Top liberal senators are raising objections to the Republican nominee to be a trustee of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, claiming that the candidate aims to dismantle the programs.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, raised concerns about Charles Blahous’ candidacy Wednesday during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, saying that Congress “should be working to expand and strengthen Social Security, not putting someone in a position of public trust who helped write the blueprint for privatizing Social Security and collects a paycheck promoting plans to cut benefits.”
Typically, the trust funds have two public trustees, one selected by each party. The trustees are given an expedited confirmation process in the Senate, but Brown argued that Blahous should not be confirmed based on his record.
Blahous, who serves as one of the trustees and is nominated for another four-year term, was a member of the George W. Bush commission that recommended a partial privatization of Social Security and is a scholar at the libertarian Mercatus Center. Those associations and his past statements, according to Brown, make him unfit to watch over the retirement system’s finances.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Republican chairman of the Finance Committee, said at Wednesday’s hearing on the trustees that both Blahous and the other candidate were qualified, and that President Obama agreed by re-appointing them.
“I think it would be unfortunate if we now decided to drag either one of them into the silliness of the political campaign season,” he said.
But other Democrats also raised objections to Blahous. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., signaled opposition to his nomination Wednesday, writing on Twitter that “someone who makes a living trying to kill Social Security shouldn’t be put in charge of overseeing it.”
“No fox guarding the henhouse,” the liberal senator added.
Warren has advocated over the past year for expanding Social Security benefits, rather than raising the retirement age or cutting benefits.
Charles Schumer, the presumptive leader of Senate Democrats next year, also weighed in against Blahous, citing “very serious concerns about allowing someone with a proven track record in support of gutting this vital program to continue to serve as a public trustee on behalf of Social Security beneficiaries.”
