House GOP Eyes Social Security, Medicare Amid Spending Battle - Types Of Gardening

© Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters The GOP wants to cut federal spending and some Republicans want to discuss changes to Social Security and Medicare. Above, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks before the House.

House Republicans have begun considering several bills targeting Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs as part of a broader campaign to cut federal spending to address some of the world's toughest and most sensitive issues facing American politics. . .

In the weeks since they took control of the House of Representatives, GOP lawmakers, led by new Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), have promised tough austerity measures and asserted that their efforts are helping to improve the state's fiscal health. They have expressed a willingness to use the debt ceiling war and the threat of financial doomsday to demand major policy concessions from the Biden administration.

The party has so far focused on cutting billions of dollars, likely to federal health, education, science and jobs programs. But some Republicans have taken a hard look at entitlements, which exceed annual government spending and represent some of the biggest fiscal challenges facing the United States.

In recent days, a group of GOP lawmakers have asked special committees to recommend changes to Social Security and Medicare to address the real affordability problems that will result in benefit cuts over the next decade. Other party members have reintroduced more detailed plans to cut spending, including raising the Social Security retirement age to 70, aimed at younger Americans who don't yet receive federal benefits.

"We have no choice but to make tough decisions," said Rep. Kevin Hearn (R-Okla.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of more than 160 conservative lawmakers. Year "Everybody should see everything."

Any plan to amend the bill would likely face stiff opposition in the Democratic-led Senate and lack significant support among other Republicans in the House. Adding to the political challenge, former President Donald Trump joined Friday's debate and publicly warned that his party would not "cut a dime from Medicare or Social Security."

Democrats, for their part, have been blunt in their criticism, saying that millions of Americans could see their benefits eroded by a new GOP majority in the House of Representatives. President Biden has said he will not discuss such a deal with Republicans as he prepares to discuss various financial issues with McCarthy in the coming days.

"It has to be done unconditionally, and we don't have to save the core programs that the American people really deserve and care about — Social Security, health care, they shouldn't be saved," the press secretary told the White House. Karin Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday.

The primary debate highlights the concerns as Republicans seek aggressive ways to limit federal spending. At a time of high and ever-increasing debt, partisan decisions can have many impacts: changes that threaten dramatic changes in the finances of millions of Americans, not to mention GOP political prospects, for everyone in Washington, big and small.

"We have to take this very, very seriously, and the sad thing is that everybody knows it," said Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), the lead lawmaker on the House Ways and Means Committee, which focuses on taxes. Social Security Status and Medicare.

But, Buchanan says, the first political shooters on the issue threaten to make any meaningful resolution impossible. Both parties must work together, he said, otherwise Republicans could face political confusion alone.

"It's a good way to get fired quickly," he said.

Republicans have begun drafting a new tax road map. To increase their influence, they cut spending in support of raising the debt ceiling, the legal limit on how much the United States can repay its debt.

Unless Congress passes a new cap or ends the current cap, the government is expected to breach the cap this summer, triggering a historic and catastrophic collapse that could send the economy into recession. Last week, the Treasury Department began taking what it called "extreme measures" to prevent the government from hitting the cap until at least early June.

Hoping to bring senior Democrats and the White House to justice, GOP leaders have given the first sign of their favorite deep cuts: some Republicans have proposed reducing fiscal 2022 spending to authorized levels, which means government cuts could exceed $130 billion. . Others are anticipating new cuts to key federal agencies and programs that Democrats have described as devastating in hopes of cutting domestic spending over the next decade.

Sign up for The Early 202 to get insightful political analysis and responsible journalism in your inbox every morning.

But GOP leaders have not said exactly what would be cut, including funding for the military and veterans, or which specific areas could be blocked. Instead, next week they promised to come up with a plan to balance the budget over the next 10 years.

But keeping the Fed balanced is no easy task: Republicans who have taken steps to eliminate the deficit have cheated and other fiscal magic and achieved balanced budgets only on paper. That task is especially difficult now, when the GOP could be asked to identify more than $14 trillion in cuts by 2032, according to the Federal Budget Accountability Committee, which supports deficit reduction.

So far, Republicans are considering representing only a portion of the government's overall ledger, including mandatory spending, which includes a portion of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and other federal payments. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), spending in fiscal year 2021 was $4.8 trillion.

Social Security and Medicare are funded by payroll taxes collected from employers and employees. The programs are popular and a financial lifeline for many Americans: An average of 66 million seniors will receive a Social Security check each month by 2022, according to the federal government. The latest personal estimates are that more than 59 million people are enrolled in the Medicare plan.

But these rights face annual shortfalls, especially as the number of Americans in retirement grows faster than the fixed income of the two programs. The complicated financial picture has led CBO to conclude that the trust fund could run out if Social Security goes bankrupt by 2033, reducing monthly pension benefits by 23 percent if Congress does not act. Meanwhile, Medicare's flagship hospital trust fund faces similar challenges in 2028, with its trustees threatening Americans' access to health care.

