A sizable majority of people think recipients of Medicaid or food stamps should have work requirements, including about half of Democrats.
An Axios-Ipsos survey released on Thursday found that 63% of adults in the country believe the government should require those enrolled in Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to show proof of work to receive benefits. The numbers come as Republican lawmakers push to impose beefed-up work requirements as part of debt ceiling negotiations.
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The poll, conducted earlier this month, shows major stratification on the matter by partisan ideology. An overwhelming 80% of Republicans support work requirements, while 49% of Democrats said the same. Among independent voters, 66% supported beneficiaries showing proof of work.
Boosted work requirements were part of the recently introduced Republican legislation to raise the debt ceiling. The plan mandates that Medicaid beneficiaries work 80 hours per month, although there are exceptions for people with dependents, those over the age of 56, and others.
Republicans are also targeting SNAP, known as food stamps, and seek to strengthen the requirements for recipients, who are already subject to some work obligations.
Currently, those “capable” and aged 18-49 without dependents must report work. The new plan would hike the age limit to 56. Right now, those in the 18-49 cohort who can’t show they are employed at least 20 hours a week are limited to just three months of food stamps in a three-year period. The GOP debt limit plan would raise the number of people who fall into that group.
There has been some uncertainty about how palatable beefed-up work requirements would be to President Joe Biden and Democrats. Biden hinted over the weekend that he might be open to some GOP negotiation over work requirements for food stamps, though he ruled out Medicaid.
“I voted for tougher aid programs that’s in the law now, but for Medicaid, it’s a different story. And so I’m waiting to hear what their exact proposal is,” Biden told reporters while fielding impromptu questions while biking in Delaware.
But a couple of days later, the White House press office put out a statement that made the president seem less likely to support any increased work requirements. Biden himself appeared to backpedal on Wednesday and not accept any expanded work requirements “that go much beyond” bipartisan legislation that did so in the 1990s.
“It’s possible there could be a few others, but not anything of consequence,” he added.
A senior Republican aide in Congress told the Washington Examiner on Thursday the polling shows that bolstering work requirements isn’t a controversial stance.
“It’s not controversial, which is why even Biden indicated support for it last week before his handlers rushed to clean up after him. Everyone outside the Beltway understands that work requirements are just common sense,” the aide said, also taking a dig at the White House.
But survey participants do not support cutting popular entitlement programs to reduce the federal deficit, according to the data.
An overwhelming majority of people, some 77%, oppose cuts to Medicare and Social Security spending. There isn’t much difference on the matter between parties. While 82% of Democrats oppose Social Security and Medicare cuts, 75% of Republicans feel the same way.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said if an agreement isn’t reached between the White House and congressional Republicans, the United States could experience a default as soon as June 1. The fast-approaching deadline has added urgency to the negotiations, which continued in earnest this week.
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Both the White House and Republicans have pushed back on the notion that the U.S. will fall over that cliff, which would mark the first default in U.S. history.
“I think at the end of the day, we do not have a debt default,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Wednesday during an appearance on CNBC.