White House Calls Proposed GOP Commission a ‘Death Panel’ for Medicare, Social Security

The White House slammed a proposal by House Republican committee and caucus chairs to set up a panel examining Social Security and Medicare solvency as part of debt-limit negotiations, likely shutting the door on the approach.

Key House Republicans — as well as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — previously said debt-limit negotiations could include an agreement to establish a commission to negotiate later changes to Social Security and Medicare, with the goal of extending their solvency. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has broadly repeated Social Security and Medicare were “off the table” in debt-limit talks, though some leadership-aligned House Republicans said that didn’t preclude the possibility of an entitlements commission to negotiate changes.