The Republican Social Security Bill That Sounds Like Reform - Sanders Says It Could Be a Path to Cuts

Sen. Bernie Sanders is warning that a bipartisan proposal intended to address Social Security's looming funding shortfall could instead open the door to benefit cuts, a higher retirement age, or even privatization.

The Vermont independent is urging Senate Democrats to reject the PROMISE Act, arguing that the process it creates could eventually produce changes that hurt retirees. However, the bill itself does not currently cut anyone's benefits, making it especially important for people living on just Social Security to understand what it actually does and what Sanders fears could happen next.

Social Security faces a major funding problem in 2032

The debate comes as lawmakers face mounting pressure to address Social Security's finances. The 2026 Social Security Trustees Report projects that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which pays retirement and survivor benefits, will be able to pay full scheduled benefits until the fourth quarter of 2032.

If Congress doesn't act before then, ongoing revenue would be enough to cover only about 78% of scheduled OASI benefits.

Social Security isn't expected to disappear. Payroll taxes and other continuing revenue would still fund most scheduled benefits, but lawmakers would need to change benefits, raise revenue, or use some combination of approaches to avoid the projected shortfall.

The PROMISE Act would create a process for reform

The PROMISE Act, short for the Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone Act of 2026, was introduced in July by a bipartisan group of senators, including Democrats Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, and Chris Coons; Republicans Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, and Alan Armstrong; and independent Angus King.

Rather than immediately changing benefits or taxes, the legislation would direct the existing Social Security Advisory Board to develop recommendations and legislative language designed to make the Social Security trust funds solvent for at least 50 years. The board would seek public input before submitting recommendations to Congress.

Supporters say the goal is to force lawmakers to confront a problem Congress has known about for years. Kaine described the legislation as a way to "encourage Congress to roll up its sleeves and find a path forward to ensure current and future generations of retirees and their families are able to receive the benefits they have earned and which they are owed."

The bill doesn't specify Social Security cuts

One important distinction is that the PROMISE Act doesn't itself raise the retirement age, reduce monthly checks, change COLAs, or privatize Social Security. Instead, it creates a process through which changes to the program's revenues, spending, or financing could eventually be proposed.

The resulting legislation would need to achieve at least 50 years of solvency, but the bill doesn't prescribe how lawmakers must get there. Congress could therefore consider higher taxes, benefit changes, retirement-age adjustments, or some combination of policies.

Sen. Durbin, one of the bill's Democratic sponsors, said the proposal "does not lower the 60-vote threshold of the Senate, nor does it predetermine any specific outcome."

Why the process worries Bernie Sanders

That flexibility is exactly what worries the Vermont independent. In an August letter to fellow Democrats, he argued that lawmakers should refuse to support any process that could ultimately result in lower benefits, a higher retirement age, smaller cost-of-living adjustments, or privatization.

"The Democratic Caucus must make it abundantly clear that under no circumstances will we support legislation that cuts Social Security benefits, raises the retirement age, reduces Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs), or privatizes this essential program," he wrote.

Sanders also objects to giving the Social Security Advisory Board a central role in developing the initial proposal, describing the approach as an "unelected commission." His concern is that the process could give future lawmakers a path to changes that reduce what retirees receive, while the bill also doesn't specify whether current beneficiaries would be protected from whatever changes Congress might later approve.

A different approach would target higher earners

Rather than leaving a broad range of options on the table, Sanders is pushing a different approach centered on higher-income earners.

"Instead, we will strengthen and expand Social Security by requiring the wealthiest Americans to finally pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security as tens of millions of working people do today," Sanders wrote.

His proposal would apply the Social Security payroll tax to income above $250,000 while also increasing benefits by $2,400 annually and changing how COLAs are calculated.

Sanders says his plan could extend solvency for 75 years

By raising more revenue from high earners, he argues Congress could strengthen Social Security without cutting benefits or raising the retirement age.

According to Sanders, a 2023 Social Security Administration analysis estimated that his proposal could make the program solvent for 75 years without increasing taxes on the roughly 91% of Americans earning less than $250,000.

Bottom line

The PROMISE Act wouldn't immediately cut Social Security benefits, but it would create a process for developing legislation intended to keep the program solvent for at least another 50 years. Sanders worries that leaving the solutions open-ended could eventually put benefit cuts, retirement-age increases, or privatization on the table.

Retirees don't face an immediate change from the proposal, but Social Security's projected funding shortfall means Congress will eventually have to make difficult choices. What lawmakers decide over the next several years could affect anyone trying to save money in retirement.

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