President Donald Trump told Senate Republicans he's open to cutting "waste, fraud, and abuse" in Medicaid, it was reported.
While Democrats stressed that Trump has said Medicaid benefits won't be "touched," the president apparently believes ridding the system of abuse is a good thing, Axios reported Thursday.
Trump and top White House officials met with GOP members of the Finance Committee on Thursday. The group included Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republican Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
"The President wants to make sure that we do eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and, you know, there are a number of scams going on right now with Medicaid," Barrasso told Axios.
Finding Medicaid fraud was raised as a way to help pay for Trump's priorities of the southern border, defense, and taxes, Axios reported.
Wasteful spending in Medicare and Social Security also was mentioned, though the latter can't be addressed during the reconciliation process, Axios added.
Reconciliation allows for expedited consideration of certain fiscal legislation.
The group also talked about using a big rescission package to codify the Department of Government Efficiency's suggested cuts. The package then could be passed with a simple majority in the Senate.
The chamber on Friday was poised to pass a stopgap spending bill and avert a partial government shutdown, after Democrats backed down in a standoff driven by anger over Trump's campaign to slash the federal workforce.
The Republican-controlled House this week passed the measure, which largely leaves spending steady at about $6.75 trillion in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.
During his meeting with the senators, Trump said he was open to work requirements for Medicaid and discussing ways to reduce the rate of growth of some healthcare programs.
He also said he wants lawmakers to deal with raising the debt ceiling in the reconciliation package and supports making his 2017 tax cuts permanent.
"It became clear that [Trump] wanted to be bold," one senator told Axios.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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