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2 Palo Alto cats having trouble adjusting to new catio
<p><strong>DEAR JOAN: </strong>We just added a catio to our patio for our two adult ragdoll cats that have always been indoor cats. We thought they would love to spend time with us outside admiring nature.</p> <p>Not!</p> <aside class="related left"><h2 class="widget-title">Related Articles</h2><ul><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/07/01/keeping-your-pets-safe-happy-during-fourth-of-july/" title="Keeping your pets safe, happy during Fourth of July"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> Keeping your pets safe, happy during Fourth of July </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/06/30/joan-morris-column-6-30/" title="Joan Morris: Ducks thrive in Sunnyvale pool; their welcome is wearing thin"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> Ducks thrive in Sunnyvale pool; their welcome is wearing thin </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/06/29/new-danville-dog-treat-company-hot-trends-pet-food-industry/" title="Founder of new Danville dog treat company explains hot trends in pet food industry"> <span class="dfm-title premium"> Founder of new East Bay dog treat company explains hot trends in pet food industry </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/06/23/mountain-view-cat-freaked-out-by-bully-cat-next-door/" title="Mountain View cat freaked out by bully cat next door"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> Mountain View cat freaked out by bully cat next door </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/06/20/jaws-turns-50-it-changed-pop-culture-and-our-perception-of-sharks-2/" title="‘Jaws’ turns 50. It changed pop culture and our perception of sharks"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> ‘Jaws’ turns 50. It changed pop culture and our perception of sharks </span> </a> </li></ul></aside> <p>They are very traumatised and try to tear it apart to escape, while crying the entire time. We have added more fun things to the catio (toys and a scratch pad) and we have been keeping the door to the catio open so it doesn’t feel so much like a cage. What other things can we do to help them learn to love their new environment?</p> <p><em>&#8212; Christine Buss, Palo Alto</em></p> <p><strong>DEAR CHRISTINE: </strong>The great outdoors can be a big and frightening place, especially for cats who have only seen it from the safety of the great indoors. Because this is their first experience of being on the outside, they might be overwhelmed by it all, not recognizing that they are in a protective enclosure.</p> <p>In your excitement to provide your cats with a treat, you might have moved too quickly. Cats are very much creatures of habit and many are very comfortable inside the protective (and solid) walls of their home.</p> <p>You might need to start over with short visits to the catio and by joining your cats inside the enclosure, playing with them and having some cuddle time. Slowly increase the amount of time they&#8217;re in the catio, and decrease your amount of time inside.</p> <p>You might also want to enhance the feeling of security by draping sheets over most of the catio. As they start to feel more comfortable, start peeling back the sheets to expose more of the outdoor view.</p> <p>You’re doing all the right things now, so just keep at it.</p> <p><strong>DEAR JOAN: </strong>I wonder if you know whether domestic cats who love sleeping outdoors are in danger from the numerous hawks I see circling around I-580 between High Street and Keller Avenue where the Oakland Zoo is located.</p> <p>We have three white Persians who may be easy to spot because their white fur is very bright. Our cats range between 2 to 11 years old and weigh around 9 pounds.</p> <p><em>&#8212; Robert Zolly, Oakland</em></p> <p><strong>DEAR ROBERT: </strong>Hawks will and do prey on cats and small dogs, but attacks are infrequent. With any predators, size matters. Kittens and unhealthy cats are more likely to be preyed upon by hawks than larger, healthy adult cats.</p> <p>Hawks feed on rats and mice, squirrels and other birds, but if they are hungry or seeking food for their offspring, a small cat or dog might be taken. The bigger threat to outdoor cats is coyotes, which also hunt smaller animals but go after cats more often than birds of prey do.</p> <p>The best way to protect your cats is to keep them indoors, and I highly recommend that or using a catio. But if you insist on letting your cats snooze outside, you should join them whenever they’re outside. The presence of a human is a deterrent to most predators. You also should keep them indoors around dawn and dusk, which is when hawks are most likely to be out hunting.</p> <p><em>The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.</em></p>
