Lawmakers just wrapped a difficult special session. They could be back soon to address federal cuts.

It took months for Minnesota lawmakers to negotiate a $66 billion two-year budget that could pass in the most narrowly divided Legislature in state history.

But that hard-fought budget, passed in a special session this week, could have to be reworked later this year if Congress passes a federal spending bill that cuts funding to states. Gov. Tim Walz and DFL legislative leaders warned another special session could be necessary if federal legislation blows a hole in the state’s new budget.

“I’m concerned about the federal government’s budgetary actions and I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re back here this fall,” House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park said Monday night. “I hope they will think better of what they are doing and I hope they won’t cause budget troubles for the state of Minnesota, but it looks like they are on track to force us to come back.”

Walz told reporters Tuesday that he, too, is concerned lawmakers may have to return for a second special session to shore up the budget if Congress enacts “catastrophic” cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs.

The governor and Legislature already made spending cuts to head off a potential multibillion-dollar deficit.

Walz’s administration said last month that the tax and spending cuts being considered by Congress would cost Minnesota $844 million per year in federal funding and tax credits.

“If the bill passes anywhere near what it looks like now, we will be back,” Walz said Tuesday.

In budget negotiations this spring, Walz said he told state lawmakers to “focus on what we can control … but with an eye over the horizon.”

Republicans in Congress are pushing to enact legislation backed by President Donald Trump that would cut safety-net spending and impose work requirements on health and nutrition programs while also reducing income taxes, especially for those earning more than $217,000 a year.

Between 80,000 and 91,000 Minnesotans could lose Medicaid coverage under proposed work requirements, according to the Urban Institute. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that 45,000 Minnesota residents could lose access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps.

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she’s worried about how Medicaid cuts could affect the state’s budget and health care system.

The Legislature already made the decision to end MinnesotaCare health coverage for some 17,000 adult undocumented immigrants, which Murphy called “heart-wrenching.”

“The loss of 17,000 adults in MinnesotaCare saves us what we heard today, $15 million in the next year,” she said. “The predictions of cuts from Medicaid are upwards of $500 million a year, and it’s across the board - kids, families, people with disabilities, people in nursing homes.”

Murphy said she doesn’t believe her Republican colleagues have fully grasped the threat posed by the looming federal cuts. “They continue to say they don’t believe it will happen,” she said.

Asked about the issue Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said, “that’s all hypotheticals right now.”

House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said the Legislature should focus on the budget it just set rather than worrying about federal cuts that haven’t happened yet.

“If there are implications and effects here in the state of Minnesota, we’ll take a look at that and the governor would be able to call us back,” Demuth said. “But right now, we were able to complete the work for the state of Minnesota before July 1, and there is no government shutdown.”

House GOP Floor Leader Harry Niska of Ramsey suggested to reporters Monday that Walz’s “national political aspirations” could be fueling his talk of a second special session.

Asked about Niska’s comments Tuesday, the governor said he didn’t have much to say.

“I think we’re going to have to fix this,” Walz said, “and that’s my goal ... my No. 1 job is to keep folks in Minnesota safe and to pass balanced budgets.”

Republicans were adamantly opposed to increasing taxes in the budget passed this week, instead pushing for spending cuts. If Medicaid cuts wreck the state’s new two-year budget, Democrats say their GOP colleagues will need to be more open to new taxes.

“If they’re going to make huge cuts in Medicaid ... it’ll destroy Minnesota hospitals, it’ll destroy health care for a lot of people,” said Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. “We’re going to have to intervene then.”