WASHINGTON — The House is expected to vote late Tuesday on a sweeping budget resolution — the first major legislative push for President Trump's agenda — putting several California Republicans in a tricky position over whether to defend potential cuts to popular programs such as Medicaid.

The vote comes after weeks of intense wrangling from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who will have to muster support for the budget from a Republican conference with diverse needs — including several Californians who represent vulnerable swing districts. Whether it would make it to the House floor remained in question late Tuesday, as Johnson raced around the chamber, trying to shore up support with his narrow Republican majority.

Johnson is presenting a budget blueprint in the form of "one big, beautiful bill" backed by Trump, which would set targets for government spending and revenues that would then allow Republicans to pass more detailed legislation later this year.

The speaker's goal is to present the first large legislative package on the priorities Trump has outlined in his many executive orders, including funding priorities to boost immigration, cut taxes and bolster the economy. His proposal entails $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years.

The proposal directs certain committees to identify where to make those reductions. One of the most controversial programs facing major cuts is Medicaid, which funds health care for more than 72 million Americans. The Energy and Commerce Committee, which is responsible for Medicaid, is tasked with cutting $880 billion.

Republicans representing swing congressional districts in California — including Reps. David Valadao, R-Hanford, and Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills — must decide whether to support their party's agenda at whatever cost, or face potentially disastrous blowback in their home communities for agreeing to cut Medicaid.

In Valadao's 22nd congressional district in particular, 67% of the population is on Medi-Cal, as Medicaid is known in California — the highest percentage in the state, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

"The Republican budget is going to take health care away from millions of working Americans, and even children, to pay for a tax cut that Elon Musk and Republican billionaire donors asked for," Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said at a news conference Tuesday. "This vote doesn't just open the door to Medicaid cuts, it guarantees them."

House leaders repeatedly emphasized Tuesday that the budget outline does not include cuts to Medicaid. But Johnson refused to commit to fully funding the program, and instead laid the groundwork to justify future cuts.

"Everybody is committed to preserving Medicare benefits for those who desperately need it and deserve it and qualify for it," Johnson said. "What we're talking about is rooting out the fraud, waste and abuse."

A passing vote would allow the budget proposal to move into committees, to hammer out the details. But in addition to the Republicans worried about Medicaid, others concerned about the national debt were hoping for deeper spending cuts.

Democrats have seized on the potential hit to Medicaid in their messaging in recent weeks, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee telling supporters in an email over the weekend that Republicans want to "rip away health care and food from American families."

Residents have been gathering across Southern California to blast the impending cuts. "Rep. Young Kim, don't take away our healthcare on Tuesday!" cried a sign at an Orange County protest Monday.

Congress has until March 14 to pass a budget or risk a government shutdown.

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