While running for Congress in 2024, Barrett promised he would not cut funding for Social Security or Medicare. Then, after getting elected, Barrett voted for a bill that the Congressional Budget Office estimated would trigger $500 billion in cuts to Medicare absent future action from Congress.
October 2024: Barrett Claimed He Would Protect Social Security And Keep The Retirement Age At 67. According to WILX, "Both candidates promise to protect social security and keep the retirement age at 67. But their ideas on how to do that differ. Barrett says less government spending while Sen. Hertel wants millionaires to pay more." [WILX, 10/29/24]
September 2024: Barrett Claimed He Would Not Cut Social Security Or Medicare But Said Spending Must Be Reduced. According to the Detroit Free Press, "Barrett, meanwhile, rejects any suggestion he would cut Social Security or Medicare as Democrats have suggested, but he does believe spending and the national debt must be reined in. ‘That discipline has been lost at the federal level,’ he said. ‘I'm not going to pretend to you that we can balance the federal budget on day one of January of next year, but I am saying we have to get back to a practice of being disciplined about how we spend the people's money.’" [Detroit Free Press, 9/9/24]
May 2025: Barrett Voted For The FY 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill That Included $3.8 Trillion In Tax Cuts Offset By $1.5 Trillion In Spending Reductions To Programs Like Medicaid And The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In May 2025, Barrett voted for, according to Congressional Quarterly, “the bill that would provide for approximately $3.8 trillion in net tax cuts and $321 billion in military, border enforcement and judiciary spending, offset by $1.5 trillion in spending reductions, as instructed in the fiscal 2025 budget resolution (H Con Res 14). It would raise the statutory debt limit by $4 trillion and provide for increased spending on defense and border security, spending cuts on social safety net programs, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It also includes a mix of tax breaks for businesses and individuals; tax increases on universities and foundations; and a phase-down of clean energy tax credits. […] It would reduce federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by requiring states to shoulder more of the cost, expand work requirements for SNAP, extend programs authorized under the 2018 farm bill, and prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture from increasing the cost of the Thrifty Food Program. As amended, it would cap state and local tax deductions at $40,000 for households with incomes below $500,000.” The House passed the bill by a vote of 215 to 214. [House Vote 145, 5/22/25; Congressional Quarterly, 5/22/25; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1]
July 2025: Barrett Voted For The Senate FY 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill That Extended $4 Trillion In Expiring Tax Cuts, Added New Tax Breaks, Appropriated $448 Billion In Defense, Border, And Immigration Enforcement Funding, Increased The SALT Deduction To $40,000, And Cut Medicaid And Other Social Programs To Offset The Costs. In July 2025, Barrett voted for, according to Congressional Quarterly, the “motion to concur in the Senate amendment to the bill that would permanently extend nearly $4 trillion in expiring individual and business tax cuts, create several new tax breaks and fund border and immigration enforcement and air traffic control upgrades. It would cut Medicaid and other safety net programs to partly offset the cost. Among other provisions, it would raise the statutory debt ceiling by $5 trillion and appropriate more than $448 billion in mandatory funding for Trump administration priorities and other needs, including $153 billion for defense, $89 billion for immigration enforcement, and $89.5 billion for border control and security. It also would increase the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 annually for five years for households making up to $500,000 a year until 2030, when it would permanently revert to $10,000.” The House passed the bill by a vote of 218 to 214. [House Vote 190, 7/3/25; Congressional Quarterly, 7/3/25; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1]