July 7, 2025 at 2:49 PM
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East Bay man accused of a string of Marin County burglaries arrested after police pursuits
<p>Police have arrested an East Bay man linked to a series of burglaries in San Rafael.</p> <p>The suspect targeted the Harbor Freight hardware store on Francisco Boulevard East at least six times since February, San Rafael police Lt. Scott Eberle said. The man used the same vehicle each time.</p> <aside class="related left"><h2 class="widget-title">Related Articles</h2><ul><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/28/after-oakland-killing-police-ambush-vigilante-spree-came-a-message-of-forgiveness/" title="After Oakland killing, police ambush and vigilante spree came a message of forgiveness"> <span class="dfm-title premium"> After Oakland killing, police ambush and vigilante spree came a message of forgiveness </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/27/alameda-county-da-dismisses-case-against-radius-recycling-in-massive-2023-fire/" title="Alameda County DA dismisses case against Radius Recycling in massive 2023 fire"> <span class="dfm-title premium"> Alameda County DA dismisses case against Radius Recycling in massive 2023 fire </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/27/kidnapping-assault-charges-filed-against-trio-in-abduction-of-2-year-old-oakland-girl/" title="Kidnapping, assault charges filed against trio in abduction of 2-year-old Oakland girl"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> Kidnapping, assault charges filed against trio in abduction of 2-year-old Oakland girl </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/26/who-is-the-bay-areas-new-top-federal-prosecutor-la-times-controversy-guns-n-roses-chinese-spy-case-and-more/" title="Who is Trump&#8217;s new top Bay Area federal prosecutor? L.A. Times controversy, Guns N&#8217; Roses, Chinese spy case and more"> <span class="dfm-title premium"> Who is Trump&#8217;s new top Bay Area federal prosecutor? L.A. Times controversy, Guns N&#8217; Roses, Chinese spy case and more </span> </a> </li><li> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/25/man-shot-and-killed-on-100th-avenue-in-oakland-on-saturday/" title="Man shot and killed on 100th Avenue in Oakland on Saturday"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> Man shot and killed on 100th Avenue in Oakland on Saturday </span> </a> </li></ul></aside> <p>At about 7:40 p.m. Saturday, an automated license plate reader alerted San Rafael police that the vehicle was near the store. The suspect exited the business with $1,400 in merchandise and left it by his vehicle when he saw police approach, Eberle said.</p> <p>The suspect allegedly rammed a police car before heading to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge with officers in pursuit. Police called off the chase because of safety risks, but San Leandro police arrested the man that night after a chase that ended in Hayward, San Leandro police Capt. Ali Khan said.</p> <p>Shahkir Ahmad Ahmadzai, 29, of Hayward was booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, evading police and hit-and-run driving. His bail amount was set at $100,000.</p>
May 28, 2025 at 1:01 PM
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George Foreman, Boxing Champion and Grilling Magnate, Dies at 76
<p>George Foreman, the fearsome heavyweight who lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Muhammad Ali before his inspiring second act as a 45-year-old champion and a successful businessman, died Friday night. He was 76.</p> <p>Foreman&#8217;s family announced his death on social media, not saying how or where he died.</p> <p>“A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand- and great-grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility and purpose,&#8221; his family wrote. “A humanitarian, an Olympian and two-time heavyweight champion of the world, he was deeply respected. A force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name— for his family.”