed to. But I will tell you that the One Big Beautiful Bill safeguards the program. It strengthens it.

The Speaker responded with seven more sentences in which the question was not answered. However, the accurate answer would be: as he opined in The New York Times, "slashing health insurance for the working poor" would be "both morally wrong and politically suicidal."  That was in May, a few week before Hawley voted for the bill 

The "strengthens the program" or "safeguard the program," applied to Medicaid, is a chapter in the old GOP playbook. It is a variation- a slight variation- of the argument Republicans have invoked against Medicare and Social Security in which they promise to "preserve and protect" what they term "entitlement programs," i.e., Social Security and Medicare.

Mike Johnson once defended President Trump by rationalizing "Yeah, he may be breaking the rules but he's doing it where I can see it. So who cares?" That may be naivete about someone who is involved in a herculean effort to hide the report detailing his sexual and economic involvement with arguably the most prolific pedophiles ever. Or it may reflect on the Speaker's disdain for rules when it suits him. He's not the very worst thing the modern Republican Party is giving the country but he deserves (dis)honorable mention.

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