Gov. Josh Shapiro urges Democrats to prioritize healthcare, food assistance

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he hopes Democrats prioritize healthcare and food assistance when they take control of Congress in January, though he urged them not to forget to hold the Trump administration accountable.

“I hope one of the first things that the Congress does is to stop these Medicaid cuts, stop the SNAP cuts, roll back the cuts, the effective cuts in the Affordable Care Act,” Shapiro said in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday.

Shapiro noted that in Pennsylvania alone, 510,000 people are losing healthcare and 143,000 more are losing SNAP or food assistance due to cuts approved during President Donald Trump’s second term.

“In general, though, I think Democrats need to have an aggressive agenda that cuts costs, that ends the war, that gets put on the president’s desk,” he said. “Hopefully, he will sign it because it’ll be common-sense stuff that makes people’s lives better.”

Trump has said that he intends to work with Democrats when Congress begins its new term, though he has also touted a new “VETO”-branded hat since Republicans lost the majority in the midterm elections.

Shapiro said that if Trump chooses to veto Democrats’ legislation, “it’s yet…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business