Social Security Cuts on the Table as McCarthy Assembles Commission

According to McCarthy, only about 11% of the federal budget was “in play” during the debt ceiling negotiations, because of the president’s bargaining position and technical issues related to the federal budget. Moving forward, he said, the entire budget will be under the scrutiny of a soon-to-be created commission that, according to McCarthy, will be bipartisan.

“Now we are focused on cutting,” McCarthy said. “I’m going to make some people uncomfortable by saying that — but I’m not going to give up on the American people. I’m going to create a commission that will look at the entire budget to find cuts.”

As of Tuesday, McCarthy has not released any further information about the structure of the commission or a potential timeline according to which it will operate, but he has previously endorsed legislation which would result in a sizable budget cut to the Social Security Administration and many other federal agencies.

A version of McCarthy’s bill that narrowly passed the House earlier this year would freeze nondiscretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels for 2024, which would result in a 23% budget cut for most agencies. The legislation died in the U.S. Senate, however, prior to the successful debt ceiling negotiations.

Pictured: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. (Image: Bloomberg)