A gaggle of Democratic US senators warned Monday that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump might be gearing up for a push for elevate the retirement age as a part of a broader—and deeply unpopular—effort to slash Social Safety advantages after the 2026 midterm elections.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Unwell.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote in a letter to Trump that they’ve “renewed considerations” that his administration is “contemplating elevating the retirement age, slicing the earned advantages of thousands and thousands of People,” regardless of the president’s repeated vows to protect this system.“Republicans have a historical past of making an attempt to extend the retirement age, privatize Social Safety, or in any other case reduce Social Safety advantages, and a few congressional Republicans have referred to as to boost the retirement age or means-test advantages,” the lawmakers wrote, emphasizing that GOP lawmakers “will not be alone.”
“In an interview this previous fall, [Social Security Administration] Commissioner Frank Bisignano mentioned—and later tried to retract after public outcry—that your administration was contemplating this concept,” the Democratic senators wrote of elevating the retirement age, which might reduce Social Safety advantages throughout the board.
The nonpartisan Congressional Funds Workplace evaluation of a 2024 Republican proposal to boost Social Safety’s full retirement age discovered that doing so would reduce advantages by a mean of 13% for folks born after 1971.
The Democratic senators despatched their letter to Trump days after Social Safety’s trustees mentioned of their annual report that this system will likely be unable to pay out full advantages by the top of 2032—1 / 4 sooner than projected final yr—except Congress takes motion. The discovering was seen as proof of the harm inflicted by Trump’s insurance policies, together with his tariffs and tax cuts for the wealthy.
Forward of the trustees report’s launch, Home Speaker Mike Johnson declared that Social Safety must be “adjusted and glued” and mentioned Republicans would launch their plan “subsequent yr,” with out specifying what the proposal would entail.
Of their letter to Trump on Monday, the trio of Democratic senators demanded to know if the president is conscious of “Republican plans to chop Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Safety advantages” and whether or not he would veto GOP laws that slashes these applications.
“Elevating the retirement age—or in any other case slicing advantages—solely worsens the looming retirement earnings disaster,” the lawmakers wrote. “Doing so hurts older People, slicing month-to-month advantages and forcing thousands and thousands into poverty.”
