Republicans will have to come up with alternative savings to make up for hundreds of billions of dollars in potential Medicaid cuts that GOP leaders appeared to rule out after meeting with moderates in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Tuesday evening.

House Democrats on Tuesday launched a long-shot effort to shield Medicaid and food stamps from GOP cuts. The Democrats are pushing a procedural gambit, known as a discharge petition, that would force a House vote on legislation protecting the two low-income benefit programs from cuts under President Trump’s “big beautiful bill.