Less than one week after President Donald Trump appeared to encourage congressional Republicans to put the annually passed congressional restriction on taxpayer-funded abortion on the chopping block, the White House is walking back his comments and members of the Senate GOP who looked like they might cave with Trump are committing to holding the line on the Hyde Amendment.
For nearly 50 years, the legislative provision barring taxpayer-funded elective abortions, including through federal healthcare programs such as Medicaid, was a nonnegotiable for Republicans who claim to belong to the pro-life party. Congress’ latest fight over whether to extend Obamacare, however, put the Hyde Amendment in the line of fire from both Democrats, who have had it out for Hyde for years, and the GOP alike.
The first call from inside the house came last week, when Trump urged GOP representatives to “be a little flexible on Hyde.”
This January 6 wobble signaling Trump’s willingness to help Democrats force taxpayers to fund abortions if it meant Congress would successfully pass a healthcare deal earned the White House backlash from GOP politicians and several pro-life groups, the same organizations whose get out the vote efforts and enthusiasm at the polls help put Republicans, including Trump, in office. They warned that a deal that does not include the Hyde Amendment would betray five decades of bipartisan support for keeping Americans’ hard-earned money from subsidizing elective abortions and hurt Trump’s reputation as the most pro-life president of all time.
Just two days later, House Democrats, with the help of 17 Republican representatives, extended Obamacare, effectively tossing the responsibility of including the Hyde Amendment to a divided Senate GOP. Senate Majority Leader John Thune repeatedly indicated that the prohibition on taxpayer-funded abortion is both a “challenging” yet necessary component of any healthcare legislation that expects the endorsement of a “healthy” upper chamber majority.
“We want to ensure that if we do anything it’s done in a way that reforms these programs and … ensures that those dollars aren’t being used to go against the practice that’s been in place for the last 50 years around here when it comes to taxpayer dollars being used to finance abortions and that it also has this movement in the future toward HSAs,” Thune told Politico in early January.
The Senate GOP’s alleged commitment to Hyde, however, appeared to waver after a bipartisan working group co-led by Republican Sens. Bernie Moreno and Susan Collins hinted at a plan that would extend Democrats’ desired Obamacare subsidies for another two years. In a “skeletal framework” released to Fox News, Moreno outlined parameters on this extension such as a minimum premium payment and fines for insurance companies that participate in fraudulent enrollment practices, but did not specifically say “whether the current plan addressed the Hyde issue.”
When asked whether his working group negotiations with Democrats threatened to put him at odds with the GOP and Thune’s historic support for the Hyde Amendment, however, Moreno pledged in a statement to The Federalist to stay strong and keep Americans’ hard-earned money from funding abortions.
“As I have said since day one of my campaign, I am unapologetically pro-life and am absolutely committed to ensuring that no taxpayer funding is used to fund the radical left’s agenda, including abortion and transgender surgeries,” he wrote in an emailed statement to The Federalist.
Moreno added that “President Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in American history” and that Senate Republicans including himself “are proud to join [Trump] in fighting to protect the unborn.”
The Federalist also asked the White House early last week to clarify Trump’s comments and position on the Hyde Amendment, especially considering his historic support for making it permanent, but did not receive a response. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to walk back Trump’s declaration. She told The Daily Signal that “The president did not change the administration’s policy” on prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortion and pointed to his 2024 executive order demanding Hyde Amendment enforcement.
“What the president was saying yesterday was Republicans, and frankly Democrats, too, need to show a little bit more flexibility so we can actually get something done with respect to the issue of health care,” Leavitt added.
Jordan Boyd is an award-winning staff writer at The Federalist and producer of “The Federalist Radio Hour.” Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
