In January 2025, Barrett signed a performative letter to House Republican leadership imploring them not to pursue large spending cuts to the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid or SNAP. However, in February 2025, Barrett voted for a bill that directed the House Energy and Commerce Committee to make $880 billion worth of cuts. It has been widely reported that House Republicans would have to cut Medicaid in order to achieve that goal.
Barrett has attacked Michiganders’ access to affordable health care in the past. In 2022, he said he opposed the Inflation Reduction Act and its provision that capped insulin costs at $35 per month. While in the state legislature he voted against repealing a provision of Michigan law that made it nearly impossible for Michiganders to sue pharmaceutical companies for damages.
Barrett has claimed fears about Trump’s disastrous handling of the economy were irrational. Barrett has defended DOGE despite the chaos it has caused in Michigan and across the U.S. from mass layoffs of federal workers, to funding freezes causing chaos for farmers, food banks, preschools, and police, to the longer wait times and frequent website outages it has caused at the Social Security Administration. Barrett also defended Trump’s proposed cuts to NIH funding despite the fact that it would be a “deathblow” to medical research at Michigan State University in his district. 70 percent of Barrett’s March 2025 tele-town hall attendees said they disapproved of DOGE.
During his 2024 campaign, Barrett faced controversy when his campaign ran an ad with the incorrect election date in a Black-owned newspaper in Michigan. Black lawmakers in Michigan filed a complaint alleging he tried to disenfranchise Black voters and pointing out that his campaign ran a similar advertisement in a different newspaper with the correct election date. Barrett’s campaign claimed the incident was a “minor error” and the situation was “much ado about nothing.” The Michigan Attorney General ended up sending the Barrett campaign a cease and desist notice over the ad.
Barrett Supported Pharma Over Michiganders
Barrett Supported Attacks On Social Security And Medical Research
Barrett Told Black Voters To Vote On The Wrong Day