Whether it’s because it was never in the plans as Republicans claim or because President Joe Biden ruined the original plan by outing it during his State of the Union address as Democrats claim, either way it seems that the current iteration of Congress has decided that any potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare are now “off the table.”
That’s according to House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, who spoke with George Stephanopoulos about the GOP’s goals of cutting spending in Washington.
“Those programs are going to be off the table, but everything else is on the table,” the Kentucky Republican said. “We’re not going to cut Social Security or Medicare. We’ve been very clear about that.”
Comer went on to outline why those two programs, depended on by so many elderly Americans who paid into them with contributions from their paychecks for decades, are set to remain immune from fiscal excisions.
“These are important programs to everyone,” Comer said. “There’s bipartisan support for Social Security and Medicare. If anything, we need to shore those programs up. They’re running out of money. But at the end of the day, those programs are going to be off the table with respect to cuts.”
Biden referenced potential Republican plans to cut deeply into the financial viability of both programs during his State of the Union address last week, drawing vocal derision from the Republican side of the chamber.
The President then goaded the GOP lawmakers into “agreeing” that cuts to Social Security and Medicare are a nonstarter in any negotiation and was awarded applause from both parties.
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