By Lauren Rapp
New Yorkers criticized U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis last week after she voted in favor of a House budget proposal they said could lead to cuts for healthcare programs — staging two separate protests, including a “die-in” — outside her office.
Last month, Malliotakis — and all Republican members of the House of Representatives voted in favor of a budget framework that called for $2 trillion in spending cuts and the extension of tax cuts implemented in Trump’s first term.
Opponents of the plan argued it could slash funding for Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and New York State’s Child Health Plus and Essential Plan programs.
On Friday afternoon, residents and community groups chanted “hands off our healthcare” and “healthcare over billionaire welfare” while holding a lifesize cut out of Malliotakis outside her Bay Ridge office. They were there to hand-deliver a petition urging the representative to hold a town meeting for her constituents, oppose cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, and push for state and local governments to supplement lost federal funding. As of March 21, that petition had amassed 350 signatures.
The protest was supported by organizing groups Popular Democracy, MoveOn Civic Action, and Indivisible Brooklyn.
“Congresswoman Malliotakis has failed to answer constituent questions about her decision to vote in support of a budget resolution that will slash hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for Medicaid and food assistance,” said Bay Ridge resident Irene Xanthoudakis at the protest.
Another attendee, Christina Carter, works as a clinical psychologist. Part of her motivation to attend the rally stemmed from working with patients heavily reliant on Medicaid, she said.
“The system, as it is, has tons of gaps, these budget cuts not only turn those gaps into chasms that the most vulnerable in society can and will fall through,” shared Carter in an email. “They also have a downstream effect that will threaten our already fragile healthcare system as whole.”
Both neighbors shared concerns that Malliotakis has failed to respond to repeated requests to hold a town hall meeting to discuss budget cuts.
Malliotakis’ office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“Representative Malliotakis can either choose to vote with Elon Musk and his billionaire friends, or she can vote to protect hundreds of thousands of constituents who depend on Medicaid and SNAP benefits,” said Jon Green, a Bay Ridge resident and organizer with Popular Democracy.
Following the passage of the budget proposal, the United States House Committee on Ways & Means, led by Chairman Jason Smith, described the proposal in a statement as a “big, beautiful reconciliation bill” that supports the expansion of “Trump Tax Cuts” and increases national security.
“It also opens the door for new resources to secure America’s borders and strengthen national security as well as end the bureaucratic blockade standing in the way of American energy dominance,” stated the Ways & Means office.
Congressional Democrats disagreed.
“The reckless Republican budget will cut taxes up to $4.5 trillion for the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected, and then they are sticking working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans with the bill,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said after the vote last month. “They’re going to slash and burn Medicaid, slash and burn veterans benefits and slash and burn nutritional assistance for children and families.”
On March 22, the day after the petition was delivered, residents and community groups gathered outside Malliotakis’ office for a “die-in.”
Protesters marched with handmade tombstone signs that held messages like “DOGE cut my Medicaid” and “Medicaid cuts killed me” written beside skulls and crossbones. Some laid on the ground in front of Malliotakis’ office, holding their tombstone signs above their heads to create a mock graveyard.
Lee Crawford, a representative from Indivisible Brooklyn, told Brooklyn Paper that the rally turnout was larger than expected, and earned support from Make the Road New York, Metro New York Health Care for All, and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
Crawford estimates around 200 residents attended the march, and more than 50 people participated in the “die-in.”
Indivisible Brooklyn has been talking to NY-11 constituents for the past five weeks, Crawford said, and they have become “increasingly alarmed” following Malliotakis’ vote last month.
“They [NY11 constituents] had started to ask us on their own about when there would be a protest at her office, so they were energized to join this march,” stated Crawford.
Mark Hannay, the Director of Metro NY Health Care for All, said over 300,000 of Malliotakis’ constituents are enrolled in Medicaid and Child Health Plus, including nearly 21,000 people living with disabilities — according to Medicaid Matters New York.
“It will not only harm individuals and families, but will affect the hospitals, community health centers, nursing homes, and home care programs that everybody relies on, no matter what kind of health insurance someone may have,” stated Hannay.
The House resolution is just one step in a much longer budget reconciliation process. Last month, the Senate approved a competing framework — and in the coming months, the bodies will have to agree on a common budget resolution. If passed, the bill will be sent to President Donald Trump for approval.