Social Security is on the ballot”” said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works. Altman, whose advocacy group supports the expansion of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, commented that if President Joe Biden is re-elected, “real progress will be made in eliminating the Social Security deficit.” In contrast, in a new Trump administration, no progress could be made, she said recently.
The Democratic Party “is clearly in favor of expanding benefits without cuts and restoring the long-term actuarial balance of Social Security by requiring the super-rich to pay what is generally considered their fair share,” Altman said. Democrats have recently introduced a series of bills that do exactly that.
Prominent Bills: Social Security Act 2100 and Expansion Act
Two of them are very prominent: the Social Security Act 2100 and the Social Security Expansion Act, Altman said. “Both proposals have been presented in this Congress, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. Both expand benefits across the board and specifically, while ensuring that all benefits can be paid in full and on time for many decades,” Altman recently commented.
House minority whip Hakeem Jeffries of New York, “who will be the speaker if the Democrats take back control of the House, will almost certainly bring one of those bills up for a vote,” Altman said.
Republicans’ Vote Dilemma on Social Security Bills
Meanwhile, Republicans “won’t want to vote against it because they know it’s popular with their constituents, but they won’t want to vote for it because it’s unpopular with their billionaire donors,” Altman predicted. “It will pass in the House with or without your votes, but it will be obstructed in the Senate, so it will not become law next year.”
On the other hand, Social security is going to be “an important electoral issue and little by little it will convince the Republicans. In that case, I would predict that a bill that restores the balance of social security by increasing the revenues dedicated to it could become law in 2027,” was Altman’s opinion.
“In stark contrast, Trump and his fellow Republicans oppose all revenue increases, which leaves only benefit cuts, either through legislation or automatically in the early 2030s,” Altman said. “They don’t want to propose legislation that cuts benefits, so that just leads us closer to automatic cuts.”
“Saving” the SSA: Altman’s Predictions for Social Security Legislation
Although some of the policy experts expect major changes to Social Security in the pre- or post-election period of November, several ideas have appeared, including investing the trust fund assets and ending the 401(k) plan tax breaks once and for all and making use of the resulting income savings to shore up the funds.
At the end of March, the Republican Study Committee, which comprises about 80% of House Republicans, called in its budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 for the Social Security eligibility age to be close to life expectancy.