Chief executive Paul van de Water said: "This means a significant reduction in payments to Social Security beneficiaries who have very little income and if their benefits are suddenly cut off." Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-wing think tank.

The looming deadline has encouraged some Republicans in Washington to look at two programs that are seen as the third rail of American politics. GOP lawmakers have been advised by several right-wing groups, the Heritage Foundation, that the new majority should consider significant changes to entitlements as part of GOP lawmakers' promise to cut spending and balance the budget.

Rachel Graessler, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the country is "on the brink of bankruptcy," adding, "You can't get out of where you are without allowing the program."

In the first sign of their interest, House GOP leaders included "mandatory spending" as a legislative priority during a meeting with key lawmakers earlier this month. But Republicans have not made clear what they want to fix in Social Security and health care. Assistant Chairman of the Future Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-Mod.), said this week that "tying these programs to the debt ceiling was not part of the discussion." There was one

Other GOP leaders have rejected outright cuts to seniors who currently receive benefits, leaving the door open for discussion of other proposed legislation.

"You have to protect Medicare and Social Security. And the way the Democrats do it will fail," McCarthy told reporters last week. "Let's sit together and make the investments we need to protect Medicare and Social Security for generations to come, fix our homes, fix our spending, and make America stronger."

In a comprehensive roadmap released last year, the Republican Study Committee — the largest GOP group in the House of Representatives — called for sweeping changes to Social Security and health care. His plan would raise Medicare eligibility to 67, extend Social Security to 70 for younger workers, and change how benefits are calculated by allowing more private-sector plans. The proposal would allow lawmakers to review payroll taxes and provide private-sector pension options.

Republicans faced an onslaught of opposition to then-President George W. Bush's White House campaign after his 2004 election proposal to privatize Social Security. Eighteen years later, Biden and his top aides criticized GOP lawmakers in the 2022 race for trying to "deny benefits that seniors pay for." The president laid out some of his strong opinions for Sen. Rick Scott's (R-Fla.) proposal to have Congress reauthorize Social Security and Medicare every five years.

However, some Republican lawmakers have shown renewed interest in the plan. Earlier this month, Scott promised legislative reforms around the debt ceiling and now promises "the day of reckoning is coming". RSC leader Hearn said in a separate interview that lawmakers should be able to negotiate a bipartisan bill to change the retirement age "at least one dollar per child who doesn't pay payroll taxes."

"Nobody who needs Social Security now or expects to get it soon should be concerned," said Rep. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-Ga.), another Republican member of the study committee. He described the debt ceiling as a tool of political "extortion".

"As custodians of taxpayer dollars, we have a responsibility to keep Social Security and Medicare stable," he said.

Other lawmakers, wary of such a fight, have proposed creating a special committee to investigate attorney fees from both Democrats and Republicans. A member of the president's party, Sen. Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.), also reiterated his recent interest in the idea: This weekend he introduced a bipartisan bill originally drafted by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). It will analyze rights and facilitate the process when legislation related to such programs can be negotiated.

The idea may have some appeal in the House of Representatives, where Buchanan pointed to the bill, stressing the need to "work together and not make it so political." Another prominent Republican, Rep. Cody Arrington (R-Texas), led a group of Democratic and GOP lawmakers two years ago to call for a "special, bipartisan, bicameral bailout committee" to establish a federal trustee to investigate Social Security, Medicare and other funds. . . He wrote at that time.

As the new chairman of the House Budget Committee, Arrington will oversee Republicans' efforts to craft a plan that can eliminate deficits over the next decade. He previously approved changes to other federal assistance programs, including food stamps, aimed at imposing new job requirements on poor Americans. His office declined a request for comment.

But some lawmakers have expressed reservations about creating a new tax commission, fearing it would open the door to cuts targeting the elderly and those not yet eligible for Medicare and Social Security. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Twitter Saturday that such a body was "the last thing we need" and pointed to an attempt to hijack proposed program cuts.

"Instead, we should expand Social Security," Sanders said.

Speaking the next day on CNN's State of the Union, Manchin dismissed his liberal colleague's claims. "No cuts. No beneficiary reductions or beneficiary adjustments. They won," he said.

But Manchin did not rule out other changes, as he broke ties with his own party by urging Biden to discuss the debt ceiling with Republicans. “Can we basically write something that we're going to vote on? Let the people decide and see if we are ready to put our house in order,” the senator said.

In the White House, Biden and his top aides insisted that Republicans should not politicize the key fiscal term. But spokesman Jean-Pierre did not respond last week when asked if the White House had its own plan to avoid the bankruptcy of Social Security and Medicare, as he accused the GOP of "playing politics."

"We shouldn't be cutting programs that are important to the American people," he said.

Check out Morning Joe's highlights: January 18 | MSNBC