While President Donald Trump greenlit a flurry of executive orders in the first 100 days of his second term, Congress has been struggling to keep up.
In the first few months of his presidency, only five bills from Congress have made it to Trump’s desk and been signed into law. Meanwhile, Louisiana Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s “big, beautiful bill” has been the focal point of Capitol Hill drama with promises to codify the MAGA mandate Trump was overwhelmingly elected for.
Although the mandate is reflected in certain provisions in the bill, Vice President JD Vance himself said that Congress needs to do more to codify DOGE cuts and rein in spending.
‘We’re going to have to do it and get serious about it.’
“I will say the big, beautiful bill text just came out last week,” Vance told Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program” Thursday. “That’s going to change a lot from now until then. We’ve already had conversations with House leadership that we want to see some more significant efforts to rein in spending here.”
“The president also believes, Glenn, and he’s right about that, that if you cut the trade deficit or you raise revenue through tariffs, that you actually go a long way to making the country on a more sustainable fiscal pathway as well,” Vance added. “But you’re right. You can’t do it without cutting domestic spending.”
Up until this point, the United States has racked up over $36 trillion in national debt. Despite the desire from certain Republicans to actually control spending, Johnson’s bill is expected to add roughly $3.3 trillion to the deficit through fiscal year 2034.
“We’re going to have to do it and get serious about it,” Vance told Beck. “We’re making that as clear to congressional leaders as possible. But look, knock on wood here, I think that once we get the final package out of the House and the Senate, we’re going to have something that’s serious on budget-cutting.”
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Vance noted that one of the easiest ways to chip away at the nation’s mounting debt is to begin by eliminating mismanaged spending and fraudulent benefits.
“What no one talks enough about, and when I talk to Elon, and I talk to the DOGE folks, where they think they’re going to get the most cuts is in taking people, illegal aliens and other people, who are defrauding the Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security system,” Vance added.
“Think about two people, right? A guy who’s paid into Social Security for 40 years. Obviously we want that guy to get his Social Security benefits,” Vance told Beck. “You compare that person to an illegal alien who’s engaged in Medicaid fraud. Obviously we don’t want that person to get their benefits.”
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Medicaid reform has been a hot-button issue as reconciliation talks escalate. In its current state, the bill amended work requirements so that ineligible recipients would have a harder time defrauding the Medicaid system, protecting vulnerable people the service was intended for. Although this is a step in the right direction, some Republicans say it doesn’t go far enough and have pointed out that the changes won’t be enforced until 2029, after Trump has left office.
“I think Democrats are going to fight us on this, but this is such an important point,” Vance added. “We cannot allow people to defraud the Medicare and Medicaid system, or it’s going to bankrupt this country. It’s also just fundamentally unfair.”
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