GOP’s Eric Hovde pushes for entitlement reform that would devastate veterans

Bank executive Eric Hovde, now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, said he agreed with a far-right podcast host who suggested cutting Medicare, Social Security, and veterans’ benefits.

Hovde appeared on the Sean Spicer Show on June 11. Spicer served as Press Secretary for former President Donald Trump in 2017. During the discussion, Spicer suggested there was no way to lower the national debt or deficit without cutting entitlement programs and veterans’ benefits.

Hovde told Spicer he “didn’t disagree.” Hovde then praised the Social Security Act of 1988, which reduced Social Security benefits for retirees who earned above a certain income and created incentives for those who delay collecting Social Security benefits.

“I think it was 1988… when Congress and President Reagan put some changes to Social Security to protect it for our seniors because they knew the glide path was going to be very negative,” Hovde said. “No one’s done anything since then … We’re going to have to look at a whole host of different programs. It’s not just on the discretionary. It’s on the entitlements side.”

Hovde previously ran for U.S. Senate in 2012 but failed to advance past the Republican primary. He took a similar position on entitlement reform during that campaign. In a July 2012 interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hovde was asked if he would scale back Medicaid, Medicare, disability, Social Security benefits.

“All those programs, all those programs absolutely, positively need to be reformed,” Hovde said.

When asked if making cuts to those programs would be a part of reforming them, Hovde said “absolutely.”

Cutting these programs could be financially devastating for millions of Americans, but especially veterans. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5.3 million disabled veterans received benefits from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in 2023. More than 80,000 of these veterans live in Wisconsin.

Fully disabled veterans may also be eligible for Social Security. The Social Security Administration estimates that nearly one million veterans rely on Social Security benefits.

Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate primary is scheduled for Aug. 13. If Hovde secures the Republican nomination he will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November. Baldwin’s campaign website dedicates a page to veteran health care.

“Tammy helped pass legislation to expand VA health care and benefits to the more than 3.5 million veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits during their service in the 1990s and post-9/11 wars,” the page states. “The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics of 2022 (PACT Act) is the most significant expansion of veteran benefits and care in more than three decades.”

A Hovde campaign spokesperson said Hovde will “100 percent stand up for veterans” if elected.