Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said the GOP will not push to cut Social Security, while taking a shot at embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), as members of Congress work to try to reach a deal to raise the federal government’s debt ceiling.
“Not even George Santos would make up a whopper like that,” Kennedy told Fox News’s Martha MacCallum in an interview Thursday, referring to the first-term congressman who has admitted to making a wide range of false statements about his professional and personal background.
Kennedy made the comment in response to accusations from President Biden that Republicans want to make cuts to social programs like Social Security and Medicare.
He said Biden knows that the GOP would not make these cuts but that the president believes the federal government is “what made this country great.”
Kennedy said “ordinary people doing extraordinary things” is what made the country great. He said Biden believes “all of our money” should be sent to Washington for increased spending.
His comments come as Democrats and Republicans are starting to engage in a standoff over raising the debt ceiling, which the federal government must do in the upcoming months to avoid defaulting on its debt.
Raising the debt limit does not permit the U.S. government to borrow more money, which it can already do, but allows it to pay for money it has already borrowed.
Republicans have called for spending cuts or reforms to certain programs in exchange for voting to raise the debt ceiling, which they say is necessary to get the national debt under control.
Biden has called for Congress to pass a bill to raise the debt limit as a standalone vote and said the debt ceiling should not be used as a “bargaining chip.” He has said that his administration’s spending bills are paid for and will eventually cut the national debt by almost $2 trillion.
The Treasury Department began implementing “extraordinary measures” last week to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its $31.4 trillion debt.