President Joe Biden vowed on Tuesday to retain Social Security and Medicare on their current path to insolvency, threatening to reject any congressional efforts to slash benefits in the two key entitlement programs.
Republicans have threatened to defer raising the debt ceiling until the government budget is lowered. One of their proposals is to cut funding for social safety programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
Joe Biden To Retain Social Security, Medicare
“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s the majority,” Biden stated during his speech.
That elicited a shake of the head from Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was sitting behind Biden, as well as jeers from Republican House and Senate members. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) used the word “lie” several times.
This is when Biden deviated from his prepared remarks, saying, “anybody who doubts it, contact my office, and I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.” The president quickly added that not all Republicans support sunsetting Social Security and Medicare, but “it’s being proposed by some of you.”
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Republicans’ Proposal
Other Republicans have proposed reducing monthly payouts and/or raising the full retirement age in order to address a financing gap that will occur next decade when the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund runs out of money.
However, payroll taxes will continue to fund the vast majority of Social Security for decades to come.
To be fair, many Republicans openly oppose cutting Social Security. McCarthy previously stated that the GOP “won’t touch Medicare or Social Security” in the current debt-ceiling talks.
“If anyone tries to cut Social Security,” Biden said during the State of the Union address, “if anyone tries to cut Medicare, I will stop them. I will veto it.”
The president did not provide many detailed plans for the programs, other than stating that he aims to prolong the Medicare Trust Fund for at least two decades.
He also stated that he intends to reduce the government deficit by $2 trillion, mostly by “ensuring that the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair part.”
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