Hawley shoots down GOP talk of using debt limit as leverage on Social Security, Medicare

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has torpedoed a suggestion that Republican lawmakers might use an upcoming fight over the debt limit to reign in federal spending on Social Security and Medicare. 

In an interview with Politico published Friday, Hawley bluntly rejected an idea proposed by some House Republicans to use an impending vote to increase the debt limit as leverage force Democrats to compromise on entitlement reforms.

"That’s dumb," Hawley said. "We need to do everything we can to keep them solvent for sure. But the idea of fiddling around with them and using those as leverage? I hope nobody’s seriously proposing that."

In fact, several GOP lawmakers vying for leadership positions on influential committees told Fox News last month that is exactly what they would like to do.

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House Republicans said in October, the upcoming debt limit fight – a vote to increase the amount of money Congress may borrow to cover its expenses – presents an opportunity to force Democrats to negotiate on reforms to Social Security and Medicare. 

"We're going to make sure that if you've paid into the system, your benefits are not going to be cut," said Rep. Buddy Carter, of Georgia, who is running to be the top Republican on the House Budget Committee. "But starting from there we need to look at these programs and figure out ways to make them sustainable, make them stand on their own." 

Their proposals include raising the retirement age to qualify for those programs or adding means-testing to ensure that wealthy Americans with private retirement and health care plans are not monopolizing benefits that are more needed by lower-income senior citizens. Others have suggested adding work requirements for beneficiaries. 

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"There are over 70-plus federal welfare programs. The American people believe there should be work requirements for all those programs for able-bodied healthy adults," Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., told Fox News. Smith is in the running to lead the House Ways and Means Committee. 

Democrats, including President Biden, have seized on these proposals and accused Republicans of planning to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits should they prevail in the midterm elections. Republicans running for election this year have distanced themselves talk of entitlement reform, calling the Democratic attacks a distraction. 

However, moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Thursday called for bipartisan compromise to cut spending. 

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"You’re going to get your financial house in order. We cannot live with this crippling debt," Manchin said at a Fortune CEO conference. 

"If we don’t look at the trust funds that are going bankrupt, whether they be Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, highway, all the ones — there are tremendous problems right now," he added. 

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Hawley's office did not respond to a request for comment. 

Fox News' Haris Alic contributed to this report.