Social Security Defenders Say Trustees Report Shows Expansion—Not GOP Cuts—Is Path Forward
"Any politician who doesn't support increasing Social Security's revenue is, by default, supporting benefit cuts," said one advocate.
A U.S. government report released Wednesday found that the combined Social Security trust funds will not be able to pay out full benefits to recipients come 2034, unless federal lawmakers act—an announcement that prompted defenders of Social Security to call for increased revenue for the social safety net program.
The report from the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds found that the former's two funds will be exhausted a year earlier than expected, and when that happens payroll tax revenue and other income sources will be able account for 81% of benefits owed to beneficiaries.
According to the report, the two funds—the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund—could "not actually be combined unless there were a change in the law, but the combined projection of the two funds is frequently used to indicate the overall status of the Social Security program."
The OASI Trust Fund will pay 100% of total scheduled benefits until 2033, after which point the program income will be able to pay 77% of total scheduled benefits. At the end of last year, 60.1 million people received OASI benefits.
The report states that the Social Security Fairness Act, an expansion to the program that was signed into law in early January, is part of the reason for the gloomier financial outlook.
Social Security has "a modest funding shortfall, which is still years away. There is no question Congress will act to avert the shortfall, as it always has in the past. The question is what Congress will do," said Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, in a statement on Wednesday.
"There are two options for action: bringing more money into Social Security, or reducing benefits. Any politician who doesn't support increasing Social Security's revenue is, by default, supporting benefit cuts," she continued.
Max Richtman, president and CEO of the advocacy group the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, struck a similar line on Wednesday.
"What's needed—and what the majority of the American people support—is increasing revenue flowing into Social Security, which has been capturing a declining share of income as wealth inequality worsens," he said. He noted that "the payroll wage cap" is depriving the system of adequate revenue. Wages up to $176,100 are taxed at 6.2% for Social Security as of 2025.
"It is time to adjust the payroll wage cap so that the wealthy begin paying their fair share," according to Richtman.
Advocates also used the release of the report to denounce any targeting of Social Security, especially efforts to undermine the Social Security Administration carried out by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
During the first few months of Donald Trump's second presidency, billionaire Elon Musk, who was tapped to lead DOGE, and his allies fanned a false narrative alleging rampant fraud at the Social Security Administration, and used those "claims to justify an aggressive effort to gain access to personal information on millions of Americans," according to June reporting from the The New York Times.
Due to pressure from DOGE, nearly 50% of the Social Security Administration's executives and thousands of employees there have left, either by retiring or taking buyouts. Per the Times, as much as 12% of staff is expected to leave because of DOGE's cost-cutting efforts.
"Despite Donald Trump's promise to protect Social Security, Elon Musk's DOGE is undermining it every day," said Altman, referencing the Times' reporting, including the loss of senior executives. "This is an incalculable loss of institutional knowledge and expertise."
Richard Fiesta, the executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, also called out DOGE's work at the Social Security Administration, and referenced efforts to raise the Social Security retirement age beyond 67.
While there is no current legislative push to increase the Social Security retirement age, in December three Republican senators voted for a failed amendment that would have gradually raised the Social Security retirement age. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky put the amendment forward in response to the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act.
"Republicans in Congress have made clear they are eager to cut the benefits Americans have worked a lifetime to earn," according to Fiesta.
