Politics Mike Pence: Changes to Social Security, Medicare should ‘be on the table’ long-term

Congressional Republicans may not want to talk about entitlement reform amid the debt ceiling talks, but former Vice President Mike Pence certainly does.

Amid a high-stakes standoff over the debt limit, Republican House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy has said his party wants to see budget cuts but has ruled out pushing for cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Pence said Wednesday such cuts may need to be considered at some point because of looming fiscal problems.

“While I respect the speaker’s commitment to take Social Security and Medicare off the table for the debt ceiling negotiations, we’ve got to put them on the table in the long term,” Pence said on CNBC.

And right now, President Biden’s policy is insolvency.”

Pence’s comments come as the White House and Democrats have been eager to goad GOP lawmakers — namely Sen. Rick Scott — for past comments and proposals on changes to entitlements.

Biden singled out Scott’s sunset provision during the State of the Union address, which was met with heckles by some GOP members during his speech.

“So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now,” Biden said. “They’re not to be touched? All right. We’ve got unanimity!

Scott has proposed sunsetting all federal programs every five years, though earlier this month he rowed back on that saying he never intended to include Social Security and Medicare in that proposal.

Pence, a potential 2024 GOP presidential contender, showcased his CNBC appearance on his Twitter page Wednesday. He was blunt that “fiscal discipline” and government spending is a top priority in his travels across the country.

“We are looking at a debt crisis in this country over the next 25 years that is drive by entitlements and nobody in Washington, D.C. wants to talk about it,” Pence said

How does Pence want to reform entitlements?

The former vice president told CNBC hosts there are various ways to address entitlement reform that will not “affect anybody retiring within 25 years” and that this isn’t an unprecedented conversation.

Pence brought up how former President Ronald Reagan worked on reforms in 1983 when he paired with then-speaker Tip O’neill to raise the retirement age to 67. Full retirement age had traditionally been age 65.

“There are things that you could do in personal savings accounts in the long-term, allowing younger Americans to get a higher rate of return,” Pence said. “But these are all ideas. The first job is to be straight, the second job is get everybody at the table.