Scott stands by plan to sunset federal legislation after 5 years amid Biden criticisms

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott on Wednesday stood by his plan to "sunset" federal legislation after five years and  require that Congress repass significant measures to prevent expiration.

President Joe Biden, during his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening suggested that Republicans sought to sunset Social Security and Medicare, which prompted boos from Republicans who contended that Biden had misrepresented their position.

Scott, in particular, dubbed Biden's comments "a dishonest move... from a very confused president," according to The Hill.

"This is clearly and obviously an idea aimed at dealing with all the crazy new laws our Congress has been passing of late," the Senator said of his plan. "In my plan, I suggested the following: All federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again."

President Joe Biden, while a Delaware senator, introduced a similar measure in 1975 that would have sunset federal programs after just four years, saying "it requires every program to be looked at freshly at least once every four years," according to Fox News. "The examination is not just of the increased cost of the program, but of the worthiness of the entire program."

The Florida Republican further contended that Biden's interpretation of his plan might be construed as to sunset the armed forces or other long-extant federal programs.

"Does he think I also intend to get rid of the U.S. Navy? Or the Border Patrol? Or air traffic control, maybe? This is the fake, gotcha BS that people hate about Washington. I've never advocated cutting Social Security or Medicare and never would," he concluded.

Scott has been an advocate for fiscal reform in the Senate and challenged Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for leadership of the party in the upper chamber but failed to unseat him. The former National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman has remained a resolute critic of McConnell's frequent backroom deals with Democrats to pass legislation over the objections of his own caucus, most recently an Omnibus spending package at the end of 2022 that rankled Republican lawmakers ahead of the current debt ceiling standoff.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.