Mitch McConnell in 2023 State of the Union address


On Social Security: FactCheck: Not just "Rick Scott Plan" to sunset entitlements

Biden said "some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,", referring to Senator Rick Scott's "Federal Agency Sunset Commission Act of 2021." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell responded by saying, "That's not a Republican plan. That was the Rick Scott plan." Is McConnell right?

Sen. Scott introduced S.925 with 4 co-sponsors, and the "Federal Agency Sunset Commission Act" was simultaneously introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Michael Cloud as H.R.2199 with 11 co-sponsors. That means 17 legislators, all Republican, put their names on the sunset plan -- it's not just Rick Scott's plan!

Is McConnell right that sunsetting isn't in the GOP plan? Well, let's look at the Republican Party platform of 2016. It calls for retirement savings "options that are voluntary & portable". Social Security is neither voluntary nor portable, so the GOP is calling for major reforms. McConnell is only right that most Republicans don't use the term "sunset".

Source: FactCheck on 2023 State of the Union (Bus.Insider/OTI 2024) Feb 10, 2023

On Social Security: No plans to sunset Medicare or Social Security

[McConnell says] that cutting Social Security and Medicare is not the Republican priority. Florida Sen. Rick Scott has doubled down on a 12-point plan he introduced last year that included a proposal to sunset all federal legislation, including Social Security and Medicare, meaning Congress would have to repeatedly approve the programs.

"That's not a Republican plan. That was the Rick Scott plan. The Republican plan, if we were to become the majority, there were no plans to sunset Medicare or Social Security," McConnell said.

"I mean it's just a bad idea," McConnell added. "I think it will be a challenge for him to deal with this in his own reelection in Florida, a state with more elderly people than any state in America."

Biden distributed pamphlets of Scott's plan, saying that "the very idea the senator from Florida wants to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block every 5 years I find to be somewhat outrageous, so outrageous that you might not even believe it."

Source: Business Insider on 2023 State of the Union response Feb 10, 2023

The above quotations are from 2023 State of the Union address to Congress, plus the Republican, Working Family, and MAGA response.
Click here for other excerpts from 2023 State of the Union address to Congress, plus the Republican, Working Family, and MAGA response.
Click here for other excerpts by Mitch McConnell.
Click here for a profile of Mitch McConnell.
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Page last updated: Dec 02, 2023