‘Little Lobbyists’ Urge Senators to Oppose Trump’s Bill Cutting Medicaid

Landry Bell, a 1-year-old boy who was born with Down syndrome, wriggled and smiled in his big sister’s lap on the floor outside Republican Senator Mike Lee’s office this week as he took a break from going office to office with his mother while she explained how cuts to Medicaid would devastate their family.

Wearing a bright blue T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Little Lobbyists,” Landry was among a group of children with serious medical needs who crisscrossed the Capitol with their parents urging senators to vote “no” on the sprawling Republican bill carrying President Trump’s agenda. The legislation would cut deeply into Medicaid to help pay for large tax cuts that would benefit businesses and the richest Americans.

The Senate version of the legislation would make even more aggressive cuts to Medicaid than the version of the legislation that passed the House last month. Those proposed reductions, and the elimination of some clean-energy tax credits, are among the most contentious provisions driving debate on the bill among Republicans, as party leaders push to complete it and send it to Mr. Trump’s desk within weeks.

The Little Lobbyists formed in 2017 during Mr. Trump’s first term to push back against Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, taking to Capitol Hill to demand that lawmakers oppose the move. Their successful campaign to save the law was part of a broader backlash against the proposal, which was driven in large part by major health care lobbies, like hospitals and insurance companies, as well as patient groups worried about losing insurance coverage.