House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that he does not think the chamber will pass Social Security or Medicare reform this year.
“I don’t see us tackling it this year,” he said at an event in Wisconsin.
Ryan’s comments follow remarks from President Donald Trump, who told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he believes Congress will move to an infrastructure plan before going on to welfare reform. The president said overhauling social safety net programs is “going to have to be bipartisan.”
Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, echoed that sentiment, saying he wants a “bipartisan consensus” on entitlement reform.
The comments from Ryan and Trump all but assure the Republican-held Congress will not move toward its long-held goal in the near future.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has previously said he does not think the GOP-majority Senate could pass a welfare reform bill on a partisan basis. Republicans, who hold 51 seats, would need to win nine Democratic votes to overcome a likely filibuster in the chamber.