</p> <p>A native Texan, Foreman began his boxing career as an Olympic gold medalist who inspired fear as he climbed to the peak of the heavyweight division by stopping Joe Frazier in 1973. His formidable aura evaporated only a year later when Ali pulled off one of the most audacious victories in boxing history in Zaire, baiting and taunting Foreman into losing his belt in one of the greatest fights ever staged.</p> <p>Foreman left the sport a few years later, but returned after a 10-year absence and a self-described religious awakening.</p> <p>The 45-year-old then pulled off one of the most spectacular knockouts in boxing history in 1994, flooring Michael Moorer — 19 years his junior — with one perfect combination to claim Moorer&#8217;s two heavyweight belts.</p> <p>Foreman&#8217;s transformation into an inspirational figure was complete, and he fought only four more times before moving onto his next career as a genial businessman, pitchman and occasional actor.</p> <p>He was best known as the face of the George Foreman Grill, which launched in the same year as his victory over Moorer. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and made him much wealthier than his sport ever did.</p> <p>“George was a great friend to not only myself, but to my entire family,” Top Rank president Bob Arum said. “We’ve lost a family member and are absolutely devastated.”</p> <p>In the first chapter of his boxing career, Foreman was nothing like the smiling grandfather who hawked his grills on television to great success.</p> <p>Foreman dabbled in petty crime while growing up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, but changed his life through boxing. He made the U.S. Olympic team in 1968 and won gold in Mexico City as a teenager, stopping a 29-year-old opponent in a star-making performance.</p> <p>Foreman rose to the pinnacle of the pro game over the next five years, but was also perceived as an aloof, unfriendly athlete, both through his demeanor and through the skewed racial lenses of the time. He stopped Frazier in an upset in Jamaica in January 1973 to win the belt, with his knockout inspiring Howard Cosell’s iconic call: “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”</p> <p>Foreman defended his belt against Ken Norton before accepting the fight with Ali in the now-immortal bout staged in Africa by promoter Don King. Ali put on a tactical masterclass against Foreman, showing off the “rope-a-dope” strategy that frustrated and infuriated the champion. Foreman was eventually knocked down for the first time in his career, and the fight was stopped in the eighth round.</p> <p>Foreman told the BBC in 2014 that he took the fight almost out of charity to Ali, who he suspected to be broke.</p> <p>“I said I was going to go out there and kill him, and people said, ‘Please, don’t say you’re going to kill Muhammad,’” Foreman said. “So I said, ‘OK, I’ll just beat him down to the ground.’ That’s how easy I thought the fight would be.”</p> <p>Exhausted and disillusioned, Foreman stopped fighting in 1977 and largely spent the next decade preaching and working with kids in Houston after his religious awakening. He returned to boxing in 1987 in his late 30s with a plan to defy time through frequent ring appearances, and he racked up a lengthy series of victories before losing to Evander Holyfield in a surprisingly competitive title fight in 1991.</p> <p>Three years later, Foreman got in the ring with Moorer in Las Vegas, more for his celebrity than for his perceived ability to beat Moorer. The champion appeared to win the first nine rounds rather comfortably, with Foreman unable to land his slower punches. But Foreman came alive in the 10th, hurting Moorer before slipping in the short right hand that sent Moorer to the canvas in spectacular fashion.</p> <p>Foreman quit the ring for good in 1997, although he occasionally discussed a comeback. He settled into a life as a boxing analyst for HBO and as a pitchman for the grills that grew his fame and fortune. He briefly starred in a sitcom called “George” in the 1990s, and he even appeared on the reality singing competition “The Masked Singer” in 2022. A biographical movie based on his life was released in 2023.</p> <p>Foreman had 12 children, including five sons who are all famously named George Edward Foreman.</p> <p>“Legendary boxing champion, life-changing preacher, husband, father, grand- and great-grandfather and the best friend you could have,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman wrote on social media. “His memory is now eternal, may Big George rest in peace.”</p>
March 22, 2025 at 5:07 AM
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Bay Area tech workers see post-COVID hiring boom morph into jobs bust.
