AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

We go right now to Capitol Hill. Republican leaders have — well, appear to have convinced enough far-right holdouts to win passage of President Trump’s budget bill, the sweeping package of tax cuts for the wealthy, deep cuts to social programs, including Medicaid and SNAP food assistance, and massive amounts of new funding for immigration enforcement and detention. The Congressional Budget Office says the bill will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates some 17 million people could lose health insurance over the next decade, as well, if the bill is approved.

For more, we go to Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from Silicon Valley, from California, vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Congressmember, thanks so much for joining us. To say the least, as we broadcast, this is a very tense moment on Capitol Hill and around the country. Tell us what’s happening.

REP. RO KHANNA: Unfortunately, it looks like the Republicans will cave to Donald Trump’s wishes again. This bill is likely to pass in the next hour or so. It is unprecedented, in that it takes, literally, from the working poor. It makes people in the country who are in the bottom 30%, working hard to make — pay their bills, poorer, because it’s stripping away healthcare from them, stripping away food assistance from them. And it is all in the name of giving tax breaks to the wealthiest. The top 60% in this country benefit — the top 20% in this country get 60% of the benefits.

AMY GOODMAN: So, on the one hand, you have this massive cut for Medicaid. What, 17 million people, it’s estimated, up to, could lose their Medicaid. And you have this massive increase in ICE funding, with President Trump, as you were all dealing with this on Capitol Hill — goes to what he calls “Alligator Alcatraz” to inaugurate the building of a new ICE jail, what the Florida governor called a “one-stop shop,” a jail of — leading up to 5,000 beds on an airstrip, so people can be first detained and then deported.

REP. RO KHANNA: Well, you have not only the massive increase in funding on — for border security, without any consideration of human rights — and you just had Mr. Khalil on, which was a case of the violation of human rights — but it’s also a violation of many Americans’ rights. I mean, Americans now are afraid of who they can befriend or who they can love. They’re afraid of giving a co-worker, who may not have the right status, a loan or assistance. They’re afraid of going out and protesting if in their groups they may have people who are immigrants. We are creating in this country control over people. And that’s impacting not just the rights of immigrants, it’s impacting our freedoms as Americans.

AMY GOODMAN: Notice, the news organization, is reporting that President Trump met with Republicans yesterday and told them, “I’ve told you there are three things you can’t cut: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.” And apparently one of the congressmembers said, “But you are cutting Medicaid.” What is going on here? And this latest news we’re getting as this debate goes forward, that he’s saying he can fix things by executive order.

REP. RO KHANNA: Well, he’s hoping that he can, through rhetoric, just deceive people. The reality, as you pointed out, is 17 million people are going to be cut off health insurance. This cuts almost a trillion dollars from Medicaid. It stops states from charging a provider tax, which helps them fund rural hospitals, that the federal government reimburses. It caps the amount they can do that. Everyone knows that’s going to hurt rural hospitals and healthcare services. It puts a huge amount of paperwork for people who want Medicaid, and we all know from the Arkansas experience that’s going to mean less people on Medicaid. So, it is making massive cuts, unprecedented cuts, like we’ve not seen since 1965. And the president hopes he can just go out there and say that, “Well, it doesn’t cut Medicaid.” And they’ve delayed some of the cuts in the bill to not happen before the midterm elections.

But our task is to get the facts out there to the American people that these are the most devastating cuts, all to finance tax breaks for the billionaires. The reality is, 60% of the tax breaks in this bill go to people over $220,000. And, Amy, one thing to understand, this is so much worse than either the previous George Bush tax cuts or the Trump tax cuts, because those tax cuts were skewed towards the wealthy, but they didn’t take away from the working class. This is making the working class worse off and enriching the richest in our society.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you say to Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who said this is not a good bill for Americans, but she got what she needed for the people of Alaska. What about these deals that are being cut, both for senators and for congressmembers, House members?

REP. RO KHANNA: Well, it really goes to how you view your role as a member of Congress or a senator. If I were to view my role as I only am going to vote for everything that would benefit Silicon Valley, well, I should be lined up, probably the first person, to support this bill, because the billionaires in my district are going to do very well. The trillion-dollar corporations are going to do very well. But my view is that I’m not there to just represent the corporations in my district, I’m not there to represent the working and middle class in my district, but I’m there to think about what’s going to be good for America.

And the reality is, the central issue for America is we can’t be a nation half-prosperous and half in decline and in despair. And so, I’m afraid that Lisa Murkowski views her role through parochial interests. And that’s how they’ve gotten some of these holdout senators and some of these holdout members of Congress. But it is a betrayal of people, and it’s why the trust in government is so low.

AMY GOODMAN: So, some are saying the silver lining for Democrats is it could win them the midterm elections. But many are asking, “What do the Democrats offer?” You have here in New York, the state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who has defied all the odds, had 1% name recognition, has now won the Democratic primary against the stalwart, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the significance of what he represented as he talked about sustainability, free buses, child care, as he talked about what it means to afford to live in the United States, in our case, in New York City. What does he represent to the rest of the country, Congressmember Khanna, to your colleagues in the House?

REP. RO KHANNA: He represents grassroots activism. He represents seeing people who have been unseen, who are struggling, who have economic discontent. He represents building a coalition around issues of affordability. And the Democratic Party would be wise to have a bold platform going into 2026. That means taxing the wealthy, taxing the billionaires in my district. It means child care, $10 a day. It means Medicare for All. It means a real plan to create good jobs in this country, especially when you have AI displacing entry-level jobs. It means a thousand trade schools and free public college. We need to address the affordability crisis. We need to address the crisis of a lack of good-paying jobs in America. And I call it a new economic patriotism.

But the point is that Democrats need a bold economic vision. That, to me, is the biggest lesson of Mamdani. And I think these people who are attacking Mamdani gratuitously are doing so because they fear a new generation that is more in touch with the economic struggles of people, that wants a bolder vision for the party. And frankly, they need to step aside to allow for a new generation.

AMY GOODMAN: And what do you say to President Trump, who has threatened to arrest and deport the U.S. citizen Zohran Mamdani?

REP. RO KHANNA: It’s just so un-American. I mean, you know, the remarkable part of America is New York can produce Zohran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Donald Trump. And as different as they are, we usually celebrate in this country the extraordinary multiracial democracy we are. And when Trump is threatened in any way, for him to lash out at people just undermines what this country stands for.

And I was so disappointed. You know, I have to mention this. There was a colleague of mine who criticized Mamdani as uncivilized because he ate food with his hands. Now, of course, we eat pizza with our hands and hamburgers with our hands. But that reminded me of the British criticism of Gandhi and Indians and my grandfather, who was — fought in India’s independence movement, as being uncivilized because of the way they ate. You know, it was America that actually helped — 

AMY GOODMAN: Five seconds.

REP. RO KHANNA: — helped India defeat colonialism. And it’s sad to see echoes of colonial rhetoric here in the halls of the United States Congress.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressmember Ro Khanna, we thank you so much for being with us. Tune in to our July 4th special. I’m Amy Goodman.