U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R–Missouri) spoke to the news media via conference call on Tuesday, May 2 about federal spending on health, education, defense and flood recovery.
The St. Louis American, along with other news outlets, requested that Blunt comment on the Republican healthcare bill. The bill may be up for a vote in the House within days. Though he said he was in support of “getting moving” on the “repeal and replace” legislation, Blunt remained tight-lipped about whether he would actually support the healthcare bill if it makes it to the Senate.
When asked whether the proposed bill would eliminate funding for pre-existing conditions, Blunt replied that “no one knows if that’s accurate … even the president and House leaders seem to have a different view of that question than they did a week ago.”
Blunt added, “We’ll decide [on the question of pre-existing conditions] once it passes the House.”
The senator further shifted responsibility away from the Senate, asserting that “the Department of Health and Human Services can make a lot of changes here” after the bill passes the House and Senate.
He opened the call by talking about the government appropriations bill for this year, saying that it would include an increase for National Institute of Health funding, new grants to combat opioid abuse, and a significant increase in defense spending – specifically, increased military airplane manufacturing. Blunt also mentioned an increase in Pell higher education grant funding to help support low-income students for a full year of college. The maximum Pell grant is set for a slight increase to $5,935 from $5,775.
When asked about funding for school lunch programs, Blunt said he believes that local schools should control the content of their own lunches, instead of being held to larger-scale regulations. He said that students are more likely to want to eat food prepared like they’re used to, within their own communities, though he didn’t mention whether that food would have to meet statewide nutritional standards.
When asked about the government shutdown that President Trump has threatened for this coming September, Blunt said he understands the president’s perspective.
“We’ve been in the minority more than we’ve been in the majority for the past eight years, so I understand the president’s frustration,” he said. He noted that the U.S. system of government is “designed to do things slowly,” so the president’s hopes for rapid change immediately after his party has gained power may not be realistic.
Blunt spent a large portion of the call talking about the recent flooding in Missouri, and said it seems increasingly likely that the state will require federal funding to combat flood damage
Blunt ended the conference call by expressing confidence in the Trump administration’s ability to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that the replacement bill was at the time nine votes away from the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate.
Sophie Hurwitz is an editorial intern for The St. Louis American from John Burroughs School.
