Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) was greeted with a chorus of boos during a town hall event on Tuesday after defending President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." Flood was asked what he planned to do about the legislation's cuts to disability benefits. Trump's signature legislation slashed over $1 trillion over the next decade from Medicaid, the primary source of funding for those benefits.
The congressman remained steadfast in his defense of the bill, despite the crowd's less-than-warm reception.
Flood Claims Medicaid Protected Despite Cuts
"We protected a system that if it had gone unchecked, it would not have been long-term available for the very people that are the most vulnerable," Flood said. "The developmentally disabled, the persistent mentally ill, people of advanced age." Flood claimed that the bill was a "bipartisan, common sense" way to fix Medicaid.
It's unclear where Flood got the idea that the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" was bipartisan. It was so partisan that Vice President JD Vance was forced to cast a tie-breaking vote to get the legislation through the Senate after three Republican Senators voted against it. The bill only narrowly passed the House as well, with every Democrat and two Republicans voting against it.
Repeated Heckling Over the Bill
Flood's been heckled numerous times since last July over the passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." "I'd ask you please not to refer to that monstrosity as the 'big, beautiful bill,'" one voter requested, to loud cheers, at the event in Lincoln, Neb. that was aired live by PBS last August.
The town hall incident highlights growing public anger over the legislation's impact on vulnerable populations. Medicaid serves as a lifeline for millions of Americans with disabilities, and the cuts threaten to reduce access to essential services.
