In March of this year, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) presented its proposal for the fiscal year 2024 budget, which includes something that surprised few: sharp cuts to Social Security and its various benefits, such as retirement, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
About 80% of all Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives are members of the CSR committee, as well as the entire Republican leadership of the House, which establishes that the policies described in the budget proposal represent the party and is a priority.
In addition to the cuts in the amount that beneficiaries receive month by month, there is a proposal that has generated the most vehement rejection from sectors that protect the elderly: the increase in the retirement age.
Raising the Retirement Age — The Controversial Idea Proposed in Washington
A proposal that has been a constant in the budget plans of the CSR for several years is to increase the Social Security full retirement age (FRA), which is the age at which older people can access their retirement benefits without suffering a reduction for retiring early.
If an eligible person decides to retire today, the FRA is set at 67, but the CSR plan would raise it to 69, resulting in significant benefit cuts for a large portion of Americans. Although this measure is widely unpopular among the population, it has received the support of some of the most conservative groups in Washington, D.C., such as the Heritage Foundation, which promotes the authoritarian manual known as Project 2025 (we have written some articles about this group and its conservative proposal, here, and here).
The RSC did not make much effort this year to propose the increase in the retirement age. In fact, much of the wording and its language is taken from the proposals made for the year 2024. However, the specific details about the plan to increase the FRA did not emerge from the fiscal year 2024 budget proposal itself, but from the Roll Call report on comments made by the chairman of the CSR Budget and Spending Task Force, Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.), on behalf of the CSR.
In summary, the proposal to increase the FRA three months per year, starting with those who turn 62 in 2026, until it increases two years, from 67 to 69.
Not a New Idea at All
Subsequently, the new 69-year-old FRA will be fully implemented for all charities that turn 62 from the year 2033. Keep in mind that these ideas have remained the same from one year to the next, and it is likely that the schedule will simply be delayed by one year with the fiscal year 2025 version.
So, in the hypothetical case that this plan is approved in Congress, the gradual implementation should begin now with those who turn 62 in 2027 and would end with those who turn 62 in 2034, and so on every year as long as it continues to be presented.
Raising the Retirement Age Will Affect the Social Security Benefits
Increasing the FRA would have a significant effect on reducing Social Security benefits. According to an analysis by the Center for American Progress, raising the FRA to age 69 would reduce benefits for all new retirees by 12.5% to 14.3% once it is fully implemented.
For example, a retiree with a median salary of $70,000 in 2022 who turns 62 in 2034 would lose thousands of dollars annually in benefits, according to the following table:
