Donald Trump repeatedly promised during his 2016 presidential campaign that he wouldn't touch Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Still, Republican leaders in Congress have harbored hopes that their party's unified control of the federal government would allow them to finally make major reforms to entitlement programs that the conservative movement has long sought.
As recently as last month, Speaker Paul Ryan said he wanted to get started on reforming entitlements to reduce the deficit and debt, a statement that infuriated Democrats, who pointed out that the deficit was only poised to grow as a result of the tax cut that Ryan had just pushed through Congress.
However, after a weekend strategy session with Trump, Congressional leaders now concede that they are not willing to push for major entitlement changes or make another go at repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2018.
Recommended For You
Instead, they say they want to focus on ensuring that the government remains funded (and running) by crafting a deal to raise the debt limit.
Similarly, they hope they can come up with an immigration bill that will boost border security measures as well as provide relief for the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were previously protected from deportation by President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.
Republicans have toned down their ambitions in response to fierce political headwinds. Midterm elections almost always favor the opposition party, but national polling as well as a number of surprisingly strong performances by Democratic candidates in recent elections around the country have put Republicans in damage-control mode.
Not only would cuts to popular programs such as Social Security and Medicare risk angering many voters who otherwise lean Republican, but it's far from certain that the GOP would be able to get anything substantial passed in the Senate, where the party only enjoys a 51-49 majority.
"The sensitivity of entitlements is such that you almost have to have a bipartisan agreement in order to achieve a result," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month.
In a political context where Republicans are having trouble convincing voters that a tax cut will benefit them, it's hard to imagine that they would succeed in selling a plan to cut programs that are widely credited with keeping millions of seniors out of poverty.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
