White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett insisted that the Trump administration would consider cutting Medicare even though the president has said the program would not be touched.
During a Sunday interview on CBS, host Margaret Brennan noted that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had acknowledged a discussion around Medicare cuts.
"Is the White House open to any discussion around Medicare?" she asked Hassett.
"Well, first of all, what's happening is that the senators, respecting the legislative process, are discussing what they think that they can put on the table," President Donald Trump's economic adviser replied. "If the Senate comes up with other things they'd like us to look at, I guess we would have a look at them. But there have been a lot of false stories about Medicare being on the table, and it's totally not on the table."
"You are taking Medicare off the table?" Brennan clarified. "The White House says don't do it?"
"No," Hassett laughed, "I've seen a massive amount of waste, fraud, abuse in Medicaid, and I've not been briefed on Medicare waste, fraud, and abuse. But if they find something that, of course, we would look at it."
"You would look at it?" Brennan asked.
"Of course," Hassett said.
