Republican leaders like McCarthy want the programs gone they’ll fight the plan.
Gleckman 22 (Howard, is a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where he edits the fiscal policy blog TaxVox and the daily news summary The Daily Deduction. 10-26-2022 “Politicians Are Arguing Again About Social Security. That’s Good” https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/politicians-are-arguing-again-about-social-security-thats-good)//BH-NB//
GOP plans This year’s debate started when several influential Republicans urged big Social Security changes as part of broader government reform. In February, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who chairs the GOP’s Senate campaign committee, proposed a wide-ranging plan to sunset all federal programs, including Social Security and Medicare, after five years. Many Senate Republicans, including GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) disavowed Scott’s plan. But others, such as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), embraced it. Last June, the Republican Study Committee (RSC), which represents about 150 House Republicans, proposed tying the age at which people could collect full Social Security benefits to life expectancy, increasing the minimum benefit for those who work 40 years or more, and reducing initial benefits for high-income earners. House Republican leaders, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who hopes to become Speaker next year, hint they may refuse to increase the nation’s debt limit unless Democrats agree to their Social Security and Medicare changes. Social Security’s recent announcement that it will increase benefits by 8.7 percent in 2023 only raised public attention on the program.