Republicans wince as Speaker Johnson grabs the third rail: report

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) speaks during a press conference on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's abortion drug policies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson may push a reform on a key issue that will put them even further on the bad side of the American public.

“Mike Johnson did something very out of character Monday,” wrote The Bulwark's Joe Perticone on Thursday. “Normally coy in public, the speaker of the House openly admitted to a radio interviewer that if Republicans retain their majority heading into next year, they are planning to flatten their palms against the hottest stove in politics — and he broadcast this just months before an election in which many forecasters are already projecting a Democratic wave.”

Perticone then quoted Johnson saying, “The reason we’re in trouble is because over seventy-four percent of federal spending is on autopilot — mandatory spending, that is your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and things like Social Security — they have to be adjusted and fixed. We have a plan to do that next year, and it’s critical, because we’re at $40 trillion-plus in debt. At some point, you get into a hole so deep you can’t climb out of it, so desperate times call for desperate measures.”

While Democrats are overwhelmingly speaking out against any possible cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, Perticone observed that it is more notable that even some of Johnson’s fellow Republicans are worried that the MAGA approach of cutting all social welfare programs might hurt Trump if he touches this issue.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) went on record saying “Didn’t somebody say that last Congress?” although he added “we’ve got to protect these programs, and if we don’t protect the programs, we’re just kicking the can down the road. I know the speaker is a good guy; he wants to get things done. I know it’s hard.”

Another Senate Republican was even harsher in his assessment.

“Every time I hear that, that sounds like to me—that sounds like wealthy people who wanna have all of their tax breaks and loopholes and carried interest deductions and so forth,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told Perticone.. “But they want working people who’ve paid into all of these programs to take less. So I can’t say I like the sound of that.”

He added, sarcastically, “I mean, ‘saved,’ sure. But ‘addressed’? ‘Reformed’? That’s usually code for ‘cut.’” Also significantly Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who is running in a competitive race against former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), refused to discuss the issue.

“Johnson may be correct in the abstract about the need to address Social Security in some form,” Perticone wrote. “But his reformist position is wildly out of step with public opinion, and even the opinion of some of his most important battleground incumbents. Regardless of who controls Congress next year, lawmakers are likely going to have to at least broach dealing with Social Security’s looming insolvency. The decision about which path to take is ultimately up to a handful of swing votes in swing states.”

Speaking with AlterNet in May, former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley similarly disputed the ongoing conservative claim that Social Security is heading toward insolvency.

“This isn’t true — but it is often repeated,” O’Malley explained. “Social Security is a pay as you go program. It is not funded by deficit spending. It is more akin to an insurance company. People's premiums and benefits are paid out from those premiums. Even the surplus — which because of income inequality is being depleted sooner (2032) than thought in 1983, even that was built up by payroll tax, not borrowed money. “

On the other hand, he added that “an utter devaluation of the dollar — which Trump is causing and risking in so many reckless and self-serving ways (bitcoin), would be really bad for everything in the US including Soc Sec.”

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