After Congress finalizes the tax bill, Republican leaders have indicated they may set their sights on cutting entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, The New York Times reports.
"We're going to go into welfare reform," President Donald Trump told Missourians last week, according to the report. Other Republican leaders have echoed this sentiment. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in November the tax plan will grow the economy, but Congress still needs to cut spending. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said, "We have to do two things. We have to generate economic growth, which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future."
Since the tax package is estimated to add $1 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, the pay-as-you-go rule would require Congress to offset this cost, though this rule is often waived. Mr. Ryan and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a statement Friday promising the pay-go law would be waived.
"Critics of tax reform are claiming the legislation would lead to massive, across-the-board spending cuts in vital programs — including a 4 percent reduction in Medicare —due to the Pay-Go law enacted in 2010. This will not happen," the statement reads. "Congress has readily available methods to waive this law, which has never been enforced since its enactment."
However, the tax bill has no support from Democrats, and waiving pay-as-you-go rules would require bipartisan support, according to The New York Times. Read the full story here.
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