GOP Congressman calls Medicaid cut critiques ‘whining and bedwetting’

Republican Rep. David Schweikert mocks critics of Medicaid cuts in a new radio show segment.

While discussing President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), which was passed by the Republican-led Congress and signed into law on July 4, GOP Rep. David Schweikert called critics of the bill “whining” and “bedwetting.”

“Think of the whining and the bedwetting over the Medicaid changes,” Schweikert said. “Even though Medicaid continues to grow in spending, it just grows less fast. A lot of these people who talk about ‘we need to be tough, we need to cut spending,’ but when they were given real spending fixes, bills, they all run away from it because one has the word immigration, one actually has the word Medicare in it. ”

He offered the comments on a radio show hosted by conservative commentator Christopher DeSimone of Live The Dream Media. Schweikert was there to discuss the federal budget bill.

Schweikert was one of six Arizona Republicans who supported the legislation that will cut more than $1 trillion from social services including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

The congressman originally missed the vote in May on the OBBBA because he was asleep, but later told reporters that he would have voted for the legislation had he been awake. 

Through the bill, over 300,000 Arizonans are expected to lose health insurance, including over 30,000 constituents in Schweikert’s district. 

The bill passed and made its way to the Senate before returning to the House for a final vote, which Schweikert attended and supported with a yes.

His voting record has led to outcries from advocacy organizations such as Reproductive Freedom for All, which held a “pajama protest” last week to hold the congressman accountable for sleeping through a vote on the federal budget bill.

Advocates with Reproductive Freedom for All wear pajamas to mock US Rep. David Schweikert for sleeping through a federal budget vote in May, during a protest on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Phoenix.

“By getting out of bed today, you have already done more to fight for Arizonans than Representative David Schweikert, who slept through the vote to protect Medicaid funding and Planned Parenthood,” said Athena Salman, director of Arizona campaigns for Reproductive Freedom for All.

Cuts to Medicaid also impact the operations of rural hospitals that often depend on Medicaid funding. Five hospitals in Arizona, including Copper Queen Community Hospital in Bisbee and Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital in Nogales, are at risk of shuttering due to the legislation.  These hospitals serve rural communities and are often the only access to health care for residents in those areas.

Arizona is poised to lose $33.1 billion in healthcare spending as a result of the legislation according to an analysis by Urban Institute, a social and economic think tank. 

The impacts of OBBB won’t be felt until after the midterms, and it could take up to nine years to feel the full impact of the legislation.

The congressman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Schweikert represents Phoenix as well as Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and Cave Creek. The district is considered a “toss up,” by the Cook Political Report and there is already a crowded Democratic field of candidates looking to challenge the congressman in the 2026 midterms.

Until then, advocacy groups have vowed to keep up the pressure on the congressman.

“We must hold David Schweikert accountable for the irreparable damage this bill will do in Arizona,” Salman said. “Come November, we are going to remind him that he answers to us.”