U.S. President Biden on the State of the Union 2023 claimed that Republicans in the Congress proposed plans that could end the Social Security and Medicare. This prompted questions from several viewers who witnessed the SOTU if the accusations were true.
During the State of the Union 2023, the U.S. President Joe Biden accused some Republicans in the Congress that they have proposed plans that could terminate the Social Security and Medicare programs. Biden had claimed that he has a copy of the proposal and to anyone who doubts his claim may contact his office.
According to Kapur, terminating a program that is already set to expire unless the Congress decides to renew it is called sunsetting. The Social Security and Medicare programs were launched by the federal legislation. Therefore, proposals may set them up to be renewed for at least every five years like what Biden claimed in the State of the Union 2023.
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Republican Proposals
According to Decker, Senator Rick Scott has issued a set of proposals that he called the 11-point “Rescue America” plan. To date, the plan has been expanded to 12 points. The point number six in Scott’s proposals tackles government debt and reform. This point claims that all federal legislations sunset after 5 years like what was discussed in the State of the Union 2023.
However, Scott stated that he does not believe that the Social Security and Medicare programs would be affected even when his proposal does pass. This is because both programs are well-accepted that he believes the Congress will renew them every time.
Furthermore, Scott claimed that he has not brought this proposal forward in the form of an actual bill for the Congress. To date, it reportedly remains purely a theoretical proposal. Nonetheless, the Social Security or the Medicare program is still not exempted from being sunsetted every after 5 years.