Proposed legislation takes aim at Social Security shortfall

With Americans living longer and a shrinking workforce, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s 2026 Social Security Trustees Report projects that Social Security’s primary trust fund will be depleted in 2032.

Under current law, depletion automatically triggers an across-the-board benefit cut of 22% for every current and future beneficiary — roughly $10,560 per year for a married couple of average earners.

In an attempt to prevent this, Reps. Tom Cole, R-Okla., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., introduced The Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act of 2026 (H.R. 9187). The bill would create a 13-member commission on long-term Social Security solvency. Members would be appointed by the president, congressional leaders of both parties, and the chairs and ranking members of the Ways and Means and Finance committees. At least one expert from each party must be a nonelected, outside expert.

"We appreciate the bipartisan efforts of Reps. Cole and Suozzi to address the pending insolvency of Social Security. For most Americans working with an advisor, Social Security remains an integral part of their holistic financial plan,” said Bob Schellhas, chief advocacy officer at Finseca.

“Without action by Congress, Americans receiving Social Security will face a more than 20% benefit cut. The longer policymakers wait to act, the harder it will be to find a solution,” he said.

“The attention on Social Security's finances is growing — and fast,” said Shai Akabas, vice president of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “U.S. senators elected this fall will either act or watch an automatic, across-the-board benefit cut take effect.”

The uncertainty of future Social Security funding makes it difficult for financial professionals working with clients on retirement planning.

“Right now, no financial advisor can plan confidently around Social Security — the foundation of retirement security for most Americans — because there's a real possibility that benefits get cut by more than one-fifth in six years,” Akabas said. “That uncertainty is already costing their clients.”

How it would work

If the bill is enacted, within one year of its first meeting, the commission must produce recommendations and proposed legislation sufficient to keep Social Security solvent for at least 75 years. The report must be approved by at least nine of 13 members, guaranteeing genuine bipartisan support before anything reaches the full Congress.

Once the commission reports, committees in both chambers are required to act within three legislative days and the bill is automatically discharged if they fail to do so. The bill then proceeds to a full floor vote without amendment.

Any savings or revenue the plan achieves must go entirely to Social Security. None can be diverted to other parts of the federal budget.

“The commission model they've chosen isn't new — it's exactly how Congress solved this problem in 1983, when a bipartisan commission gave both parties the cover to make hard choices together,” Akabas said. “A commission gets the conversation started in the right way: structured, time-limited and with a guaranteed path to a floor vote.”

“A commission that produces a credible, bipartisan solvency plan and guarantees it a vote in Congress would go a long way toward restoring the certainty that the American people and advisors need to make sound retirement decisions,” he adds.

Schellhas agreed.

“Solving this problem would mean more certainty for the financial security of millions of Americans,” he said. “In 1983, the last time lawmakers acted on Social Security, the Trust Fund was within months of exhaustion.”

 

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