Hours ago, the Republican U.S. House passed Trump’s sweeping budget bill. Now we don’t know everything that’s in it — even many members of Congress admit they don’t know — but we do know that there are big cuts to health care. There are about a half-trillion in cuts to Medicare and millions set to lose their health insurance through Medicaid all to give billionaires like Elon Musk another tax cut.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who’s running as a Democrat for U.S. Senate in Michigan, joins Lincoln Square’s Susan J. Demas to talk about what Medicaid means for people, how deeply these cuts will hurt, and what we can do about it.
El-Sayed is a progressive and he’s been endorsed by Bernie Sanders, just as he was during his 2018 campaign for Michigan governor. He’s been a sharp critic of Democrats for not being progressive enough and not fighting back against right-wing policies. He tells us who he thinks has gotten it right so far and says he’d like to be the kind of principled leaders the late U.S. Sens. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Phil Hart of Michigan were.
In 2018, El-Sayed ran against now-Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the 2018 gubernatorial primary. In Trump’s first term she was “that woman from Michigan” who went toe-to-toe with him at every turn. El-Sayed tells us how he views her more conciliatory approach with Trump this term.
And El-Sayed is someone who wants to get big things done — and fast. He campaigned on Medicare for All in 2018. But the Senate isn’t known for moving quickly … on anything. It’s full of Chuck Schumers and Dick Durbins (although Durbin is retiring). So what would El-Sayed do to shake things up in the world’s most deliberative body? Well, for one thing, the filibuster has got to go, he says.
In the 2024 election, there were some people who wanted the system burned to the ground. But with Trump hollowing out everything from the State Department to the Department of Education, this is leaving massive gaps where real work was being done. El-Sayed discusses how he would try to undo the damage caused by Trump, DOGE and Elon and build something better.
And finally, El-Sayed has been outspoken about the Israel-Gaza war and the suffering of the Palestinian people, particularly children. He continues to criticize former President Biden’s support for Israel and calls Vice President Kamala Harris’ messaging on the war “disastrous, and I tried to tell her that” — although he endorsed her and voted for her in the general election. But El-Sayed says he supports a two-state solution and he’s hopeful that the issue won’t be as divisive for Democrats in 2026.
“What I’m asking moving forward here is that Democrats need to stop being the party of war,” El-Sayed says.
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