This morning U.S. Representative George Latimer (NY-16) voted against the House Republican majority's budget that will take away vital healthcare and food assistance from millions of Americans.

The former Westchester County executive said: "This is America's worst budget ever. This is essentially a tax scam to help the wealthiest Americans and take away healthcare and food assistance from people who need it to survive. It is so harmful and unpopular that Republicans had the debate in the middle of the night and the vote before America woke up. 196,000 people in my district will lose access to Medicaid, including 73,000 children and 27,000 seniors. 74,000 people will not be able to put food on their tables by cutting SNAP. New Yorkers will continue to pay more in federal taxes without a full restoration of the State and Local Tax deduction. And it guts environmental protections established by the Inflation Reduction Act. People will get sicker. Kids will go hungry. Families will pay more for gas and home electric bills while our world continues to warm due to climate change. No matter how you spin it, everyday Americans will suffer."

In addition to eliminating health care for 13.7 million Americans and cutting $300 billion in SNAP benefits, the Republican bill also cuts $73 billion in payments to Medicaid providers, by limiting the payments that state Medicaid programs can make to hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care providers. This could make it difficult for certain hospitals to stay open and provide services to the community.

The bill "defunds" Planned Parenthood, and an 11th hour change bans every insurance plan on the Affordable Care Act Exchange from covering abortions. Nearly 1 in 7 Americans is covered through a plan on the exchange.