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House Republicans have started to weigh a series of legislative proposals targeting Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs, part of a broader campaign to slash federal spending that could force the new majority to grapple with some of the most difficult and delicate issues in American politics. Only weeks after taking control of the chamber, GOP lawmakers under new Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have rallied around firm pledges for austerity, insisting their efforts can improve the nation’s fiscal health. They have signaled they are willing to leverage the fight over the debt ceiling — and the threat of a fiscal doomsday — to seek major policy concessions from the Biden administration. (Romm, 1/24)

A Republican bill introduced this week would force members of Congress and their staff to get health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, a change aimed at forcing lawmakers to recognize the longstanding problems with the VA. (Kasperowicz, 1/25)

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has released the names of the Republicans who will serve on a pair of subcommittees as part of the GOP’s promise to launch investigations into the Biden administration. McCarthy in a tweet Tuesday announced the GOP membership of two select subcommittees on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government” and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gans, 1/24)

The panel, which the House approved earlier this month along a party-line vote, is already a lightning rod for Democratic criticism, the Biden administration and their allies, who view it as a vehicle for Republicans to use their new majority to enact political revenge. “Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy claim to be investigating the weaponization of the federal government when, in fact, this new select subcommittee is the weapon itself. It is specifically designed to inject extremist politics into our justice system and shield the MAGA movement from the legal consequences of their actions,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a recent statement about the panel. (Carney, 1/24)

Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday blocked two Democrats from seats on the House Intelligence Committee and filled out the GOP rosters of newly created select subcommittees charged with investigating the politicization of the government and the origins of the Covid pandemic. McCarthy, R-Calif., made good on his promise to block former Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell — both D-Calif. — from serving on that panel. (wong, 1/24)