Republicans Warm to Social Security Tax Hikes as 22% Benefit Cut Looms by 2032

3 articles · Updated · Fortune · Sep 13

A small but growing group of lawmakers — including Republicans Tom Cole, Lloyd Smucker and Bernie Moreno — is signaling support for higher Social Security taxes to avert insolvency.
2032 is the key deadline: projections show the trust fund would then be unable to pay full benefits, triggering an automatic 22% cut unless Congress raises revenue or trims payouts.
The main target is the payroll-tax cap, now $184,500, because wages above that level are untaxed for Social Security; Moreno and Elizabeth Warren say scrapping it could raise about $3 trillion over 10 years.
Even eliminating the cap would cover only a bit more than half of the funding gap, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, leaving lawmakers to find more revenue as benefit cuts remain politically untouchable.
An alternative from Sens. Bill Cassidy and Tim Kaine would borrow $26.6 trillion over 75 years and rely on market returns, but Boston College researchers said stock volatility makes that strategy unlikely to reliably close the gap.