Vice President Kamala Harris’ political stances have been thrust into the spotlight this week, following President Joe Biden’s exiting the race. She is now first in line for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.
So where does Harris stand on the topic so contentious — and expensive! — that it’s often referred to as the third rail of politics?
We dove into her official statements on Social Security, particularly the federal program’s looming shortfall — which is projected to result in cuts to retirees’ benefits if the government does not act to prevent it. Then, to be fair, we looked at Trump’s official stance on this topic. You might be surprised by the similarities.
The problem with Social Security
The Social Security program costs more money than it brings in.
In 2023, the government paid out roughly $1.39 trillion in benefits, but the program only brought in around $1.35 trillion from payroll taxes and interest on investments. In other words, the Social Security coffers lost $41.4 billion last year alone.
Due to the program effectively living beyond its means, the trust fund for retirement benefits, formally known as the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, is projected to be depleted by 2033, according to the government’s latest calculations.
So if Congress does not intervene to prevent this reserve from being exhausted, the government won’t be able to cover the cost of all retirement benefits come 2033. The Social Security program would only be bringing in enough money to pay out 77% of scheduled retirement benefits, meaning retirees would see a 23% reduction in their benefits.
To be clear, it’s unlikely that Congress will sit on its hands for the next nine years. Historically, lawmakers have always stepped in to help shore up Social Security.
Still, the Social Security program is the federal government’s second-largest expense. That makes the looming shortfall one of the most expensive quandaries facing the nation — and thus one for which any presidential candidate ought to have a plan.
Would Kamala Harris cut Social Security benefits?
Harris’ campaign website is, understandably, not fully up and running yet. As of publication time, we could find no details of her presidential platform or plans on the site. So we examined her social media comments on the subject of Social Security. Based on them — not to mention her actions as vice president — she’s clearly against cuts to benefits.
Two examples:
- On Jan. 28, 2023, on the official vice presidential account on X (Twitter), Harris said of Social Security and Medicare benefits: “… @POTUS
and I will always defend your right to retire with dignity by protecting these hard-earned benefits.” - On July 18, 2024, on her own official X account, Harris said: “… @JoeBiden and I will always protect Social Security and Medicare.”
Would Donald Trump cut Social Security benefits?
Based on the Republican presidential nominee’s official platform — not to mention his actions as the 45th president — he is clearly against cuts to Social Security benefits.
Trump’s presidential platform as posted to his official campaign website states that he will “… fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, including no changes to the retirement age.”
Why do candidates say otherwise?
You’ve likely seen or heard a presidential candidate past or present warn that their opponent would cut Social Security. So you might be wondering why the current contenders say they won’t cut benefits, given that Harris has accused Trump otherwise and Trump has accused Biden otherwise.
Claiming that one’s political opponent will cut Social Security or Medicare benefits is a time-honored tactic that both Democratic and Republican candidates use to sway voters. These claims almost always inspire fear, but are almost never backed up by primary sourcing. So if you really want to know where a particular candidate stands on a given topic, look to that candidate’s own official statements — or better yet, their past actions — regarding the topic.
Just don’t expect the current presidential contenders to have a stance on Social Security’s shortfall, as we’ll explain next.
How would the candidates fix the Social Security shortfall?
We scoured Harris’ website and official X accounts but found no plan of action or proposal for Congress to prevent depletion of the Social Security retirement trust fund.
We could assume Harris’ 2024 campaign platform will be the same as it was when she ran for VP with Biden in 2020, but it didn’t exactly address the Social Security shortfall either. Their 2020 platform called for raising payroll taxes for wealthier workers, which would help Social Security coffers, but it also included multiple measures that would cost those coffers. (See “5 Ways Joe Biden Wants Social Security to Change.”)
As for Trump, scouring his campaign website yielded no actionable plan or congressional proposal to avert a Social Security trust fund depletion. We asked his campaign press folks as well but did not hear back.
So it appears that both of these presidential contenders prefer to point fingers than face the Social Security shortfall head-on.
In other words, even though Harris and Trump both insist they are against cuts to Social Security benefits, neither has revealed a plan to prevent them.
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