'There will be some cuts' to Social Security: Republican threatens outside first DOGE meeting


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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) listens to the National Anthem during a ceremony to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Marquis de Lafayette's address
to the 18th Congress, in Washington, U.S., December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Tierney Cross


A House Republican said Tuesday that he believes there "will be some cuts" to Social Security and Medicare as he entered a conference room at the U.S. Capitol for the first meeting of the DOGE Caucus, a new congressional group formed to support an advisory commission led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Outside the conference room, Social Security Works executive director Alex Lawson asked Republicans passing through whether they would uphold President-elect Donald Trump's campaign pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare.

One lawmaker, Rep. Greg Lopez (R-Colo.), told Lawson that "when we look to reduce our national debt, I think these should be on the table," referring to the two programs.

"I am a strong advocate of discussing this and reevaluating them, and I do believe, at the end of the day, there will be some cuts," Lopez added.

Asked if cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be "on the table" for the DOGE Caucus, Lopez replied, "We're about to find out."

The House Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus was founded last month by Reps. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas) with the stated goal of backing the so-called Department of Government Efficiency "in its mission to dismantle the out-of-control government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies."

Musk and Ramaswamy, Trump's picks to lead the advisory panel, have openly attacked Social Security in recent weeks, intensifying advocates' warnings that the commission is a ploy to enact steep cuts to critical antipoverty programs.

Sessions, co-chair of the DOGE Caucus, refused to answer when Lawson pressed him on whether he would commit to protecting Social Security and Medicare in line with Trump's rhetoric on the campaign trail.

"Most of the responses have been what I would say are no comments," Lawson said at the entrance of the DOGE Caucus meeting. "That's the safest position for a member of Congress, to have no position that they have to defend in front of their constituents."

"If they had their way," Lawson added, "they'll close every door and make all the decisions out of the light and the watch of their constituents."

The House DOGE Caucus is expected to hit triple-digit membership shortly, and its makeup is almost entirely Republican. Just three Democrats have joined thus far: Reps. Steven Horsford of Nevada, Val Hoyle of Oregon, and Jared Moskowitz of Florida.

Horsford said in a statement after Tuesday's caucus meeting that he is in the group "to defend the working families in Nevada that I represent."

In an appearance on Fox News following the meeting, Bean said that "we had a packed caucus room" and that attendance was higher than he expected, with over 50 Republicans and three Democrats. Asked to provide some specifics on programs that could be cut, the first category Bean mentioned was "education."

There's also a Senate DOGE Caucus led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa.), who has previously said she's open to Social Security privatization and argued lawmakers should "sit down behind closed doors" to "have an open and honest conversation" about changes to the New Deal program.
 
No you don't. The only people that hurts are people who don't deserve it.
I know plenty of people on SS who voted for him, and yes, I hope they cut SS to teach these assholes who continue to vote for these Republicans. The only way we are going to get rid of them is if they do what they are always say they are going to do.
 
I know plenty of people on SS who voted for him, and yes, I hope they cut SS to teach these assholes who continue to vote for these Republicans. The only way we are going to get rid of them is if they do what they are always say they are going to do.
A lot of people who didn't vote for him will die if they cut SS/Medicare. I, personally, will die if they cut Medicaid.

Fuck you.
 
Good i hope cuts to SS and Medicare happen
why? My mom can barely walk, she can't use her right hand, and she has memory and speech problems. You think she can hold down a job? I cover most of the copays. It won't be the millionaires who get the slashes, it will be people like her, people who have no business working.
 
Although you used to say I want you dead, know this if you died because they took away medicaid and whatever is needed to keep you alive I would be beyond livid.
Ditto, except I never wanted ICR dead. He wanted me dead...
 
Ditto, except I never wanted ICR dead. He wanted me dead...
I want you to change your mind. The only people I want dead are the ones who refuse to, because they will cause less material harm as corpses than they will as bigoted voters.
 
It's gonna be a long four years of we're all at each other's throats for reacting to horrific leadership in our own ways
There are good reactions, bad reactions, and understandable reactions.

Being angry at the GOP for cutting SS/Medicare/Medicaid is good.

Being happy that they cut SS/Medicare/Medicaid is bad.

Being happy when the thing that made you angry kills Trump voters is understandable. But you gotta start from a place of outrage that they won't be the only ones.
 
There are good reactions, bad reactions, and understandable reactions.

Being angry at the GOP for cutting SS/Medicare/Medicaid is good.

Being happy that they cut SS/Medicare/Medicaid is bad.

Being happy when the thing that made you angry kills Trump voters is understandable. But you gotta start from a place of outrage that they won't be the only ones.
I look at like this. The only way MAGA dies is if it is an undeniable catastrophe. If it's just bad, he can lie his way out of it and convince his cult it's not his fault, or that it's all great. i can't speak for Blondie, but I THINK this is where she's coming from

I can almost guarantee she doesn't want to see you hurt. Or anyone here. People are hurt and scared and are coping in weird ways
 
I look at like this. The only way MAGA dies is if it is an undeniable catastrophe. If it's just bad, he can lie his way out of it and convince his cult it's not his fault, or that it's all great.
MAGA isn't going to die. These people are in a cult and the cult isn't going away.

Losing WW2 and learning that their leaders were committing genocide didn't kill Nazism. The people who agreed with the Nazis in 1940 still largely agreed with them in 1955, 1965, 1975, what have you. What changed was that their kids were taught about the atrocities and those future generations knew better than to agree with their parents and grandparents.

No amount of catastrophe is going to change peoples' minds. It can't. Because if it did, they'd react how Hip says they would. They would fucking kill themselves. The human brain has defense mechanisms against this. Denial, deflection, dissociation, etc.

The only thing that will save us is time. If there's an alternative, it's one that has more....shall we say....bespoke casualties. And I don't think that's particularly viable at the moment.
 
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