Congressional Democrats raised the alarm over a new Republican Social Security plan Friday, accusing the incoming GOP majority of subjecting retirees’ benefits to cuts.
“As congressional Republicans prepare to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid, it now appears that Social Security has been added to the Republicans’ chopping block,” said Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., who will be the ranking Democrat on the committee with oversight over Social Security next year.
The reform plan introduced Thursday by Social Security subcommittee chairman Sam Johnson, R-Tex., would seek to shore up Social Security’s finances without tax cuts by raising the retirement age to 69, recalculating benefit formulas and using an inflation measure that would result in lower payments.
An analysis from Social Security’s actuaries Thursday indicated the reforms would result in substantial cuts to beneficiaries. For example, a 65 year-old retiree would see benefits 18 percent lower in 2030 under Johnson’s measure than they would under current law.
“Chairman Johnson’s bill is an alarming sign that Republicans are greedily eying devastating cuts to Americans’ Social Security benefits as well” as to Medicare, said Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader.
While Johnson’s legislation serves as one indication of a course of action that the GOP majorities could follow in 2017, Social Security reform is not guaranteed to be a top-of-the-agenda item.
President-elect Trump has positioned himself against cuts to Social Security, campaigning on a promise not to pursue the reforms that other Republicans have advocated. On Sunday, House Speaker Paul Ryan said in an interview with CBS that he has no plans to change Social Security.