<p>The Bay Area tech sector soared for three years in the wake of a global pandemic, but the industry&#8217;s jobs boom has since nosedived into a bust.</p> <p>&#8220;In the last half of 2020, and throughout 2021 and the first part of 2022, the major Bay Area technology firms went on wild hiring sprees that were never sustainable,&#8221; said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former director of the state Employment Development Department.</p> <aside class="related left"><h2 class="widget-title">Related Articles</h2><ul><li> <div class="entry-section"><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/business/economy/">Economy | </a></div> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/07/us-jobs-report-shows-evidence-labor-market-is-softening/" title="Latest US jobs report shows evidence labor market is softening"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> Latest US jobs report shows evidence labor market is softening </span> </a> </li><li> <div class="entry-section"><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/business/economy/">Economy | </a></div> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/07/san-jose-logitech-bay-area-tech-jobs-economy-silicon-valley-computer/" title="Logitech says San Jose fuels big edge for talent, tech and connections"> <span class="dfm-title premium"> &#8216;We need to be here&#8217;: Logitech touts San Jose&#8217;s big edge for talent, tech and connections </span> </a> </li><li> <div class="entry-section"><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/business/economy/">Economy | </a></div> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/07/california-is-no-1-for-federal-jobs-facing-trump-cuts/" title="California is No. 1 for federal jobs facing Trump cuts"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> California is No. 1 for federal jobs facing Trump cuts </span> </a> </li><li> <div class="entry-section"><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/business/economy/">Economy | </a></div> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/06/vta-union-members-set-to-strike-monday/" title="VTA union members set to strike for the first time Monday; disputes over wages, arbitration stick in negotiations"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> VTA union members set to strike for the first time Monday; disputes over wages, arbitration stick in negotiations </span> </a> </li><li> <div class="entry-section"><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/business/economy/">Economy | </a></div> <a class="article-title" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/06/forever-21-closing-at-least-8-more-stores-in-southern-california/" title="Forever 21 closing 8 more Bay Area stores"> <span class="dfm-title metered"> Forever 21 closing 8 more Bay Area stores </span> </a> </li></ul></aside> <p>In that time, tech companies have fundamentally shifted their hiring strategies, said Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a San Jose-based think tank.</p> <p>&#8220;Silicon Valley has entered a state of uncertainty and flux,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s driven employers to focus on efficiency and sustainable profits.&#8221;</p> <p>The contrast between the boom and the subsequent bust in the Bay Area is stark, according to this news organization&#8217;s analysis of seasonally adjusted industry totals that Beacon Economics culled from the state EDD.</p> <p>&#8220;Tech employment has been on a roller coaster since the pandemic started in 2020,&#8221; said Scott Anderson, BMO Capital Markets&#8217; chief U.S. economist and managing director.</p> <p>The plunge has affected the jobs of tens of thousands of workers, including employees at a slew of industry icons.</p> <p>In 2020, Bay Area tech companies added workers when the world abruptly shifted to remote work and distance learning. Tech extended the gains into 2021 and 2022.</p> <p>The tech sector scrambled to hire people quickly enough to meet the fevered demand for working from home.</p> <p>In 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Bay Area added 74,700 tech jobs, Beacon&#8217;s compilation shows.</p> <p>But in 2023 and 2024, employers slashed a net total of 80,200 tech jobs in the region.</p> <p>&#8220;The tech employment resurgence was short-lived,&#8221; Anderson said. &#8220;Tech industry over-hiring earlier in the pandemic likely aggravated the tech job losses.&#8221;</p> <p>Despite shedding jobs, tech companies are seeking to fine-tune hiring as they scout for fertile new fields in artificial intelligence, in the view of Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Campbell-based Creative Strategies.</p> <p>&#8220;Demand for tech workers is still strong, but more focused and targeted toward AI, high-speed computing and integration of AI into business processes,&#8221; Bajarin said.</p> <p>For now, however, the tech industry must cope with more immediate challenges, such as the region&#8217;s brutal housing woes and uncertain federal policies.</p> <p>&#8220;Deportations, tariffs and continuing lack of enough new housing will present challenges,&#8221; said Steven Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. &#8220;We must come together to overcome and preserve our unique advantages as an innovative economy.