New Mexico delegation condemns “Big, Ugly Bill”

By Jesse Jones

New Mexico representatives denounced a new federal bill as a “big, ugly abomination” that slashes healthcare, food, and education aid while handing massive tax breaks to billionaires, condemning it as an immoral betrayal of American families. 

During a press call, U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury, Teresa Leger Fernández and Gabe Vasquez said the “Big, Beautiful Bill” will slash Medicaid and food assistance, deepen poverty and put rural hospitals under more strain across New Mexico.

“Trump’s signature Bill betrays the American people by giving massive tax breaks to billionaires and then paying for them with the biggest cut to health care in history and the biggest explosion of our national debt ever,” Leger Fernández said. “And when you take food, health care and education for working families, veterans and the disabled, to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, the well off and the well connected, that is immoral. It’s cruel and it’s un-American.”

U.S. Senate Republicans approved their signature tax and spending cuts package this week with a 51-50 vote, broken by Vice President JD Vance. Just three Senate Republicans opposed the measure. In the House, the bill passed narrowly 218-214, with only two Republicans voting against it. The GOP reconciliation bill is set to be signed by President Donald Trump tomorrow.

“Why did they have to pass it in the dark of night in both the Senate and the House? It’s because they know the millions of Americans are going to be hurt by it, but they don’t care,” Stansabury said. “ You can lose your health care, you can lose your food assistance, you can lose your education. They don’t care.”

How will it affect New Mexico?

While it affects millions nationwide, New Mexico is expected to bear the brunt. The bill could close rural hospitals, raise healthcare costs, increase food insecurity for seniors and veterans and cut Pell Grants, limiting access to higher education.

Leger Fernández calls the bill, “betrayed for billionaires bill” that balloons the national debt to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy, costing New Mexico hundreds of millions in lost oil and gas royalties and hurting tribal communities.

Stansbury said key impacts of the bill on New Mexico and the nation include:

• Devastating Cuts to Healthcare: The bill is expected to leave 17 million Americans without healthcare coverage. It slashes nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and triggers the loss of another $500 billion from Medicare—resulting in the largest rollback of healthcare in our country’s history, coupled with dramatic changes to the Affordable Care Act that law ill cripple access to healthcare across the country. These cuts will hit New Mexico especially hard, where nearly two-thirds of residents rely on Medicaid and Medicare. The loss of federal support could lead to hospital closures and disrupt care for seniors, children, and people with disabilities across the state, and will impact all New Mexicans’ access to care.
• Unprecedented Cuts to Food Assistance: The bill slashes $200 billion from nutrition programs, taking food out of the mouths of 18 million children nationwide. Millions of veterans, seniors, and low-income families will lose access to vital SNAP benefits, and millions of kids will lose access to school lunch and breakfast programs. In New Mexico, this could have devastating impacts as nearly one-third of all children, the highest rate in the country, depend on nutrition assistance programs
• Cuts to Education and Economic Opportunity: The bill guts Pell Grants, graduate assistance, and student loan programs, threatening access to educational opportunities for millions of Americans. In New Mexico, this could have devastating effects as students rely on these programs to go to school, and the state’s higher education program is closely tied to federal funding programs. The bill also guts historic investments in domestic infrastructure, clean energy, and manufacturing that will lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, especially in New Mexico, where major investments have been critical to rebuilding our economy.  
• Corporate Handouts: The bill redistributes over a trillion dollars from vulnerable and struggling families to fund permanent tax breaks for corporations and the ultra wealthy, while spending trillions on private prisons and federal defense contracts. The bill also cuts resource royalty rates, which will cost states like New Mexico millions of dollars annually, that is vital for funding schools, infrastructure, and public services.
• Environmental Rollbacks: The bill guts bedrock environmental protections and mandates oil and gas leasing, mining, and logging on public lands, including in New Mexico. These provisions ignore Tribal sovereignty, community input, and science, putting our land, water, and future generations at risk. The bill also guts billions in funding for climate mitigation and clean energy, vital to protecting the planet.
• Ballooning the National Debt: The bill will add trillions to the national debt, while pushing the financial burden of essential services back onto states like New Mexico. Contrary to proponents’ claims, the bill will saddle the American people with trillions of dollars in debt that will fuel increased debt, inflation, and higher costs.

