Rep. Mark Alford (R-Missouri) has cited Medicare and Social Security as potential focus areas for President-elect Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Alford is asked about possibilities DOGE's cost-cutting recommendations appeared on Fox Business Network's “Morning with Maria” Monday. In response, he noted that Republican lawmakers recently met with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump has tasked with leading the DOGE effort, and discussed ideas to “cut the budget.”
“We all agree that we are in unsustainable territory right now, with about $36 trillion in debt and spending more on interest on that debt than we plan to spend on the National Defense Authorization Act this year. ” he said.
“So we have to right the ship, and that's going to mean layoffs. It's going to mean cutting our discretionary spending by 24 percent, cutting some of our programs like Social Security and Medicare. It also means thinking long-term at the forefront,” Alford continued.
The Missouri Republican added that this doesn't mean “taking away from anyone what they've already paid,” but added, “There's some waste, abuse, and fraud in Medicare, so we're going to take those numbers. “We can take it back and add it to our medical insurance coverage.” The General Fund and our Treasury. ”
“And I think on the Social Security front end, if people are living longer and retiring later, there are ways on the front end that they can delay that retirement age a little bit,” he said.
The Hill has reached out to Alford's office for further comment.
There has been much speculation about what programs may be targeted for cuts as part of the effort led by Musk and Ramaswamy.
In a recent talk with Axios at the Aspen Security Forum, Ramaswamy said DOGE: try to eradicate But he placed the blame for the potential cuts on Congress, saying it was a “policy decision that belongs to the voters.”
“Right now, hundreds of billions of dollars are flowing out the exits of all these programs, ending up in the hands of people who should not even be receiving those payments even under the law,” Ramaswamy said. he said.
