Social Security

Mon, Sept 7, 2026:

• As Social Security fund runs dry, some Republicans say it’s time to raise taxes

  Raising the payroll tax is gaining traction as a fix — even in the anti-tax GOP — to fend off deep cuts in retirement benefits. - WP

Thurs, Sept 3, 2026:

• Higher Social Security payroll taxes no longer taboo for GOP. A leading Republican says raising rates for the wealthy could help avoid future benefit cuts. - Roll Call

Thurs, Aug 27, 2026:

• The Social Security benefit cliff is here. Washington is struggling to wake up.

  Candidates now on the ballot will have to confront tough trade-offs to prevent a drastic cut to retirees’ monthly checks. - Politico

Wed, Aug 26, 2026:

• How to avoid a Social Security cut? Lawmakers are floating ideas for what to do - AP

Tues, Aug 11, 2026:

• Two lame duck Senators, Dick Durbin and Bill Cassidy, want to advance legislation to establish a Social Security Commission during the post-election lame duck session to address the impending shortfall of the Trust Fund. NOTUS

  • Trillions Outlook: Unlikely. Lame duck session will focus on avoiding a December government shutdown. Meanwhile, Social Security’s financial outlook continues to worsen. Shortfalls in 2032 and beyond will be covered through general revenues, i.e., more Treasury borrowing.

Mon, July 6, 2026:

• The Elixir of the Payroll-Tax Cap and Other Social Security Myths - Atlantic

Tues, June 23, 2026:

• Bernie Moreno and Elizabeth Warren: Our Plan to Save Social Security - NYT

Tues, June 9, 2026:

• The Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund reserves are projected to become depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, with only 78 percent of benefits payable at that time. - Social Security Board of Trustees

  • The annual cost of the program is projected to exceed annual income in 2026 and remain higher throughout the 75-year projection period. Total cost began to be higher than total income in 2021. Social Security’s cost has exceeded its non-interest income since 2010.

  • If Congress does not act, combined trust fund reserves (OASI and Disability) are projected to be depleted in 2034. At that time, there would be sufficient income to pay 83 percent of scheduled benefits.

  • The Board of Trustees is comprised of four members who serve by virtue of their positions with the federal government: Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury and Managing Trustee; Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner of Social Security; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services; and Keith E. Sonderling, Acting Secretary of Labor. The two public trustee positions are currently vacant.

• Social Security’s retirement trust fund faces a funding shortfall a year earlier than expected. - AP

Fri, June 5, 2026:

• Trump officials planned to mark 2.7 million living people as dead, whistleblower claims. A former Social Security executive said the plan, which was not carried out, would have used a death database to pressure immigrants to leave the country. - WP

Thurs, May 7, 2026:

• The Real Cost of Downsizing Social Security. Under new leadership, the agency has reduced the role of field offices across the country and centralized its operations, making it harder for millions of Americans to get help with their benefits. - New Yorker

Mon, April 13, 2026:

• How Much Should The Young Transfer To The Old? The Key Social Security and Medicare Question That Any Reform Proposal Should Ask. - Substack / Steuerle

Thurs, March 19, 2026:

• Social Security’s Funding Gap is 1.3% of GDP-Here’s How We Can Close It-PGPF

Mon, March 9, 2026:

• CRFB Releases Social Security: Just the Facts - CRFB

Thurs, Feb 12, 2026:

• Why Did Congress Deliberately Schedule Social Security Insolvency? - GovWeDeserve

Tues, Jan 20, 2026:

• Trump administration concedes DOGE team may have misused Social Security data. Some DOGE personnel had more access to data than previously acknowledged, according to a court filing. - Politico

Tues, Dec 30, 2025:

• How Social Security has gotten worse under Trump. Customer service deteriorated by key measures as the agency enacted sweeping cuts in Trump’s second term, internal data and interviews show. - WP

Fri, Dec 19, 2025:

• Mitt Romney: Tax the Rich, Like Me – NYT / Mitt Romney

Tues, Dec 2 2025:

• The GOP’s Immigration Curbs Will Threaten Social Security – Bloomberg
  Without immigration, the working-age population will shrink, reducing the number of workers available to fund Social Security and Medicare, which would directly threaten the financial wellbeing of Trump’s electoral base.

