Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) amended a controversial plan to sunset federal legislation every five years to make exceptions for Medicare and Social Security after a barrage of criticism from both parties that spanned several months.
It comes a little over a week after President Biden called out the plan in his State of the Union address, putting Republicans on the defensive over the issue. The president has pushed his support for the programs in the days since, seizing on the fact that cutting Social Security is highly unpopular with Americans and signaling his hopes of setting up a stark policy contrast with the GOP as he looks to 2024.
Scott’s plan, released last year as part of a broader “Rescue America” blueprint, would originally have required all legislation to be renewed every five years to stay on the books. The provision made no mention of Medicare or Social Security, but as Democrats from President Biden on down have repeatedly pointed out, both programs were created by legislation.
The revised version of Scott’s plan now reads: “All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years, with specific exceptions of Social Security, Medicare, national security, veterans benefits, and other essential services. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”
“We congratulate Senator Scott on joining the post-State of the Union red wave of Republicans acknowledging that they have, in fact, been attempting to put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.
“For the past year he has explained the absence of an exception by saying, ‘If it’s worth keeping, we’re going to keep it.’ But make no mistake, his true colors are undeniable and on the record,” Bates said.
Scott’s spokesperson, Priscilla Ivasco, said in an email to The Washington Post on Friday that the White House response was “rambling and incoherent.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) distanced himself from the plan upon its release last year and reiterated last week that Scott was not speaking for all Republicans on the issue, saying the party’s plan was not to sunset the programs.
“It’s clearly the Rick Scott plan. It is not the Republican plan. And that’s the view of the speaker of the House as well,” McConnell told Kentucky radio host Terry Meiners on Feb. 10.
In his State of the Union address, Biden said some in the GOP wanted to sunset Social Security and Medicare. He drew boos from Republicans and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called him a liar, giving Biden an opening: “As we all apparently agree: Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?” Biden said, meaning Congress wouldn’t end the programs.
After Republicans clapped, Biden replied, “We’ve got unanimity!”
The next day, in Wisconsin, Biden referred to the exchange, saying, “It looks like we negotiated a deal last night.” He pushed the point in his visits to Wisconsin and Florida in the days after his address, citing various Republican lawmakers who have made proposals to cut Social Security and Medicare or voiced support for it.
“A Senator from Florida is in hot water right now because of his plan to sunset Medicare and Social Security every 5 years,” Biden tweeted on Thursday.
Even if cutting the programs is off the table, the federal government still faces the looming task of keeping Medicare and Social Security afloat past 2028 and 2035, when, respectively, benefits will be running out of funding, The Post has reported. Republicans oppose tax increases that would fund the programs, a solution Biden is likely to propose in his forthcoming budget to keep Medicare stable.
Scott responded by calling on Biden to resign in an ad and told CNN he didn’t support cutting the programs.
Toluse Olorunnipa and Jeff Stein contributed to this report.