Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Is Speeding Up Social Security Insolvency

A new report examining the effects of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) shows that it will cause Social Security funds to be depleted more quickly, resulting in significant benefit cuts for new retirees starting in the next decade.

The analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan watchdog group that provides insight and advice on federal spending measures, finds that there is “only a little more than seven years” until the Social Security trust fund reaches insolvency.

Concerns over the solvency of Social Security have been discussed for quite some time. However, OBBBA accelerates the rate at which insolvency will be reached, the report pointed out, stating:

The law dictates that when the trust funds deplete their reserves, payments are limited to incoming revenues. For the Social Security retirement program, we estimate that means a 24 percent benefit cut in late 2032, after the enactment of OBBBA.

For the average dual-income couple retiring in 2033, those cuts would amount to more than $18,000 in fewer benefits annually.

Trump frequently promised during the 2024 presidential campaign that he wouldn’t touch Social Security. Yet this outcome is exactly what the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget predicted in October 2024, with the organization stating that Trump’s tax and economic proposals would lead to benefit cuts within six years.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a plan that would have this big of a negative effect on solvency in a general election campaign,” Marc Goldwein, the committee’s senior policy director, said at the time.

The group also rejects the concept of “not touching” Social Security, noting that something more direct must be done to keep the popular program afloat. According to the report:

Policymakers pledging not to touch Social Security are implicitly endorsing these deep benefit cuts for 62 million retirees in 2032 and beyond. It is time for policymakers to tell the truth about the program’s finances and to pursue trust fund solutions to head off insolvency and improve the program for current and future generations.

Without any action by lawmakers soon, the poverty rate among elderly Americans could double, several other estimates have suggested.

Although retirement is just one aspect of Social Security, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), recognizing the looming crisis, introduced legislation this month that aims to tackle what he calls “the retirement crisis” in the U.S.

The proposal would require corporations to offer workers “a traditional pension plan that guarantees a monthly income in retirement,” Sanders said in announcing his plan. If a corporation fails to do so, workers “must be allowed to receive the same type of pension that every member of Congress receives,” he continued.

The bill, titled the Pensions for All Act, would bolster previous plans offered by Sanders to strengthen Social Security.

“If we can guarantee a defined benefit pension plan for members of Congress, we can and we must provide that same level of retirement security to every worker in America,” Sanders added.