Medicare, Social Security Update as Vivek Ramaswamy Weighs in on Cuts

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the business leaders President-elect Donald Trump appointed to head a newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency, assured Americans that wide-sweeping cuts to Medicare and Social Security are unlikely as Trump’s second term approaches.

Trump originally appointed Ramaswamy, the founder of pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences, and Tesla executive Elon Musk to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency as a way to crack down on areas where the government is losing money and contributing to the national debt.

In a new interview with Axios at the Aspen Security Forum, Ramaswamy said while the new department would look for waste and fraud within Social Security and Medicare, large widespread cuts are unlikely to be enacted.

Instead, he said this “a policy decision that belongs to the voters,” based on who they elected in Congress.

“Right now, there are hundreds of billions of dollars flowing out the door of all of those programs ending up in the hands of people who, even under the statute, should not be receiving those payments,” Ramaswamy said.

This is after Ramaswamy pledged to make “mass reductions” via the new department on Fox News.

“We expect mass reductions,” Ramaswamy told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’ “We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright.”

He added: “We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated… We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government. I think people will be surprised by, I think, how quickly we’re able to move.”

Social Security and Medicare are already facing a funding crisis that could see the money necessary for full benefits run out by the mid-2030s if nothing changes.

But because Trump campaigned with the support of those relying on Social Security and Medicare, there are unlikely to be major cuts just yet, said Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin.

“I think his comments reflect a reality that some of the new administration who are eager for federal government budget cuts in the name of efficiency are going to have to accept,” Beene told Newsweek.

“Programs like Social Security and Medicare are very popular with Americans and keeping them fully funded is pivotal to maintaining a sense of trust between those who have paid into these funds for years with the promise they would see coverage from them in their retirements.”

Previously, Republican Representative Richard McCormick of Georgia said Republicans would need help from Democrats if they wanted to enact cuts to these programs, which will soon face insolvency.

“We’re gonna have to have some hard decisions,” McCormick told Fox Business. “We’re gonna have to bring in the Democrats to talk about Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.”

“There’s hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved, we just have to have the stomach to take those challenges on.”

Trump said during his campaign that he didn’t plan to make any cuts to Social Security or Medicare, but some worry how his calls for tax cuts would ultimately impact the two programs.

“Entitlement spending accounts for 65 to 70 of government expenditures,” Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and the founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group, told Newsweek.

“This includes Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and veterans’ benefits, which represent the largest share of government outlays. The reason entitlement spending likely won’t be cut is that Trump campaigned on protecting these programs, and a significant portion of his base comes from regions heavily reliant on these payments.”

During Trump’s campaign, Musk also proposed that the government could curb its $6.75 trillion budget by around $2 trillion and around $1.6 trillion in fiscal year 2024.

Ramaswamy said last month on Fox News that he believes the public is largely on their side.

“I think the public is on our side. Most of the public understands their taxpayer dollars are not being well spent,” Ramaswamy said. “Elon and I aren’t in this for the credit. But I think we’re going to build the consensus to make the kind of deep cuts that haven’t been made for most of our history.”