Scott announces new Social Security, Medicare bill amid Biden feud
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced a brand new invoice on Friday to extend funding for Social Safety and Medicare and institute a better customary for making cuts to the entitlement packages, following President Biden’s pointed accusations throughout his annual handle earlier than Congress on Tuesday.
“I’ve been preventing since day one to guard and protect packages like Social Safety and Medicare for Florida’s seniors, and in the present day I’m proud to announce new laws, my Shield Our Seniors Act, to safeguard the advantages of those crucial entitlements,” Scott mentioned in a press launch.
The laws goals to rescind the practically $80 billion in funding for the Inside Income Service (IRS) that was authorized in final 12 months’s Inflation Discount Act and redirect it in the direction of Social Safety and Medicare. The IRS funding has been a frequent goal of Republicans, who’ve denounced it as creating an “military of 87,000 IRS brokers.”
The invoice would additionally require that any cuts to Social Safety or Medicare be authorized by a two-thirds vote in Congress and would block Medicare financial savings from getting used for different spending initiatives.
It’s unclear how this laws matches in with Scott’s earlier proposal, which has been on the heart of the current dispute with Biden and Democrats.
In an 11-point plan launched final February, Scott instructed that each one federal laws ought to sundown after 5 years, and “if a legislation is price retaining, Congress can go it once more.” This may imply that Social Safety and Medicare, like different federal laws, would must be renewed by Congress each 5 years.
Biden earned a pointy response from Republicans throughout his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday, when he instructed that some GOP lawmakers additionally needed the entitlement packages to sundown. Though he declined to call particular people, Biden gave the impression to be pointing to Scott’s proposal.
“It’s being proposed by people. I’m politely not naming them, but it surely’s being proposed by a few of you,” Biden mentioned.
After the speech, Scott doubled down on his authentic proposal and accused Biden of mendacity about his plan, calling it “a dishonest transfer … from a really confused president,” even inviting the president to debate him whereas he visited his dwelling state.
The Florida Republican has obtained lukewarm assist from his personal social gathering for the unique proposal, with Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell on Thursday calling it “the Rick Scott plan” and “not the Republican plan.”
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