For at least a few moments during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden actually seemed like he built a consensus among Republicans and Democrats in Congress that making cuts to Social Security and Medicare was off the table for the remainder of his time in the White House.
The fascinating and largely unscripted exchange started with Biden saying, “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.”
That drew boos and groans from many Republicans in the chamber and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) shook his head and appeared to be saying “no,” with all the commotion bringing Biden off the teleprompter in reaction.
“I’m not saying it’s the majority of you. But it’s being proposed by individuals. I’m politely not naming them but it’s being proposed by some of you,” Biden said, at which point members of the audience continued to yell back in disagreement and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) could be seen shouting “liar.”
After the back-and-forth, Biden took it as an opportunity to interpret the Republican reaction as agreement that Republicans don’t want to make cuts to the entitlement programs after all.
“So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now?” That brought the audience to its feet in applause. “All right—we got unanimity,” Biden said.
He continued to say that Social Security and Medicare are lifelines for millions of seniors and that working Americans are entitled to these benefits since they’ve paid into the system.
“So tonight, let’s all agree—and we apparently are—let’s stand up for seniors,” he continued, bringing the audience back to its feet. “If anyone tries to cut Social Security—which apparently nobody is going to do—if anyone tries to cut Medicare, I’ll stop them and veto it.”
‘Unfair statement’ kicks off commotion
After the speech, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) told CNN in a televised interview, “When you heard a lot of the outbursts… it’s when the President was I think blatantly saying something that he knows is not true,” adding that Biden suggested many Republicans want to “sunset” Social Security and Medicare, “and it’s just simply not a fact,” Johnson said. “We’ve been very clear about our intention to save those programs, and we thought that that was just an unfair statement.”
Johnson said Republicans have made a commitment to save Social Security and Medicare. “What we understand is you’ve got to solidify the foundations of those programs so that we can maintain them. They’re on a trajectory to go bankrupt in less than 10 years. So we have to fix it,” he said. “We need grownups in the room to make tough decisions on our budgeting going forward, and we’re counting on the White House to have a good-faith negotiation with us. It’s not a good start to misstate the position of the other side, and I think that’s what my colleagues were reacting to.”
“We’ve been very clear about our intention to save those programs, and we thought that that was just an unfair statement.”
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA)
There has been plenty of talk about the need to shore up Medicare and Social Security, and debate over whether Republicans would use the entitlement programs as a bargaining chip to achieve spending cuts in upcoming negotiations to raise the debt ceiling.
When asked about potential reductions to Social Security and Medicare during a recent appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation, McCarthy said, “No. Let’s take those off the table.” When pressed further, McCarthy added: “Yeah. I mean, if you read our commitment to America, all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security.”
SEE ALSO:
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• Social Security Benefits Need 23% Cut in 2034 Without Action: CBO