Hopes for Bipartisan Social Security Fix Dimmed by Biden-GOP Tensions

A bipartisan Senate effort to shore up Social Security is hitting a political roadblock even as new projections show that trust fund reserves will run out sooner than previously forecast.

Some members of the ad hoc group of lawmakers who’ve been trying to fashion a deal say the prospects have been diminished by President Joe Biden’s accusations that Republicans want to cut benefits, and former President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to leave entitlement programs alone.

“If the folks who are running for president are going to take the attitude that this is a ‘third rail’ issue and they’re trying to use it for political purposes, then we can’t fix Social Security at this time,” said Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican who is part of the group. “It’s going to take an adult running for the White House to get this done.”

The breakdown comes despite signs that Americans’ Social Security benefits are at real risk if current policies aren’t changed.

The trustees for the program said Friday that the program’s retiree fund will exhaust its reserves by 2033, a year earlier than they projected last year. Upon insolvency, beneficiaries would face a 20% across-the-board benefit cut.

Related: Social Security Retirement Fund Set to Go Bust in 2023

The Senate group, led by Republican Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, asked in January for a meeting with Biden. They want to discuss ways to strengthen the program, which is projected to reach insolvency in about a decade.

Cassidy has complained publicly in recent weeks that the White House won’t commit. At a March 26 Senate Finance Committee hearing, he swiftly cut off Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at hearing and said, “That’s a lie,” when she said Biden is prepared to work with Congress to reform Social Security.

The group wants the president’s support for changes under consideration that include creating an additional Social Security trust fund that the government would invest in stocks, raising the retirement age from 65 and boosting the payroll taxes that finance the program, Cassidy and other participants say.

While the two leaders of the group said earlier this year that a preliminary proposal was being crafted, Cassidy said this week that one can’t be completed without Biden’s engagement.

“All it would do is create pot-shots, when really all we’re trying to do is open up a negotiating position,” Cassidy said in a hallway interview. “So why open up a negotiating position with someone who doesn’t want to negotiate?”

A White House official said aides there have engaged in good faith talks to understand the proposals from the senators. The president is open to suggestions on how to extend Social Security’s solvency without cutting benefits and without hiking taxes on those earning less than $400,000 annually, the official, who asked not to be identified, said.