Congressman Gabe Evans (R-CO) made a rare public appearance today, holding a press conference in support of President Donald Trump’s budget bill. Evans, who cast a deciding vote in favor Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” (It passed 215-214), was flanked by four other GOP officials: U.S. Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Weld Sheriff Steve Reams, state Sen. Byron Pelton (R-Sterling) and state Rep. Carlos Barron (R-Fort Lupton). 

The five Republicans faced about 75 protesters who waved signs decrying Medicaid cuts and shouted slogans including, “Your bill kills!” and “Do your job!” Other than the handful of staffers accompanying the elected officials and a couple employees of the state NRA chapter, GOP supporters do not appear to have shown up. 

Evans ran the event, from opening and closing remarks to introducing the other speakers. He opened his defense of the bill with an attack on its critics, saying, “There is a lot of good in this bill for the people of Colorado, but that good is being lost by the blatant fear-mongering that is occurring on this bill.” He then listed various elements of the bill, starting with its spending increases for border security and immigration enforcement, then moving on to “tax cuts for working class Americans,” and finally insisting it will “protect Medicaid.” The protesters’ response to his mention of Medicaid made it difficult to hear as Evans moved on to his personal bio story from his campaign stump speech. 

Following Evans, each Republican spoke about the bill. Boebert highlighted the bill’s rollback of clean energy tax credits from the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, before calling out the high cost of overregulation, specifically, Colorado “schools and fire stations that have been overbuilt,” which she blamed on “radical leftists.”

Boebert wrapped her speech with one of her favorite subjects: guns. After saying the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting or target shooting, but rather “defending your freedom from a tyrannical government,” Boebert praised the bill for its repeal of part of a nearly century-old federal law that bans ownership of suppressors (silencers) without a federal license. She called silencers “safety devices to protect your hearing when you’re on the range or shooting in the field,” without specifying what those “in the field” might be aiming at.

When it came time for press questions, Evans was the only one to answer, except for one assist from Boebert.

Asked how many of the 200,000+ Medicaid patients in his district would lose their healthcare, Evans refused to give a number, instead repeating the three categories of people who will kicked off if Trump’s budget becomes law: “illegal immigrants, people who aren’t currently eligible, and able-bodied, working-age adults without dependents who choose not to work.” 

Health care experts note that of the third group, which represents the bulk of the expected cuts, approximately 80% are women, most of whom have left the workforce to care for sick or elderly family members.

Responding to a question about the bill’s impact on rural health care providers, Evans said he has “sat down with multiple community health centers to talk through this bill.” He mentioned that the bill would raise provider rates, before noting that it would save both the federal and state governments money by removing people from Medicaid.

Colorado Democrats held a virtual press conference following the GOP event that featured several legislators and health care professionals.

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, (D-Dillon) shared the state’s projection of 140,000 – 230,000 Coloradans who will lose their coverage if the bill passes. Joint Budget Committee Chair Jeff Bridges (D-Denver) pushed back against Evans’ claim that the cuts would save money, explaining that those who are kicked off Medicaid still receive health care, but through far more costly emergency room visits rather than via regular preventive care.

“Medicaid exists because it is less expensive to ensure that people get good healthcare coverage early in an illness, that they don’t end up in a hospital,” said Bridges. “Because when someone shows up at a hospital room, when they show up at an emergency department, they get coverage, they get care. Right? But that care isn’t paid for by anyone. It essentially gets shifted onto the backs of folks that have insurance. So having a robust, strong Medicaid system that is ensuring that providers… have some kind of reimbursement for this lowers costs for healthcare across the board. We’ve had a laser focus in the state on reducing premiums for Coloradans This bill will increase premiums.”

Sen. Judy Amabile (D-Boulder County) noted that savings from work requirements and doubling of qualification forms will be from eligible people getting dropped for paperwork reasons rather than fraud.

“The work requirements and having to re-prove that you qualify, that is how this is saving money for the federal government,” said Amabile. “People will get dropped in that process, but they aren’t necessarily the people who shouldn’t be on there. They are people who are disabled, who are working at the margin, who are barely hanging in there, and they’re the ones who have trouble complying with these regulations.”

Her point echoed that of Dr. Lauren Hughes, a family physician in Fort Lupton who expressed the same concerns just two weeks ago.

Besides Evans’ organizing and leadership of the press event, the freshman congressman stood out from his fellow elected officials in another way as well: he is the only one representing a swing district. Every other official standing with him represents a deep-red district and was elected by double-digit margins. Sheriff Reams has run unopposed in his last two elections. Evans, on the other hand, squeaked into office by fewer than 2,500 votes — one of the closest congressional races in the nation.