President Trump claims that “Democrats want to destroy Social Security” – could that actually happen?

There’s a reason so many people are worried about Social Security, and it’s that the program is on shaky financial ground.

In the coming years, Social Security is expected to owe more in benefits than it collects in revenue. This will force the program to dip into its limited trust funds to keep up with its financial obligations.

Once Social Security’s trust funds run out of money, benefit cuts could happen. And based on recent projections, the program’s trust funds could run dry by 2035. That gives lawmakers a 10-year clock to come up with a solution to protect Social Security.

Some Democratic lawmakers have accused President Trump of not having Social Security’s best interests in mind. On the flipside, though, President Trump feels that Democrats could destroy Social Security. But is that really true?

What Democrats are proposing

Democratic lawmakers have been pushing to protect and expand Social Security. Funny enough, though, so have Republicans. They’re just attacking the problem in different ways.

Republican lawmakers have proposed pushing back full retirement age to pump more money into Social Security. It currently stands at 67 for people born in 1960 or later.

Democrats, on the other hand, have been pushing to have the wealthy pay more taxes into Social Security to fund the program. There’s a wage cap set each year that limits the amount of taxes higher earners have to pay in. Currently, the cap sits at $176,100.

Senate Democrats have also recently introduced different amendments to help Social Security. These amendments are designed to prevent disruptions to Social Security benefits, avoid cuts to Social Security Administration services, and reduce wait times for Americans in need of access to Social Security services.

Democrats are also fighting to reverse recent cuts made to the Social Security Administration by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

In March, the agency announced plans to reduce its headcount by about 7,000 employees, the majority of whom were field office workers. The concern is that eliminating these positions will make it harder for Americans to apply for Social Security and address issues that arise with their benefit claims.

Ultimately, everyone is on the same side

It’s pretty clear that Republican and Democratic lawmakers do not agree with each other on the steps that need to be taken to strengthen Social Security. But ultimately, it does seem like both parties have the same end goal — to prevent benefit cuts and help ensure that the program runs as smoothly as possible.

President Trump may not agree with the Social Security proposals Democrats have put forth. But to say that they’re out to destroy the program isn’t exactly fair. Nor would it be fair to accuse Republicans of the same thing.

Ultimately, lawmakers understand how crucial Social Security is to millions of Americans’ income. They’re also aware that a broad reduction in benefits could have catastrophic events. Now, what they need to do is work together to come up with viable solutions that bolster Social Security’s finances while preventing benefit cuts both now and in the future.

To that end, lawmakers could work together to phase in a reasonable increase in taxes to fund the program. They could also work to make adjustments to retirement age as necessary. It may be that a combination of these two approaches does the trick.

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