&#8221;</p> <p>The first yellow flags for tech surfaced in late 2022 when Facebook app owner Meta Platforms encountered a rare event in its corporate history: a decline in revenue.</p> <p>Mark Zuckerberg, Meta&#8217;s top boss, pursued ways to streamline the social media network&#8217;s operations. Layoffs quickly became a prime solution.</p> <p>In November 2022, Meta announced it would eliminate 11,000 jobs worldwide, including 2,565 jobs in the Bay Area, state EDD WARN notices showed.</p> <p>Before long, it became clear that the tech industry woes weren&#8217;t confined to Facebook. Amazon, Cisco, Salesforce and Tesla followed suit, turning a trickle of cuts into a stream and then a flood of layoffs.</p> <p>Still, it took one more significant event to make it clear that the tech&#8217;s bust wouldn&#8217;t immediately yield to yet another boom. In January 2023, Google chopped 1,600 Bay Area jobs.</p> <p>Suddenly, efficiency and streamlining became industry watchwords as AI beckoned from the horizon.</p> <p>&#8220;We think the last two years are the result of more than the economic cycle,&#8221; said Jeff Bellisario, executive director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. &#8220;The region and the state need to do more to attract and retain all types of employers.&#8221;</p> <p>By the end of 2024, the tech industry in the Bay Area had shriveled to just 880,200 jobs, far below the peak level of 960,400 that it had reached by the end of 2022.</p> <p>The Bay Area tech sector is even smaller than it was in 2019, when it accounted for 885,700 jobs.</p> <p>The tech industry&#8217;s job losses are particularly pronounced in the South Bay and the San Francisco-San Mateo metro area, sometimes touted as a trendy spot for fledgling tech firms.</p> <p>The tech downturn has hammered the San Francisco metro area the hardest, with a loss of 39,600 tech jobs in 2023 and 2024, or an 11% plunge in that urban center&#8217;s tech jobs.</p> <p>The South Bay hasn&#8217;t fared much better. Over the same two years, the South Bay lost 33,300 tech jobs for a decline of 8.1%.</p> <p>The tech industry&#8217;s fading fortunes have also jolted the East Bay, but to a much lesser extent. The East Bay lost 6,500 tech jobs over the last two years, a 3.9% decline.</p> <p>While the Bay Area remains a primary hub for the worldwide tech industry despite recent job losses, the sector&#8217;s faltering job market could erode some of the region&#8217;s dominance.</p> <p>&#8220;It&#8217;s hard to say anything for certain, but we may be looking at a tectonic shift, where Silicon Valley becomes one node in a more dispersed innovation ecosystem,&#8221; Hancock said.</p> <p>One thing seems certain: The once high-flying tech industry has come back to Earth.</p> <p>&#8220;The past two years, economic reality has set in,&#8221; Bernick said.</p>
March 10, 2025 at 1:25 PM
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House Passes GOP Budget Teeing Up Enormous Tax and Spending Cuts
<p>WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday narrowly passed a Republican budget resolution that calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $2 trillion reduction in federal spending over a decade, clearing the way for major elements of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.</p> <p>The nearly party-line vote of 217-215 teed up a bitter fight within the GOP over which federal programs to slash to finance a huge tax cut that would provide its biggest benefits to rich Americans. It came after a head-spinning hour on the House floor in which Republican leaders toiled to put down a small revolt among conservatives who wanted to slash federal spending even more deeply, failed to do so, canceled the budget vote and then abruptly reversed course minutes later and summoned lawmakers back to call the roll.</p> <p>The chaotic scene underscored the unwieldy path House Republicans have ahead of them as they try to push through Trump’s domestic policy agenda through Congress over the objections of Democrats.</p> <p>Approval of the budget plan was a crucial first step for Republicans to smooth the way through Congress for an enormous fiscal package using a process called reconciliation, which allows such bills to steer clear of a filibuster and pass the Senate on a simple-majority vote.</p> <p>“It’s sort of the kickoff in what will be a four-quarter game, and that very important, very consequential game begins as soon as we get this thing passed,” Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference Tuesday morning before the vote. “This has been necessary because we promised to deliver President Trump’s full agenda, not just a part of it. We’re not just going to do a little bit now and return later for the rest. We have to do it now.”</p> <p>It almost did not happen. In the minutes before the vote Tuesday evening, Republican leaders could be seen buttonholing defectors on the House floor, imploring them to support the budget resolution.</p> <p>When it appeared their efforts had fallen short, they announced that there would be no vote on the plan Tuesday night, and lawmakers quickly filed off the House floor. But minutes later, Johnson ran back into the chamber, yelled “one more,” and called lawmakers back for the vote.