For Immediate Release:
Suffield, Connecticut
April 22, 2026
Republican congressional candidate George Austin today said families in Connecticut’s 2nd District deserve more than “viral sound bites and hearings‑room theatrics” as health‑care costs continue to squeeze workers, seniors, and small businesses.
“People in eastern Connecticut aren’t looking for the next viral clip from Washington,” Austin said. “They’re looking for a health‑care system that doesn’t bankrupt them when they get sick.”
Austin pointed to Rep. Joe Courtney’s heated clash with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a recent House hearing as an example of what is wrong with politics in Washington.
“Joe Courtney didn’t go into that hearing intending to fix anything,” Austin said. “He went in to play a part—another long‑time Washington politician wagging his finger at Secretary Kennedy so he could get a clip on cable news, while families in eastern Connecticut are crushed by the costs of the system he helped build.”
For nearly two decades, Courtney has backed the same Washington‑run health‑care model that drove up costs and left families in CT‑02 struggling with premiums and deductibles. He’s supported that top‑down approach, fought efforts to rein in the bureaucracy, and voted for expansions and subsidies that pile more obligations onto taxpayers and Medicare without fixing the rules that actually drive prices and waste.
“Courtney’s record is clear,” Austin continued. “He helped lock in a failing system, fought attempts to check its out‑of‑control rulemaking, and now brags about expanding federal subsidies and pushing more people into an already strained Medicare program with no serious reform. That’s not protecting Medicare—that’s marching it toward bankruptcy.”
At last week’s hearing, Courtney spent his time attacking President Donald Trump’s comments about giving states more flexibility on Medicare and accusing Secretary Kennedy of wanting to “destroy” the program.
“That’s the typical D.C. playbook,” Austin said. “Use scary language, twist what’s being proposed, and hope nobody remembers you’ve been in office for nearly two decades while costs exploded. If Joe Courtney had spent half as much energy on solutions as he just did chasing a sound bite with Robert Kennedy, every family in eastern Connecticut would have cheaper health insurance today.”
Austin contrasted Courtney’s theatrics with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda led by President Trump and Secretary Kennedy—a vision he says actually matches what families in CT‑02 are facing.
“President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, through the MAHA movement, are finally talking about the real sources of our health‑care crisis: ultra‑processed food, chronic disease, environmental toxins, and a health cartel that makes money when Americans stay sick,” Austin said. “MAHA says we should measure success not by how loud politicians yell in hearings, but by whether families are actually healthier and can afford care without going broke. That’s exactly the conversation Joe Courtney ran away from.”
Austin vowed to defend Medicare for current seniors by focusing on health, solvency, and affordability—not more grandstanding.
“I stand with Secretary Kennedy and the MAHA movement,” Austin said. “I want to protect Medicare for today’s seniors by making Americans healthier and fixing what drives costs, not by loading the program with new unfunded promises until it breaks. As a small‑business owner in eastern Connecticut, I see what this broken system does to working families and retirees every day. They don’t need another performance from Joe Courtney. They need someone who shows up to fix problems, not to audition for the evening news.”
“Ultimately, this race is about a choice,” Austin concluded. “Joe Courtney, playing the part of the Washington incumbent—chasing headlines and defending a failing system—or a MAHA‑driven vision that actually puts health, solvency, and affordability first for eastern Connecticut.”
About George Austin
George Austin is a first‑generation American, small‑business owner, and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in Connecticut’s 2nd District. A Mexican American who built his career in the trades, he earned a degree in construction management and started his own construction company in eastern and north central Connecticut.
George and his family live in Suffield. He is running for Congress to fight for working families, create jobs, defend Medicare, protect life, and Make America Healthy Again.
