Safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP are in peril after the House Republicans passed a budget resolution this week that proposes massive $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, alongside $2 trillion in spending reductions. The math doesn’t add up: There is no realistic way to achieve the necessary savings without slashing entitlement programs that the most vulnerable Americans depend on.

While the Republicans claim they won’t cut these programs, they are simultaneously setting up eventual changes. House Speaker Mike Johnson characterized Medicaid as “hugely problematic” with “a lot of fraud, waste, and abuse.” This rhetoric echoes that of Elon Musk, who labeled those affected by federal program cuts as the “parasite class.”

On this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing,

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