</p> <p>In the end, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the sole “no” vote in his party. A group of centrist Republicans from competitive congressional districts who had initially balked at the plan over concerns that it would lead to deep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health care to more than 70 million Americans, ultimately fell in line and voted yes.</p> <p>The blueprint sets the contours for the legislation that House Republicans will now turn to writing. It puts a $4.5 trillion upper limit on the size of any tax cuts over the next 10 years, but does not dictate which taxes should be reduced, a complex and politically tricky question of its own that could take months to sort out.</p> <p>It also calls for slashing $2 trillion in spending over the same period, without specifying which programs should be cut, though top Republicans have targeted Medicaid and food aid programs for poor Americans. And it directs increases of about $300 billion for border enforcement and defense programs.</p> <p>The resolution ties together the lower taxes and spending cuts. If House Republicans ultimately find less than $2 trillion in spending to eliminate, the allowance for tax cuts will shrink by the amount of the shortfall. That means the budget for the tax cut could ultimately drop to $4 trillion if Republicans cut only $1.5 trillion in spending — the floor set in the bill.</p> <p>Even if they are able to cover the full $4.5 trillion, Republican tax writers have been agonizing over what they can squeeze into the bill. Much of the tax revenue will be consumed by simply continuing the tax policies that Republicans put into place in 2017, which expire at the end of the year.</p> <p>Extending the 2017 tax law will cost roughly $4 trillion over a decade, while several other desperately desired business tax breaks will eat up another couple of hundred billion. That leaves only a sliver of the budget for the potpourri of other tax cuts that Republicans hope to cram into the legislation, including not taxing tips and lifting the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction.</p> <p>Achieving near unanimity on legislation that meets the spending targets laid out in the blueprint will also present GOP leaders with a gargantuan challenge. Before the vote Tuesday, Republicans in swing-seat districts had said that they would be uncomfortable approving a plan that could lead to major cuts to Medicaid and food stamps.</p> <p>The plan instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to come up with at least $880 billion in cuts. While some Republicans denied that they would slash programs for the poor, the amount of revenue they are calling to raise would all but certainly necessitate some cuts to at least one of those programs.</p> <p>“I’m still making my point all the way to the end about the need to protect the services that are important to my district,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona said as he left a closed-door meeting of Republicans on Tuesday morning to discuss the plan. “Obviously, this is only the beginning. This is where the real fight actually begins to protect the services that I’ve been fighting for, while also delivering on the promise of slashing down the size of government.”</p> <p>Many states have expanded Medicaid since the passage of the Affordable Care Act to offer coverage to more low-income adults, with the federal government covering most of the cost of the additional care. But Republicans have discussed cutting off that enhanced federal spending, which could force states to dedicate more of their own resources or stop providing coverage to as many as 20 million Americans.</p> <p>Democrats see the Medicaid cuts that are likely to be included in whatever legislation House Republicans put together as a salient line of political attack, akin to their efforts to campaign in 2018 on the GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.</p> <p>“It has to come from Medicaid, it has to come from the ACA premiums,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, “because that’s the only place you can find $880 billion.”</p> <p>(STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.)</p> <p>At the same time, conservatives in the conference have said they want to see deep spending cuts codified into law, and signaled that they would be loath to lend their vote to a final product that adds to the deficit.</p> <p>“It’s insane,” Massie said. “We’re going to increase the deficit with this. Why would I vote for that? You can’t cut taxes without cutting spending, and they’re not really cutting spending.”</p> <p>Passing the budget resolution through the House is only the first step in unlocking the reconciliation process. Republicans in the Senate will also have to adopt it, though lawmakers there have their own ideas for how to tackle Trump’s agenda.</p> <p>Senate Republicans have passed a budget outline for a narrow bill focused on border enforcement and defense, hoping to take a more ambitious swing at tax policy in a separate bill later this year.</p> <p>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/us/politics/mike-johnson-budget-resolution-vote.html">The New York Times</a>.</p>
February 26, 2025 at 2:02 AM