House Social Security Hearing Opens With Plenty Of Bickering

As Americans grapple with how to prepare for retirement in the face of rising Social Security concerns, Congress had another moment of bickering on Capitol Hill.

On Tuesday morning, the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security held a hearing to discuss the financial status of the nation's retirement programs. Before getting to the substance of how to create solvency, Reps. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) and Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) sparred over the composition of the panel.

Becerra requested that a letter be inserted into the hearing's record, expressing Democrats' dismay over the absence of Social Security Administration Chief Actuary Stephen C. Goss -- author of the Social Security Trustees report that was released on Monday. Becerra argued that Goss would have served as a "neutral, non-partisan" voice during discussions on the report's findings.

"You could've invited him, you know," Johnson snapped.

"Mr. Chairman, we had one witness out of the five or six," Becerra shot back.

"You could've invited him," Johnson repeated.

Watch the exchange above. For more on the Social Security subcommittee's hearings, click here.