Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin wrote a letter urging his state’s Democratic governor to take steps to protect rural hospitals from the fallout of Republicans’ widely reviled budget bill — which Van Orden voted for.

Van Orden’s urgent letter, which was dated Wednesday ahead of the bill’s Thursday passage, added to the list of Republicans who have effectively acknowledged the legitimacy of widespread fears that Republicans’ Trump-backed budget will harm some of the most vulnerable Americans — even as many Republicans have suggested it won’t.

Van Orden’s letter essentially called on Gov. Tony Evers to hurry up and sign the state budget, in order to protect rural hospitals from some of the steep Medicaid cuts that are likely to be triggered by congressional Republicans’ megabill.

“I cannot emphasize enough the importance of signing the proposed state budget into law without delay,” Van Orden wrote. “As you are aware, timely enactment is especially critical this year due to the proposed increase in the state provider tax, which must be effectuated before the anticipated signing of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill on or around July 4, 2025.”

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Van Orden’s letter included flowery, Orwellian language touting the GOP bill as ensuring the solvency of BadgerCare, the name of Wisconsin’s Medicaid program, and “bolstering our rural healthcare systems,” but the gist of it was clear: The GOP budget is a threat to Medicaid and rural hospitals, and Wisconsin ought to act accordingly.

Ultimately, Evers and state lawmakers did rush to enact changes that will help Wisconsin’s rural hospitals. And Wisconsin Public Radio’s summary of the buzzer-beating bill signing seems to make clear that the GOP megabill stood to inflict serious financial damage on the state:

Wisconsin lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers raced Wednesday and into Thursday to enact a state budget before President Donald Trump could sign his sweeping budget bill into law.

The stakes were high. If Congress’s budget had become law first, Wisconsin could have lost out on more than $1 billion in federal funds to help the state pay for its BadgerCare medical assistance program and help hospitals offset losses from treating low-income patients. That’s because of sweeping changes to Medicaid in the federal bill.

One needn’t merely take liberals’ word when it comes to assessments of the megabill’s potentially catastrophic impacts on the country. Many Republicans themselves — Van Orden included — seem to understand the bill is primed to cause a great deal of harm.