House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the debt ceiling agreement is just \u201cthe first step\u201d of the GOP\u2019s broader agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation<\/a> of any size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After securing a debt ceiling<\/a> agreement that caps federal spending and threatens food aid for hundreds of thousands<\/a> of poor adults, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made clear Wednesday that Republicans are not finished targeting the nation\u2019s safety net programs \u2014 and signaled a coming effort by the GOP to slash Social Security and Medicare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a Fox News appearance ahead of the House\u2019s passage<\/a> of the debt limit legislation, McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the measure is just \u201cthe first step\u201d of the GOP\u2019s broader agenda, which includes further cuts to federal programs and massive tax breaks<\/a> for the wealthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t the end. This doesn\u2019t solve all the problems,\u201d the Republican leader said of the House-passed bill, which would lift the debt ceiling until January 2025 \u2014 setting up another potential standoff shortly after the 2024 elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McCarthy lamented that President Joe Biden \u201cwalled off\u201d major components of the federal budget, including Social Security and Medicare, from cuts as part of the debt ceiling agreement \u2014 though McCarthy himself agreed to \u201ctake those off the table<\/a>\u201d in late January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe majority driver of the budget is mandatory spending. It\u2019s Medicare, Social Security, interest on the debt,\u201d the Republican speaker said Wednesday, adding that he intends to announce a bipartisan \u201ccommission\u201d to examine ways to cut such spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The progressive group Our Revolution responded<\/a> that \u201cit\u2019s never enough for the right wing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey want it all,\u201d the group wrote on Twitter. \u201cWe have to tell them NO.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch McCarthy\u2019s comments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea of forming a bipartisan commission to study and propose cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other non-discretionary spending is hardly new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) led a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers \u2014 including Sens. Joe Manchin<\/a> (D-W.Va.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) \u2014 in unveiling legislation<\/a> that would establish bipartisan panels to study and recommend changes to the nation\u2019s trust funds, a scheme modeled after the Obama-era Simpson-Bowles commission that recommended<\/a> Social Security cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The changes proposed by the so-called \u201crescue committees\u201d would then receive expedited votes in the House and Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advocacy groups have described the Romney legislation, known as the TRUST Act, as an insidious ploy<\/a> to cut Medicare and Social Security behind closed doors. Republicans have also proposed<\/a> raising the Social Security retirement age, a move that would slash benefits across the board<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Security Works<\/a>, which has been speaking out<\/a> against the TRUST Act for years, said<\/a> Wednesday that \u201cMAGA Republicans want to reach into our pockets and steal our earned Social Security and Medicare benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jon Bauman, president of the Social Security Works PAC, urged<\/a> the public to \u201cbeware the \u2018Problem Solvers\u2019 and \u2018No Labels\u2019-style Democrats who would be willing to \u2018serve\u2019 on McCarthy\u2019s commission to cut your earned benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are problem MAKERS,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n