“To Trump and GOP Lawmakers, They’re Just ‘Waste, Fraud and Abuse’”: Medicare, Medicaid Cuts Raise Social Security Concerns

President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed not to touch critical safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. But as MSNBC opinion editor James Downey points out, his latest moves suggest those promises may be more rhetorical than real.

“Trump promised during a Fox News interview in February that ‘Medicare, Medicaid, none of that stuff is going to be touched,’” Downey wrote. “But within a day of the interview airing, he endorsed the House GOP’s budget plan, including hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts. To reconcile the contradiction, the president has tested multiple arguments, but only ‘waste, fraud and abuse’ has persisted.”

That phrase—“waste, fraud and abuse”—has become the go-to defense for proposed cuts, despite the fact that such reductions would directly impact health coverage for millions. The same logic is now being echoed by top Republican lawmakers when discussing Medicare.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told Politico, “How much waste, fraud, abuse is there in Medicare — why don’t we go after that? I think we should.” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) added, “I think anything that is waste, fraud and abuse are obviously open to discussions.”

Downey warned this line of reasoning could eventually be used to justify changes to Social Security as well. “If Republicans deem ‘waste, fraud and abuse’ sufficient cover not just for cuts to Medicaid but for cuts to Medicare as well, what’s to stop them from applying that to Social Security next?” he wrote.

Concerns over Social Security’s future aren’t just theoretical. Past attempts by the Trump administration to reduce oversight staff at the Social Security Administration have already raised alarms among former agency heads, who fear the program’s operations could be undermined without direct benefit cuts.

Some Republicans, however, see danger in pursuing this strategy. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) cautioned, “We should not be touching Medicare. In 2004, President Bush got re-elected and promptly tried to privatize Social Security, and Republicans didn’t win the popular vote for 20 years.”

Public opinion appears to support that caution. A recent KFF poll shows that “more than 70% of Americans, including 44% of Republicans, believe the GOP bill will cause more Americans to be uninsured.”

In Downey’s words: “Republicans already have their excuses ready to go. To most Americans, Social Security and Medicare may be entitlements. To Trump and GOP lawmakers, they’re just ‘waste, fraud and abuse.’”

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