I wanted Sue in the room last week.

The last seven weeks with Republicans in charge have made everything worse: gutting programs that people rely on, skyrocketing grocery prices, and unprecedented diplomatic turmoil. The damage they have managed to do in such a short time isn't lost on hardworking people in our district.

Last week, I brought a special guest from Leominster to Trump's speech: Sue Koehler. Sue is a dedicated mother, community leader, and advocate for Americans with disabilities. She also relies on Medicaid to cover essential care for her son, Shawn, who has drug-resistant epilepsy.

Shawn's medications cost thousands of dollars each month. Medicaid helps cover the many specialists and treatments required just to keep him stable. Despite these setbacks, Shawn works at a local grocery store and gives back by volunteering at a food pantry — a testament to the life the support of Medicaid has helped him build.

Before Sue retired, her insurance covered some of Shawn's care and Medicaid covered the rest. Thankfully, Medicaid now covers everything, because without it, she doesn't know how they'd pay for his care.

Now, Trump and Congressional Republicans have put that all into jeopardy by pushing hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid in their budget. Why? Because their billionaire donors and greedy corporations demand even more tax breaks. And with Trump's backing, they jammed through a horrendous budget paving the way for $880 billion in extreme cuts to Medicaid.

I wanted Sue in the room that night, because Trump and his Republicans enablers should have to look into the eyes of the people they are going to hurt.

Sue didn't ask to be on the front lines of this fight — she just wants to know that this country has her back and Shawn's health care needs will be met.

And we will. I refuse to stand by while Republicans sell out working families to the highest bidder. Their actions are immoral, and just plain wrong, and I will expose their corruption at every opportunity.

More soon,

Jim