Republicans Signal Cuts To Social Security, Medicare With New House Majority

With their new majority in the 118th Congress, House Republicans intend to seek cuts to entitlement programs such as Social Security.

Their plans to target health care programs follow demands from a group of conservatives. In order to tackle the growing national debt, far-right lawmakers have sought across the board spending cuts.

McCarthy can afford to lose just four votes on any bill, which makes it hard for him to cut defense spending.

"I'm all for a balanced budget but we're not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military." If we want to talk about debt and spending, we need to talk about entitlements.

As part of his concessions to conservatives, McCarthy agreed to cap spending for the next year at fiscal 2022.

Roy said that Republicans don't plan to change Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Roy said on CNN that they are not going to touch the benefits that are going to people who rely on them. We have to be honest about how we are going to make those work, how we are going to deal with defense spending, and how we are going to deal with non defense discretionary spending.

The eligibility ages for Social Security and Medicare would be gradually increased under a proposal by the Republican Study Committee.

Democrats are likely to oppose those changes, as well as any cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and an ensuing standoff could lead to a government shut down. 35 days after a fight over Donald Trump's border policies and immigration, federal funding ended.

The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee warned last week that Republicans were "all but guaranteeing a shutdown" by demanding a cap on spending.

The cuts would hurt communities and families who are already struggling with inflation and the rising cost of living. They put support for military families at risk.

Arthur was a contributor.