Senate Showdown: Cornyn’s Amendment Targeting Healthcare for Immigrants Convicted of Serious Crimes Fails to Clear 60-Vote Hurdle
In a contentious Monday evening session, Senate Democrats successfully thwarted a Republican-led effort to exclude certain illegal immigrants from taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits within President Donald Trump’s sprawling “big, beautiful” domestic policy bill.
The vote, part of a marathon “vote-a-rama” as senators work to finalize the legislation, saw a 56-44 defeat for an amendment proposed by Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn.
Cornyn’s amendment aimed to reduce federal Medicaid payments to states that provide healthcare to illegal immigrants charged or convicted of serious crimes. Despite four Senate Democrats crossing party lines to support the measure – Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) – it failed to meet the 60-vote threshold required for inclusion in the reconciliation bill.
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Following the vote, Senator Cornyn expressed his frustration on social media platform X, stating, “[Forty-three] Democrats just BLOCKED my amendment to punish states that give Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens convicted or charged with crimes like murder or sex trafficking. Democrats chose to side with the worst of the worst in our society over our seniors and most vulnerable American citizens. Disgusting.” Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth Senate term in a competitive 2026 GOP primary, had introduced the amendment after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the provision violated the chamber’s budget reconciliation rules, which allow bills to pass with a simple majority.
Republicans are employing the budget reconciliation process to bypass typical Democratic opposition and pass the president’s domestic policy priorities with a simple majority. However, provisions struck by the Parliamentarian, like Cornyn’s, require a 60-vote supermajority to be added back into the bill, necessitating bipartisan support.
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Senate Democrats, spearheaded by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the ranking Democrat on the upper chamber’s budget panel, vociferously opposed Cornyn’s amendment. Merkley argued that it would lead to “the collective punishment of American citizens” by reducing federal Medicaid funding to states that have expanded Medicaid and offer coverage to illegal immigrants. He characterized the amendment as a “backdoor [elimination] for 41 states, which includes the majority of Republican states, to reduce the federal match from 90% to 80% with huge, huge impact on the coverage of individuals across this country.” Merkley also questioned the Republican stance on “states’ rights” in this context, defending states’ autonomy to offer healthcare to immigrants.
Notably, Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a known skeptic of some of the bill’s Medicaid reforms, joined Democrats in voting “no” on Cornyn’s amendment.
This vote follows a similar blockade earlier on Monday, when Senate Democrats also rejected an amendment from Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, which sought to broadly prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving coverage through state-funded Medicaid programs.
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The Senate version of President Trump’s landmark bill is currently undergoing a “vote-a-rama” and could see a final passage vote as early as Monday, as the President pushes for the legislation to be on his desk for signature by his self-imposed July 4th deadline.
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