Mon, Dec 1, 2025:

• Congress must save Social Security from Insolvency – Bloomberg Editorial Bd.
  The Social Security system’s two trust funds are on course to be depleted by 2034, at which point automatic benefit cuts of about 20% are supposed to kick in. A combination of short-term action and technical fixes is needed to bolster the system’s finances, including gradually raising the full retirement age and using a different measure of prices when updating benefits for inflation. Changes to spending or revenue, such as increasing the payroll tax or applying the payroll tax to employer-provided health insurance, will be required to avoid the imminent crunch and put the system’s finances on safer footing.

Tues, Nov 25, 2025:

• To reform and protect Social Security, let’s start by appointing public trustees – The Hill

Wed, Nov 19, 2025:

• Social Security scraps plan to limit disability benefits after uproar. The policy would have fundamentally altered who qualifies for the two federal disability programs by eliminating or limiting a person’s age as a factor to consider. – WP

Mon, Nov 17. 2025:

• Hitting retirement age in 2026? This Social Security change could impact you. – CBS

Tues, Oct 28, 2025:

• Hours-long wait times. Endless looping music. Useless robot messages. Millions of seniors and disabled people call Social Security’s 1-800 number every month. What they experience is often maddening. – WP

Thurs, Sept 25 2025:

• Elon Musk’s DOGE Cuts to Social Security Are Even Worse Than We Knew. Social Security Administration workers are in shambles. – TNR

• Social Security payments to go electronic starting next week – CBS

Wed, Sept 24, 2025:

• A Diminished Social Security Work Force, and Its Customers, Feel the Strain. After this year’s staffing cuts, some people wait for hours, others sail through. But overburdened field office workers carry the weight. – NYT

Mon, Sept 22, 2025:

• Trump’s Social Security shakeup is hurting the disabled and poor, advocates say – Axios

Fri, Sept 12, 2025:

• Social Security COLA may be higher in 2026, new estimate shows – Hill

Mon, Sept. 8, 2025:

• The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social Security – ProPublica

Tues, Aug 5, 2025:

• Your call to a local Social Security office may be picked up by someone who can’t help – NPR

Mon, Aug 4, 2025:

• Social Security says it will no longer send paper checks. – CNN

Wed, July 30, 2025:

• Bessent hails new ‘Trump accounts’ as ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security’ – Politico

Wed, July 9, 2025:

• Correcting the Social Security Administration About The Big Budget Bill – TPC

Tues, July 8, 2025:

• Our bipartisan plan could rescue Social Security. A separate trust fund could invest in private business rather than government bonds. – WP

Sun, July 6, 2025:

• Social Security Sends Misleading Email Claiming to Eliminate Taxes. The Social Security Administration circulated an imprecise email about the provisions in the new law. Here’s what it actually does. – NYT

• Former Social Security Official Pitched an Investment Strategy to Keep Fund Solvent. It Went Nowhere. – WSJ

Thurs, June 26, 2025:

• CBO’s 2025 Long-Term Projections for Social Security – CBO

Wed, June 18, 2025:

• 2025 OASDI Trustees Report: OASI reserves become depleted in 2033, which is the same year projected in last year’s report. As in last year’s report, the DI reserves do not become depleted within the 75-year long-range projection period. – Trustees Report

• Social Security’s Finances Erode Further, Risking Benefit Cuts. The nation’s key program for retiree benefits continues to see financing shortfalls. Unless Congress acts, those drops could lead to payment cuts in eight years. – NYTimes

Thurs, June 5, 2025:

• Americans Filing for Social Security at Record Rate – FT

Tues, May 6, 2025:

• House Republicans warn Trump administration on Social Security cuts – GOP Letter to Social Security Commissioner 5.5.25 – Politico

Wed, April 23, 2025:

• Democrats call on Social Security watchdog to investigate DOGE cuts’ impact – The Hill

Tues, April 15, 2025:

• Breaking his silence, Biden to speak out on Social Security – WP

• Link to Biden speech to Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled – The Hill

• President Trump signed a memorandum on Tuesday attempting to curtail Social Security fraud, despite ample evidence against widespread improper payments. The move bolsters Elon Musk’s DOGE-related efforts to eliminate Social Security fraud, “about which he has continually exaggerated and promoted conspiracy theories.” – Axios

Sat, April 12, 2025:

• The Trump administration overrode Social Security staff to falsely list immigrants as dead – WP

Thurs, April 10. 2025:

