“We’ll never get those programs reformed and saved without presidential leadership,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said this week, arguing President Biden is “not doing anything.”
The criticism comes as Republicans have been dialing up the pressure on the White House to do more to address the funding threats facing Social Security, with some needling Biden for not providing a plan to shore up solvency for the program in his recent fiscal 2024 budget request.
In a pair of Senate hearings this week, Republicans grilled White House officials about the absence of the plan, while seeking to counter attacks doled out by their colleagues across the aisle who have accused the GOP of wanting to cut Social Security.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) broached the issue in a charged line of questioning to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a Finance Committee hearing Thursday.
“Of the $4.5 trillion in taxes he has proposed, not a dime is going to shore up Social Security,” Cassidy said, before asking moments later “why doesn’t the president care” about threats to the program’s funding.
Cassidy also said a bipartisan group of senators involved in an effort he is leading to explore potential solutions to extend the lifetime of the program made multiple requests to meet with the president.
While Yellen said that the president “stands ready” to work with Congress on the issue, Cassidy called the statement a “lie.”
“Because when a bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly requested to meet with him about Social, so that somebody who is a current beneficiary will not see her benefits cut by 24 percent, we have not heard anything on our request,” he said.
“And we’ve made multiple requests to meet with the president,” Cassidy added.
Read more on how the dynamic played out in hearings this week here.
