Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The panel, which is responsible for health care, tax and other policy provisions, is expected to release its chunk of the budget reconciliation package Tuesday afternoon. House GOP-authored Medicaid provisions, in particular, have been a sticking point for a small group of Senate Republicans.
What those changes on the Senate side of the bill might look like could jump start or stall the momentum of the massive legislative package in the upper chamber.
Hawley, R-Mo, is among that cohort and has long been outspoken in his position that if Senate Republicans produce a version of the president’s "big, beautiful bill" that strips benefits from his constituents, he won’t support the package. But his vision for Medicaid clashes with fiscal hawks who are in search of deeper spending cuts.
'FULLY JUSTIFIED': GRAHAM PLOWS AHEAD WITH TRUMP BORDER FUNDING DESPITE PAUL'S OBJECTIONS
Trump's bill was sent to the Senate after the House passed it. (AP; Getty; Fox News Digital)
Hawley said the addition was certainly a sweetener for his support, considering that the measure has been his "leading legislative priority for two years now." Still, Medicaid is one of his top issues in the broader reconciliation fight.
The lawmaker said that he did not have a problem with some of the marquee changes to Medicaid that his House Republican counterparts wanted, including stricter work requirements, booting illegal immigrants from benefit rolls and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the program that serves tens of millions of Americans.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
However, he noted that about 1.3 million Missourians rely on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and contended that most were working.
"These are not people who are sitting around, these are people who are working," he said. "They’re on Medicaid because they cannot afford private health insurance, and they don't get it on the job."
"And I just think it's wrong to go to those people and say, ‘Well, you know, we know you're doing the best, we know that you're working hard, but we're going to take away your healthcare access,’" he continued.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox
Subscribed
You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/its-wrong-hawley-warns-senate-gop-not-boot-americans-from-medicaid-trump-megabill