A new attempt by House GOP members to partially privatize Social Security hit a snag as one of the bill’s supporters ditched the group over concerns the legislation had become politically toxic.
Led by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), a handful of House Republicans have been pushing legislation that would create a voluntary, privatized version of the program. But a spokesman for seven-term Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) told the Omaha World-Herald this week that he no longer wanted to be a part of the effort.
“Congressman Terry recognizes something must be done to address entitlement reform,” spokesman Charles Isom said in a statement. “While he feels this bill does not weaken Social Security, the suggestion by some that this bill is a step toward ‘privatization’ does not help move the conversation forward. As such he has taken his name off of the bill.”
Despite its relatively small number of supporters, Democrats had highlighted the bill since its introduction last month and linked it to the House GOP’s efforts to cut and privatize Medicare.
“When will House Republicans learn? After their vote to end Medicare was soundly rejected by the American people, they’ve shifted to Plan B: privatize Social Security,” DCCC chair Steve Israel said in a statement at the time. “Seniors who have paid into Social Security through a lifetime of hard work shouldn’t end up in a risky privatization scheme to gamble their retirement on Wall Street. The public has rejected this kind of Social Security privatization in the past and will again.”
Unlike the Medicare proposal, which passed with the backing of nearly the entire caucus, the Social Security bill has only five co-sponsor with Terry out. House Republicans conspicuously left changes to Social Security out of their budget this year and the party has been wary of privatization since President Bush’s failed attempt to remake the program in 2005.
