House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said cuts to Social Security and Medicare are “off the table” in ongoing budget negotiations with Democratic leadership.
McCarthy was interviewed Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” with Margaret Brennan about his Wednesday meeting with President Joe Biden and the GOP’s plans for fiscal responsibility. Brennan asked McCarthy whether Republicans are considering any reductions to Social Security and Medicare as part of negotiations to raise the debt ceiling.
“Let’s take those completely off the table,” McCarthy said. “If you read our commitment to America, all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security. I know the president says he doesn’t want to look at it, but we have to make sure we strengthen those,” he continued. (RELATED: REPORT: McCarthy, Jeffries Developing Warm Relationship On Capitol Hill)
Brennan responded by asking McCarthy specifically about the possibility of lifting the retirement age for Medicare and Social Security. “No. I’m talking about Social Security and Medicare, keep that to the side,” McCarthy said. Later in the interview, he reassured Brennan “[w]e take social security off the table” after she pressed him about his plan for making government more efficient.
McCarthy’s comments come after former President Donald Trump told Republicans “[u]nder no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security” in a video posted to TRUTH Social on Jan. 20.
Republicans agreed to freeze the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget at 2022 spending levels as part of negotiations to elect Speaker McCarthy. They did not specify where the cuts would come from in the official House rules package that resulted from the negotiations.