Chris Sununu, the Republican former governor of New Hampshire, suggested Americans would “absolutely” accept “ending Medicaid and Medicare and social security,” along with increasing the retirement age beyond 67, in order to slash the national debt.
Sununu, who stepped down as governor in January after announcing he would not seek reelection, made the remarks during a CNN appearance on Thursday.
Newsweek contacted Sununu for comment via email.
Why It Matters
According to Treasury Department figures the U.S. national debt was $34 trillion in December 2023, up from $31.4 trillion a year earlier.
Following his inauguration in January, President Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency, under the leadership of tech billionaire Elon Musk, with the task of cutting what they regard as excess government spending. On Thursday the House narrowly approved a Trump-backed plan to cut spending on government services by up to $1.5 trillion, and to further increase the debt ceiling to facilitate the president’s planned tax cuts.
What To Know
During a CNN debate on Thursday Ashley Allison, a former White House staffer under President Obama, said: “You can’t do what Elon is saying he’s doing without touching the programs that American people don’t want to get touched.”
Sununu: Congress doesn’t want them to get touched. Americans will accept it… Let’s move the retirement age. 62 or 64 or whatever it is? That’s insane. No young person thinks retirement should be in their mid 60s pic.twitter.com/V2PWmATjLJ
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 11, 2025
Sununu replied: “No, Congress doesn’t want them to get touched, Americans will accept it.”
Allison then questioned “Americans will accept ending Medicaid and Medicare and social security?” to which Sununu responded: “With adjustments? Absolutely.”
The former Obama staffer asked “what are those adjustments then?” to which Sununu said: “Let’s move the retirement age, 62 or 64, whatever it is, that’s insane.”
Kayla Bartkowski/GETTY
The CNN anchor pointed out the current retirement age is 67, to which Sununu responded: “No young person thinks retirement should be in the mid-60s or 67.”
A 32-second clip of the exchange was shared on X by the ‘Acyn’ account, which is part of the self-styled “pro-democracy” media outlet MeidasTouch, where it racked up more than 315,000 views.
In March, the White House released a statement saying: “The Trump Administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. President Trump himself has said it (over and over and over again).”
What People Are Saying
Responding to the X video, user ‘Machine Pun Kelly,’ who has 70,000 followers on the platform, wrote: “It’s 67. And those are years of my life. I’m 57. I’ve worked my whole life in anticipation of being able to retire. Moving the finishing line is not acceptable.”
However another user, who identified as a “former Republican,” wrote: “I would be open to raising the age to get 100 percent benefits. We live longer than we did when the current age brackets were created.”
Progressive campaign group Really American, which has 665,000 X followers, also shared the clip commenting: “This is insane: In an unbelievable moment, John Sununu ended his own political career by suggesting that Americans will just ‘accept’ moving the retirement age up in order to support tax cuts for the rich. Make sure everyone sees this.”
What Happens Next
Any effort to strip Medicaid or Medicare would almost certainly result in staunch Democratic opposition. The White House is strongly denying it has any such plans.
