Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) faced swift fact-checking on Tuesday after falsely claiming that President Donald Trump had “shut off Medicaid” in response to reports of website outages. The misinformation quickly spread as left-wing media figures and activists latched onto a narrative that crumbled under scrutiny.
The controversy began when Ocasio-Cortez quote-tweeted a post from the progressive group More Perfect Union, which cited Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) alleging that Medicaid portals were down nationwide. Without verifying the claim, the New York congresswoman issued an unequivocal statement: “Trump shut off Medicaid.” The Bronx Democrat tweet-quoted Wyden, who wrote on X: “My staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night’s federal funding freeze. This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed.”
However, reality quickly caught up. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt promptly addressed the situation, clarifying that while the Medicaid website had experienced a temporary outage, payments and coverage remained unaffected. “The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage,” Leavitt stated, adding, “We have confirmed no payments have been affected—they are still being processed and sent. We expect the portal will be back online shortly.”
Despite the clarification, Ocasio-Cortez’s false claim had already spread rapidly among her followers and progressive media circles, adding fuel to the misinformation cycle. Trump supporters and conservatives quickly called out Ocasio-Cortez for spreading misinformation. “FAKE NEWS!” exclaimed Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump campaign advisor. Others highlighted what they see as a recurring pattern of Democrats pushing false narratives to attack Trump, especially as he continues to be a dominant force following his historic 2024 victory.
The Trump administration has implemented a temporary pause on all federal grants and loans, as outlined in an internal memo from the White House budget office. The pause is intended to ensure compliance with the president’s executive orders, particularly those aimed at curbing spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, clean energy programs, and foreign aid.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), under Acting Director Matthew Vaeth, issued the directive on Monday, mandating a review of all federal financial assistance programs to align spending with President Trump’s policy priorities. The memo noted that over $3 trillion of the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget was allocated to grants and loans, underscoring the administration’s intent to reassess these expenditures. The Trump administration has also repeatedly stated that no benefits going to individual Americans — like Medicaid — have been paused.
