GOP senator announces Social Security, Medicare funding bill

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) has proposed a bill to fund Social Security and Medicare. The action follows President Biden’s statements during last week’s State of the Union address that Republicans are looking to cut the two programs.

“I have been fighting since day one to protect and preserve programs like Social Security and Medicare for Florida’s seniors, and today I am proud to announce new legislation, my Protect Our Seniors Act, to safeguard the benefits of these critical entitlements,” Scott said Friday.

The bill would rescind funding for the hiring of 87,000 Internal Revenue Service agents that was approved in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. Scott’s proposal would redirect the monies to Social Security and Medicare “to shore up these programs and address threats of insolvency,” the senator said.

Additionally, Scott proposes that any cuts to Social Security or Medicare be approved by a two-thirds vote in Congress, and his bill would block Medicare savings from being used for anything other than their intended purpose.

Scott previously has proposed to sunset all federal legislation — including that supporting Social Security — after five years, which Biden referred to in comments after his State of the Union address. Despite his subsequently proposed legislation, the senator after the State of the Union said, “If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said he disagrees with Scott in this regard, however.

“It is clearly the Rick Scott plan. It is not the Republican plan,” McConnell said during a Kentucky radio program Wednesday, according to ABC News. “And that’s the view of the speaker of the House as well. …and I think we’re in a more authoritative position to state what the position of the party is than any single senator.”

As the McKnight’s Business Daily previously reported, some Republicans have suggested cuts to Social Security and Medicare as a means of reducing the national debt as the US reached its current $31.4 trillion borrowing cap last month.