A Republican congressman was caught faking a phone call in order to avoid answering questions about his party’s plan to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Approached by a reporter for MeidasTouch and asked about Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to cut Social Security, Virginia Republican Rep. Rob Wittman pulled out his phone and began speaking into it.
“Hey, how you doing? I’m good. I’m good with that. I’ll be there in just a few minutes,” Wittman says into his phone while walking, as the reporter follows.
However, half of his screen is visible in the video posted by MeidasTouch, and it appears he was not on a call at all, as it does not show the typical phone call screen.
As the video continues, Wittman’s cheek activates parts of his phone’s display, further confirming that no phone call was taking place.
Wittman continues to fake the call for some 70 seconds as the reporter repeatedly asks for details of Johnson’s plan to cut Social Security without receiving a response.
The Daily Beast has contacted Rep. Wittman’s office for comment.
The interaction came a day after a radio appearance in which Johnson said that he had a plan to “adjust and fix” programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
“The reason we’re in trouble is because over 74 percent of federal spending is on autopilot, mandatory spending. That’s your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and things like Social Security,” Johnson said on The Moon Griffon Show on Monday.
“They have to be adjusted and fixed. We have a plan to do that next year.”
Democrats were quick to condemn the proposed cuts to what they argue are critical programs, highlighting the absurdity of the GOP claims that such cuts are necessary to reduce the national debt when tax cuts introduced by President Donald Trump in his “One Big Beautiful Bill” are set to add almost $5 trillion to the debt.
“Donald Trump and his loyal foot soldiers in Congress aren’t even trying to hide their plans to gut programs that hardworking Americans rely on,” DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer said in a statement.
“Trump and Republicans already made the largest cut to Medicaid in history, and now they are taking every opportunity to sell out working families and rip away retirement benefits, healthcare, and food assistance.”
A report released on Tuesday revealed that unless Congress makes changes, the trust fund that pays Social Security benefits to more than 60 million retirees and their families will run out of money by 2032. Potential changes could include raising taxes or reducing benefits.
“The Trustees recommend that lawmakers address the projected trust fund shortfalls in a timely way to phase in necessary changes gradually and give workers and beneficiaries time to adjust,” the report from Social Security Trustees reads.
It has previously been reported that the Trump administration was considering eliminating age as a factor in determining eligibility for disability payments, or raising the threshold from 50 to 60, which could result in approximately 750,000 people losing benefits over the next decade.
Social Security Administration spokesman Barton Mackey told The Washington Post that the agency is working to “propose improvements to the disability adjudication process to ensure our disability program remains current and can be more efficiently administered.”
