Biden heads to Virginia to warn of health care cuts

President Joe Biden left the White House Tuesday for Virginia Beach, where he will deliver remarks about Republican efforts to cut spending on health care. It's part of a broader presidential push this week to draw a strong contrast between the Biden administration’s priorities and those of Republicans.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is insisting on spending cuts to balance the budget, but he has yet to provide any specifics to how those cuts would affect health care. In the absence of a specific GOP plan, Biden administration officials are sketching worst-case scenarios for what Republicans might do, based on past statements, including what the White House warns could be deep cuts to Medicaid, which covers roughly 84 million people and has grown by 20 million since January 2020, just before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.