Sen. Ron Johnson Suggests Having Social Security and Medicare Evaluated Annualy

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) recently suggested that Medicare and Social Security funding should be up for debate annually, suggesting that the programs could be abolished in the future.

Johnson argued that mandatory spending was at an all-time high due to the pandemic and infrastructure projects.

During the interview on The Regular Joe Show podcast, the senator suggested that Social Security and Medicare be moved to discretionary spending, which would require an annual “evaluation” of the programs.

“Our problem in this country is that more than 70 percent of our federal budget, of our federal spending, is all mandatory spending. It’s on automatic pilot. It never — you just don’t do proper oversight. You don’t get in there and fix the programs going bankrupt. It’s just on automatic pilot,” Johnson said. “As long as things are on automatic pilot, we just continue to pile up debt.”

Democrats immediately shot down Johnson’s idea, warning Americans that Medicare and Social Security were “on the chopping block,” as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) put it.

“They’re saying the quiet part out loud. MAGA Republicans want to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block,” Schumer stated.

Ron Johnson saw Rick Scott's plan to require Congress to vote on keeping vs. destroying Social Security & Medicare every five years and said:

Not cruel enough. We should subject Social Security & Medicare to congressional hostage taking EVERY SINGLE YEAR. https://t.co/6Y1XhLzApk

— Social Security Works (@SSWorks) August 2, 2022