Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson gets hit with another new issue to add to his mounting obstacles to get the disastrous Trump-backed domestic policy bill passed at upcoming vote as a new letter signed by 20 hard-line Republicans demanding deeper Medicaid cuts to pass the bill is exposed through embedded metadata to be authored by Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, and not the Republicans attached to it. John Iadarola and Luke Beasley break it down on The Damage Report. Leave a comment with your thoughts below!

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Hard-liners’ Medicaid letter has ties to GOP think tank - www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/05/02/congress/…

"A letter signed by 20 hard-line House Republicans calling for deep cuts to Medicaid in the GOP’s domestic policy megabill appears to be written at least in part by a conservative think tank with ties to top Republican leaders.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas led the letter and promoted it publicly but digital metadata embedded in a PDF copy circulated inside the House and obtained by POLITICO lists the author as Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute.

Blase served on the White House National Economic Council during President Donald Trump’s first term. He and other conservative health wonks launched Paragon in 2021, and it has rapidly gained influence in GOP policy circles. Former Paragon staffers are now top health aides to Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump.

According to tax records gathered by InfluenceWatch, Paragon has received seven-figure donations from groups linked to high-profile conservative activists Charles Koch and Leonard Leo."

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