Recently, Congressman Rob Bresnahan (R, PA-08) made a pledge in the pages of your newspaper.

He said: 

“I ran for Congress under a promise of always doing what is best for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it.”

“Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District is home to more than 200,000 Medicaid recipients, amounting to 25 percent of the district.”

On Tuesday, he broke that pledge by voting for a budget resolution (President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”) that “many Republicans, particularly those representing swing districts where voters rely heavily on social safety net programs were hesitant to support... because of its strict instructions to cut spending that could affect those areas.”

He was not among the hesitant.

I do not accept his excuse: 

“Last night’s vote was a procedural step to start federal budget negotiations and does NOT change any current laws… My position on this has not and will not change.”

That procedural step could lead DIRECTLY to changing current law, and if you mean what you say, you would vote against it from the beginning. This is the coward’s way out—hope it never gets in the law so you will not be put in a position to deal with the consequences of voting for or against it.

Too late. You have voted, and I hope that in 2026 you suffer the consequences.

Pamela Arnold
Equinunk, PA