Biden and Democrats Push for Increased Social Security Benefits, While Republicans Propose Cuts

At Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden accused Republicans of wanting to use “debt ceiling” negotiations to force cuts to Social Security and Medicare. He pointed to proposals from Florida Sen. Rick Scott and House GOP to raise the program’s eligibility age and renew all federal programs every five years.

“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years,” Biden said to loud applause.

In response, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and progressive Democrats reintroduced a bill to increase Social Security retirement benefits and shore up the program’s finances solely by taxing corporations and the wealthy. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was also mentioned, who once said “It will be my objective to phase out Social Security.”

The exchange prompted a flurry of pieces, with Biden responding to the crowd’s negative reaction to Lee’s statement by saying “Alright — we’ve got unanimity!” The crowd responded with more jeers and chants of “no!” and “liar!”

The debate over Social Security and Medicare continues to be a hot-button issue in Washington. While Republicans have proposed changes to the programs, Democrats are pushing for increased benefits and taxes on the wealthy to fund them. It remains to be seen how the issue will be resolved in the coming months.