From the Committee first a Responsible Federal Budget.
Absent action, Social Security’s retirement trust fund is projected to run out of reserves in late 2032, at which point beneficiaries would face an abrupt 22% cut to their benefits – which is the equivalent of roughly $500 per month if it happened today (see state-by-state analysis).
The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:
Social Security is only six years from insolvency – we need action to save it, yesterday. The PROMISE Act would establish a thoughtful bipartisan process to help Congress do its job and rescue Social Security before it’s too late.
Social Security is the bedrock of our nation’s retirement system, and Washington’s failure to secure its finances has put the retirement security of tens of millions of seniors in jeopardy. Any credible effort to help save Social Security – whether through a commission, the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB), specific policies, or committee process – is a step in the right direction.
These proposals keep Congress and the public involved in this important process. Hopefully they can give our leaders the kick in the pants they need to start working together to secure Social Security for current and future generations.
SSAB is a credible bipartisan entity that – along with its predecessor, the Social Security Quadrennial Advisory Council – has a history of putting forward thoughtful recommendations for reform. And if they don’t succeed, the PROMISE Act has a failsafe process to keep the reform discussion in Congress moving forward.
Social Security is going to need to collect more revenue, slow projected cost growth, or some combination. There’s no magic third alternative that doesn’t involve borrowing hundreds of trillions of dollars and thrusting the country into a debt spiral. We can’t simply ignore this problem – it’s not going away, it’s approaching rapidly, and every day we wait makes the problem harder to solve with fewer options available to do so.
Promising not to touch Social Security is just an implicit endorsement of a 22% across-the-board benefit cut.
The Senators and Representatives who have put forward these proposals should be applauded for their willingness to speak up on the need for real solutions. We hope that it jumpstarts a much-needed process to secure Social Security.
Trump has continued emphasizing eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, rather than proposing a major Social Security tax/benefit restructuring. That is pure nonsense from someone who doesn’t understand the problem, doesn’t care or simply lies for political reasons.
The current Trump administration’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has argued that stronger economic growth can help the government’s broader fiscal problem. But economists quoted by the Wall Street Journal specifically say growth alone won’t solve the structural Social Security and Medicare problem.
