It's the Brian Laira show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. First up on the show today,

a health and climate Tuesdays two-parter on how the Republican spending bill is seeking to cut Medicaid

and green energy projects. As some of you know, a few years ago, this show started featuring

a climate story of the week, mostly on Tuesdays, because the climate doesn't change at the

pace of the news cycle, right? And we wanted to make sure climate change didn't always get shoved aside in favor of things

that were more in the headlines of the moment.

This year, with RFK Jr. pushing so much change on health policy into the pipeline, and now

this budget, we've expanded the commitment to a health and climate Tuesday section of the show,

so neither get buried in the avalanche of other Trump administration headlines.

We'll begin with the future of Medicaid debate coming to a head.

On Sunday night, House Republicans released a proposal to cut federal spending on Medicaid

and the so-called Obamacare expansion

of it. One in five Americans are on Medicaid nationwide. Listen to these stats. Approximately

40% of all children, according to the American Hospital Association, and they cite the

incredible stat of nearly half of the births in rural parts of the country,

as well as many low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals. That's how central Medicaid is,

as a starting point to the conversation, to the goal of every American having health insurance.

Back with us now is the local member of Congress,

who is most at the center of the Medicaid funding debate.

It's New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone.

He is the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee,

where all this gets hashed out before it goes to the full house floor.

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