• Senate Dems propose legislation to provide $200 monthly increase in Social Security benefits as a hedge against tariff-induced inflation – Axios

Wed, April 9, 2025:

• Social Security backs off cuts to phone services amid outcry – Axios

Mon, April 7, 2025:

• Social Security website keeps crashing, as DOGE demands cuts to IT staff; The worsening problems come as Elon Musk’s DOGE team pushes for more cuts at the agency, including in the department that oversees the website. – WP

Wed, March 26, 2025:

• Trump’s elimination of Social Security paper checks could affect half a million Amerians – Axios

• Top Republicans say they’re out of the loop as DOGE downsizes Social Security Administration; They aren’t complaining about it, at least publicly. But some would like a heads-up on office closures, staffing cuts and other changes that affect their constituents. – NBC News

Tues, March 25, 2025:

• Long waits, waves of calls, website crashes: Social Security is breaking down. A flood of cuts led by Elon Musk has sent the agency into chaos as a new commissioner prepares to take charge. – WP

• Trump pick to head Social Security Administration denies plans to privatize – The Hill

Mon, March 24, 2025:

• Why DOGE is struggling to find fraud in Social Security; Claims of massive problems by Elon Musk and President Trump are at odds with the agency’s audits and reports. – WP

Sat, March 22, 2025:

• New Social Security requirements pose barriers to rural communities without internet, transportation – AP

• Federal judge pushes back on acting Social Security head over threat to close agency. Leland Dudek backed off his argument that a ruling blocking Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team from access to sensitive data could apply to all agency employees. – WP

Fri, March 21, 2025:

• Commerce secretary: No one but ‘fraudsters’ would complain about missed Social Security check – The Hill

Thurs, March 20, 2025:

• A federal judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order barring Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency team from having access to personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration. – CNBC

• Republicans want Musk to shut up about Social Security – The Hill

Wed, March 19, 2025:

• Dozens of SSA offices across the country are slated to close this year due to actions taken by Elon Musk’s DOGE…. The offices are closing despite a new requirement that tighter identity-proofing measures be put in place to prevent fraud and abuse. These steps will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices. – AP

Tue, March 18, 2025:

• Social Security to require millions to make claims in person rather than by phone. The change is expected to create new hardships as Trump and Musk push massive cuts to the agency that serves elderly and disabled Americans. – WP

Mon, March 17, 2025:

• Social Security Employees Warn of Damage From DOGE; Current and former employees, both Republican and Democratic, are raising alarms about the damage cost-cutting efforts could do to the agency’s ability to serve the public. – NYT

Wed, March 12, 2025:

• Senators to Trump Social Security nominee: “You will be responsible” if benefits are interrupted – CNBC

• Social Security scraps far-reaching cuts to phone services after Post report – WP

Tues, Mar 11, 2025:

• Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud – AP

• White House insists Musk cuts to Social Security, Medicare won’t affect benefits. Musk alleged that up to $700 billion in entitlement spending could be “waste and fraud,” raising alarm among Democrats. – WP

• “Driven by Musk’s DOGE, the Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 employees. The agency has also halted overtime work in backlogged offices that process Americans’ benefit claims and is closing regional and field offices that serve the public.”
  Under Trump, Social Security resumes what it once called “clawback cruelty” – KFF

Thurs, Mar 6, 2025:

• Former SSA head O’Malley–how Soc. Sec. cuts could put millions of older Americans at risk – PBS

Mon, Mar 3, 2025:

• Murray blasts Trump and Musk plans to gut SSA – SenAppropsDs

Sat, Feb 22, 2025:

• Leland Dudek, a data analyst working in a small anti-fraud office, was suspected of sharing unauthorized access to information with representatives of Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service. Now he’s the acting Social Security commissioner. – WP

Mon, Feb 17, 2025:

• Top Social Security official exits after clash with DOGE over data – WP

Mon, Jan 27, 2025:

• Social Security Fairness Act’s boosted payments may be a year away – The Hill

Sun, Jan 5, 2025:

• Higher Social Security payments coming for millions who receive state or local pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers and in other public service jobs. – AP

Wed, Nov 13, 2024:

• House votes yes on a bill that would increase Social Security checks for some pensioners – CNBC

Fri, Nov 8, 2024:

• Long-Term Effects of HR 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 – CBO

Thurs, Sept 26, 2024:

