The Daily Caller reports that Eric Cantor has signalled a willingness to lead Republicans in supporting cuts to entitlement and defense spending.

Appearing on NBC’s “The Today Show,” Cantor told Matt Lauer that spending cuts in defense and entitlements are “on the table.”

“Are you willing to perhaps raise the Social Security retirement age?,” Lauer asked Cantor Tuesday morning. “Are you willing to make cuts in Medicare? Are you willing to make cuts in defense spending? Are any of those issues on the table?”

“I think, you know, we’ve got to have everything on the table right now,” Cantor said. “That’s also what we heard from the people on November 2. … Everything should be on the table. I don’t think we should leave any stone unturned while we’re trying to do what most have in this country have done, which is tighten the belt, which is to try and live within our means.”

It is a new development for Cantor to take on entitlements and defense spending, and an important one because he has significant influence in the Republican Party as the incoming House majority leader. If he stands by his Today Show statements, Cantor will have moved the agenda far past the Pledge to America’s goals in terms of reducing spending.