Healthcare and food stability

“This bill is the biggest rollback in American history, directly attacking our communities,” Stansbury said. “This bill guts healthcare for 17 million Americans in New Mexico. We know that two-thirds of our population is using Medicaid and Medicare in order to get health care. The impacts of this bill cannot be understated.”

With two-thirds of New Mexicans relying on Medicaid and nearly a quarter depending on SNAP food benefits, the representatives said the bill’s cuts will worsen hunger, reduce medical access and strain rural hospitals. 

“I’m furious. This is one of the most consequential bills in American history. It’s going to devastate New Mexico’s health care system,” Vasquez said. “The saddest thing is that it’s taking health care away from those who need it the most.”

He said Republicans are misleading the American people. The bill hands huge tax breaks to the wealthy while shifting the burden onto working families.

Vasquez said indigent health care costs will rise sharply in New Mexico. In his district alone, 50,000 people could lose Medicaid. He called false claims that the bill strengthens Medicaid and won’t kick anyone off “far from the truth.”

He also pointed to changes raising SNAP work requirements from age 55 to 65, affecting many seniors who rely on food assistance. 

“We’d like to think that we live in the richest country in the world, where people can retire at a decent age and still have access to the benefits that they’ve earned, that they paid into,” he said.

Combined with new work rules for dependent children and their parents, these changes will hit seniors, veterans and kids the hardest.

Vasquez said many vital programs have already been defunded. He warned that limiting SNAP eligibility won’t just hurt families but also local economies, putting stores at risk of closing.

He called the GOP decision “terrible” for the state’s future, saying it will deepen poverty just as the state works to create good jobs and lower costs for families.

“When you kill a rural hospital, you would eventually kill that community,” Leger Fernández said. 

Because people won’t want to live where they have to drive three hours for emergency or maternity care, she said.

Senate Democrats warn that Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” could force more than 300 rural hospitals — including 15 in New Mexico with high Medicaid patient loads — to reduce services or shut down entirely.

According to Leger Fernández, the bill cuts subsidies for health insurance plans sold through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace, making coverage unaffordable for millions. She said a couple in their 60s earning $80,000 could see premiums jump from $6,900 to $22,000 a year, while a 28-year-old’s premiums might rise from $380 to $2,300.

She said the bill also restricts women’s access to reproductive health care by allowing private insurers offering those plans to stop covering abortion services and related care.

Leger Fernández said Archbishop John Wester called the bill a moral failure that “takes from the poor and gives to the rich.” Labor groups have echoed that criticism.

But she said New Mexicans won’t despair. “We’re going to organize,” she said, recalling how strong community action stopped a plan to sell off public lands, with Vasquez leading the effort.

Education

Stansbury said she, like many New Mexicans, relied on Pell Grants to attend college. New Mexico became the first state to guarantee access to higher education and trade school by combining state funds with federal aid. She said the bill overhauls that formula completely.

Leger Fernández said the cuts will make it harder for Native American students to afford medical or dental school, blocking future doctors from serving their communities. She called the change a direct threat to New Mexico’s future.

What’s next 

Stansbury said local governments and nonprofits will need help dealing with the fallout. Albuquerque is already adjusting its budget after funding freezes, and many nonprofits have been hit too.

She said tough months are ahead, but leaders are working closely to respond.

Leger Fernández said the country needs a “Project 2026” — a push at the ballot box to counter “Project 2025,” which she called a threat to the nation’s values. She said the plan will hurt working and middle-class families and take health care away from friends, neighbors and loved ones.

Stansbury said flipping the House would be key to reversing the damage, though a quick bipartisan fix is unlikely. Still, she said the bill’s deficit spending and forced Medicare cuts could pressure Republicans to revisit parts of the law as the economic impacts set in.

“The appropriations process is the next fight,” she said.

Leger Fernández said the governor is expected to call a special session, and lawmakers are already weighing their options.

Stansbury said New Mexico’s congressional delegation meets regularly with the governor and state lawmakers, who are committed to doing everything they can to lessen the blow. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday she will “fight like hell” to protect New Mexicans from the impacts of the bill and is prepared to call a special session if necessary.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to add comments from Rep. Stansbury and Rep. Vasquez