Republican Warns Social Security Might Collapse

Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy said on Wednesday that former president Donald Trump and current U.S. leader Joe Biden should be more thoughtful about Social Security and do more to avoid the program's collapse.

In a note on X, formely known as Twitter, Cassidy wrote that political candidates have been unwilling to be honest about Social Security.

"Biden & Trump should be thoughtful in discussions about the future of Social Security. Instead, they seem willing to allow it to collapse," Cassidy wrote.

Asked to explain what the Senator wanted to see from Trump and Biden on social security, a Cassidy spokesperson told Newsweek that he has tried to address the issue as part of a bipartisan group to tackle the solvency of the program that serves more than 70 million retirees in America.

"The group hit a roadblock when President Biden refused to acknowledge the problem during his State of the Union," the spokesperson said.

Asked what the Senator would like to see from Trump, the spokesperson said, "Sen. Cassidy has said he wants to see presidential leadership from both presidential frontrunners on this issue."

The spokesperson shared links to articles where Cassidy discusses Social Security, including a Newsweek story where he said that he wanted to see leadership from candidates running for the presidency on the issue.

"I think that politicians don't give the American people enough credit for what's going on. Biden and Trump have the same plan, which is a plan to do nothing. They keep telling everybody, don't worry about it," Cassidy told Newsweek earlier this year.

Newsweek contacted the Trump campaign and the White House for comment via email on Wednesday afternoon. The White House referred Newsweek to the campaign.

Experts have been warning that the Social Security trust will be sapped of its funds in about a decade. Without reforms, the $2.8 trillion trust fund reserves that pay for Social Security will be depleted by "around 2033 or 2034", Steve Goss, Social Security's chief actuary, said recently.

"We're projecting at that point in time, if we have used up our trust fund reserves, the continuing income will be equivalent to 80 percent of what we need to pay the full scheduled benefits on a timely basis," he said.

What has Trump said about Social Security?

Earlier this month, Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the U.S. government should tap into America's oil to finance social security in the same way that Saudi Arabia does.

"You don't have to touch Social Security," Trump said. "We have money laying in the ground far greater than anything we can do by hurting senior citizens with their Social Security."

What has Biden said about Social Security?

Meanwhile, President Biden has suggested that he is against cutting benefits on the program as a way to ensure its solvency.

"He welcomes proposals from members of Congress on how to extend Social Security's solvency without cutting benefits or increasing taxes on anyone making less than $400,000," a White House spokesperson told Newsweek earlier this year.