• CBO: Answers to Questions for the Record Following a Hearing on Social Security’s Finances

Wed, Sept 25, 2024:

• CBO: Raising the Full Retirement Age for Social Security

Wed, Aug 28, 2024:

• CBO’s 2024 Long-Term Projections for Social Security

Tues, May 21, 2024:

• Social Security chief Martin O’Malley races to rebuild troubled agency – WashPost

Mon, May 6, 2024:

• 2024 Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trustees Report projects that:

  • the OASI Trust Fund will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033, unchanged from last year’s report; at that time, the fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing program income will be sufficient to pay 79 percent of scheduled benefits; and

  • the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund is projected to be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits through at least 2098;

  • if the OASI Trust Fund and the DI Trust Fund projections are “combined,” the resulting projected fund (designated OASDI) would be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2035, one year later than reported last year. At that time, the projected fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing total fund income will be sufficient to pay 83 percent of scheduled benefits. (The two funds 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.)

• For more background, see our primer, Trillions.

6/29/2023:

• CBO released 2023 Long-Term Projections for Social Security: “In CBO’s projections, spending for Social Security increases relative to GDP over the next 75 years, and the gap between outlays and revenues widens. If combined, the program’s trust funds would be exhausted in fiscal year 2033.”

6/14/2023:

• House Republican Study Comm. proposal to raise Soc. Sec. retirement age

5/30/2023:

• CBO answers to questions from Congress on Social Security Finances (May 2023)

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Social Security in a Nutshell:

• Social Security consists of two separate parts: Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI).

• Under OASI, monthly benefits are paid to retired workers, their spouses and dependent children, and survivors of deceased workers (spouses, dependent children and dependent parents). Average monthly benefits for retired workers are available here. Social Security is the major source of income for most of the elderly. Generally, a worker must have 10 years (40 quarters) of covered employment to be eligible for retirement benefits.

• Retirement Age: The Social Security Amendments of 1983 established a very gradual schedule for increasing the full retirement eligibility age from 65 to 67. People can still elect to take early retirement at age 62 with lower benefits.

• Initial OASI benefits are based on a worker’s past average monthly earnings, indexed to reflect changes in national wage levels (and adjusted upward for low earners). Each subsequent year, benefits are adjusted upward to compensate for consumer price inflation. These annual adjustments are called “cost of living adjustments,” or COLAs. The Social Security benefit formula is progressive, returning a higher percentage of a lower-wage worker’s average monthly earnings. In 1983, Congress made up to 50% of Social Security benefits taxable for higher income beneficiaries; and in 1993, up to 85% was made taxable.

• Social Security Survivors Insurance (SI) is similar to life insurance. When a worker dies, his or her spouse, dependent children, disabled children over 16, dependent parents, and former spouse caring for children may qualify for Social Security survivors benefits.

• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Disability Insurance provides monthly cash benefits for disabled workers (and their dependents) who have paid into the system, met minimum work requirements, and qualify as unable to engage in “substantial gainful activity” due to a physical or mental impairment. Monthly benefits are paid to disabled workers (who have not yet reached retirement age) and their families. Average monthly benefits for disabled workers are available here.

• Initial disability benefits are based on a worker’s past average monthly earnings, indexed to reflect changes in national wage levels and adjusted upward for low earners. SSDI benefits, once approved, continue as long as the individual remains disabled or until he or she reaches the normal retirement age, at which time the benefits automatically convert to retirement benefits. Periodically, SSA conducts “continuing disability reviews” (CDRs) to determine whether the individual is still disabled. Twenty-four months after SSDI coverage begins, the disabled worker is also entitled to Medicare coverage.

• Payroll Taxes: The Social Security system is sustained by payroll taxes of 12.4%—half paid by employers and half by employees (with self-employed individuals paying roughly the full amount). However, payroll taxes are assessed on income only up to a maximum cap available here.

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Additional Background and Resources:

• Annual Trustees Report

• Key Up-to-Date Facts about Social Security are available here

• Congressional Research Service Overview of Social Security is available here

• Social Security Retirement Benefits Webpage

• Social Security Disability Benefits Webpage

• Social Security Primer

• Social Security Benefit Taxation Highlights

• Social Security: Major Decisions in the House and Senate Since 1935

• CBO: Long-Term Projections for Social Security Updated annually

• SSA Fact Sheet: Social Security – number of people covered and average benefits