Senate Republicans are defending their changes to federal Medicaid spending in their final push to pass President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill before Independence Day, arguing that the bill does not technically cut the health insurance program for disabled and low-income people.

Republican leadership has insisted for weeks that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is not primarily a healthcare reform package, but reductions in Medicaid spending have been a crucial piece to recoup some of the costs from the sweeping tax cuts that take center stage in the legislation.