WASHINGTON — If President Joe Biden was trying to agitate Republicans over cutting Social Security and Medicare, it worked.
He and House Republicans got into a shouting match in the middle of the State of the Union address after he said some of them favored cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy shook his head silently, while firebrand conservative Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, stood and shouted “liar” over Biden.
That was when Biden went off-script and engaged with Republicans. “We never said that,” another Republican, Byron Donalds of Florida, said.
“As we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now,” Biden said to applause from both sides of the aisle. “We got unanimity!”
Some GOP plans, including the House Republican “Commitment to America” has called to strengthen Medicare and Social Security, but precludes tax increases, meaning it would likely have to rely on cuts to ensure the solvency of the program.
Biden’s speech was punctuated at other points by Republican outbursts, calling on him to “secure the border.” After Biden mentioned the sharp rise in U.S. fentanyl deaths, a Republican shouted, “It’s your fault!”
Republicans also laughed at Biden when he conceded that “we are going to need oil for at least another decade” as the country transitions to clean-energy sources.
Greene, who walked around the Capitol with a white balloon on Tuesday, also yelled at another point that China is spying on the U.S. The U.S. this week shot down an alleged spy balloon from China.
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(Bloomberg News staff writers Erik Wasson and Josh Wingrove contributed to this story.)
