As Republicans dial up the pressure on President Joe Biden, they have flipped the script on Social Security.
For months, Democrats have been on the offensive regarding Social Security, publicly accusing Republicans of wanting to make cuts within the entitlement program.
Republicans are finally hitting back, placing the onus on Biden to address the entitlement program’s insolvency problem.
Republicans’ attack was on full display this week in two hearings where the party criticized White House officials for their actions and Biden’s 2024 budget proposal, which didn’t include plans to shore up Social Security.
During a Finance Committee hearing on Thursday (March 16), Republican Senator Bill Cassidy (LA.) took a charged approach when questioning Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Cassidy pointed out that in Biden’s $4.5 trillion tax proposal, “not a dime is going to shore up Social Security” before questioning why the President didn’t care about threats to the entitlement program.
Yellen replied, asserting Biden “cares very deeply,” prompting Cassidy to interject with a question about Biden’s plan to extend solvency for Social Security.
Yellen explained the President was “ready” to work with Congress, a statement Cassidy claimed was a “lie.”
Cassidy noted that a “bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly requested to meet with him about Social,” claiming Biden had not responded to that request.
The Louisiana Republican added that there had been multiple requests made to meet with Biden on the matter of Social Security.
Social Security also fueled a heated exchange the day before at the hearing before the Senate Budget Committee.
During the hearing, Republican Senator Mitt Romney (Utah) described Biden’s assertions that Republicans wanted to cut Social Security as “offensive and dishonest and not realistic” in a heated exchange with Shalanda Young, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
