Dems Sound Alarm on Trump’s Quiet Bid to Raise Prescription Prices

Donald Trump’s first week in office was defined by a torrent of executive orders and proclamations, with the president openly hailing the beginning of a transformative era of American politics. While Trump is more than happy to brag about the orders he’s signed cracking down on undocumented migrants, targeting transgender Americans, and banning DEI, there’s one order he won’t be bragging about any time soon. 

Hours after taking office, Trump’s White House announces a bulk repeal of dozens of executive orders and directives signed by former President Joe Biden. Among them were actions lowering health care costs and improving insurance access and quality for Americans. Democrats have taken note. 

Executive Order 14087, titled “Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans,” signed by Biden in October 2022 and axed by Trump last week, directed the Department of Health and Human Services to implement new payment models that would lower drug costs — including proposed $2 copays for generic drugs — and improve access to emerging experimental cancer treatments for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees. 

Trump also rescinded several other Biden era health care policies, including an expansion of the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment period for government managed health insurance policies, expanding Medicaid eligibility for postpartum women, and increased health care outreach funding to states. 

Democrats responded by calling out Trump’s starting-line repeal of health care policies he publicly claimed to support throughout his campaign. 

“He campaigned on bringing down costs for the American people on Day 1 — but he broke that promise on Day 1 when he BLOCKED a program that cut Rx drug prices for seniors and working families, KOWTOWING to his Big Pharma donors,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wrote on X. 

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) questioned why Trump would take executive action that “gives [pharmaceutical companies] a break while raising costs for seniors,” when the “top 10 pharmaceutical companies made more than $500 billion in profit last year.” 

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Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) noted on X: “Pharma CEOs dined with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Billionaires sat in the front row of his inauguration. And, on Day 1, Trump killed a Biden program to guarantee $2 generic drugs for seniors.  

“Trump is making clear who he serves, and it is not the American people,” he added. 

“By undoing actions to lower prescription drug costs on Day One, President Trump is making it clear that his presidency will be a golden age for billionaires and big corporations, not for hardworking families,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) wrote on social media. 

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Adam Green — co-founder of the Progressive Change Institute — said: “Democrats are showing a big lesson learned in the aftermath of the 2024 election. They’re picking clean fights with Donald Trump that position him as corruptly betraying working families while Democrats are challenging corporate greed on behalf of working families.”

While Democrats hold the minority in both chambers of Congress, their ability to legislatively counter Trump’s agenda is all but nonexistent. They can, however, ensure the American public knows exactly who is screwing them over.