Budget Archives

Dems, Republicans Spar on Social Security at Senate Hearing

Senate Budget Committee chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and his colleagues welcomed two panels to Capitol Hill today to host a range of discussions on Social Security. The first featured Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Martin O'Malley, focusing on the Administrations budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025 and some of his accomplishments in the position. The second panel saw a group of experts join the committee to discus the preservation of Social Security forever and what needs to be done to strengthen America's retirement security.

Lucas Kaplan2024-09-17T09:31:57-04:00September 13th, 2024|Categories: Budget, Congress, Democrats, GOP, Retirement, Senate, Social Security|

Our Fact Checker Says FactCheck.Org Missed the Bigger Picture on Trump, Social Security & Medicare

Late last month, FactCheck.org published an article titled 'FactChecking Vice President Kamala Harris' which included misleading claims on the two presidential candidates and their stances on Social Security and Medicare. The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, and other groups like it have taken positions that would seriously undermine the nation’s most popular social insurance program. Donald Trump cannot distance himself from these bad actors no matter how hard he tries, and they undoubtedly would play an influential role in a second Trump Administration. We chatted with our Government Relations and Policy Director, Dan Adcock, about some of the omitted details from FactCheck.org, and the big picture on Social Security in 2024.

Lucas Kaplan2024-08-10T13:02:13-04:00August 9th, 2024|Categories: Boost Social Security, Budget, Congress, Disability, Election 2024, Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance|

House Budget Cmte. Holds Hearing on Social Security Trustees Report

Ranking Committee Member Brendan Boyle (D-PA) Republicans and Democrats clearly had different takeaways from the recent Social Security Trustees

NCPSSM2024-06-18T12:36:44-04:00June 18th, 2024|Categories: Boost Social Security, Budget, Debt, Democrats, Politics, Republicans, Social Security, Social Security Trustees|

House GOP Appropriators Announce 10% Cut in Labor/HHS Spending

House Republicans once again are showing where their true priorities lie. Appropriations committee chair Tom Cole (R-OK) announced the GOP’s topline numbers for fiscal year 2025 --- including at least a 10% cut in funding for Labor/HHS (Health & Human Services). That could mean agencies like the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would endure a huge spending cut, while Republican appropriators propose to boost military spending by 1%.

NCPSSM2024-05-17T12:16:18-04:00May 16th, 2024|Categories: Budget, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Congress, Democrats, Republicans, Social Security Administration (SSA)|

The Spending Deal & Seniors: How Do Older Americans Fare in Agreement to Keep Gov’t Open?

What's good and bad for seniors in the current spending deal on Capitol Hill? Our director of government relations and policy, Dan Adcock, tells us about how much funding crucial programs for older Americans are likely to receive for the rest of this fiscal year.

Walter Gottlieb2024-02-01T21:27:28-04:00January 31st, 2024|Categories: Budget, Congress, Medicare, Social Security|

House GOP Spending Proposal Would Slash Social Security Administration Funding

We don’t know exactly what the impact of any cut will be on SSA, but we do know they have already requested an increase of $727 million above current funding, as a minimum, for FY 2024. Without this level of funding, they will be forced to reduce staffing and overtime, which will hurt the agency’s ability to serve the public. Without that minimum level of funding, SSA’s customers will wait significantly longer for field office services, disability decisions, and phone support, and their already significant backlogs would increase.

Walter Gottlieb2023-09-18T15:41:28-04:00September 18th, 2023|Categories: Budget, Congress, Republicans, Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA)|

White House Budget Would Boost Medicare, Help Seniors in Myriad Ways

President Biden’s bold 2024 budget proposal puts him squarely on the side of working Americans in their ongoing struggle for retirement and health security. The new White House budget would keep the Medicare Part A trust fund solvent until 2050.

Walter Gottlieb2023-03-10T11:50:52-04:00March 9th, 2023|Categories: Budget, Congress, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Prescription Drug Prices, President Biden|

Raising the Social Security Retirement Age is a Benefit Cut

Few GOP proposals would cut seniors' benefits as blatantly as GOP proposals to raise the Social Security full retirement age from 67 to 70.

Walter Gottlieb2023-04-10T16:02:14-04:00February 3rd, 2023|Categories: Boost Social Security, Budget, Congress, Democrats, GOP, Medicare, Republicans, Social Security|

Republicans Are Playing With Fire – and Seniors’ Earned Benefits – By Risking Default

Today’s breaching of the debt ceiling by the U.S. government is making seniors’ advocates nervous. The federal government is now on track to default on its financial obligations (including the ability to make Social Security and Medicare payments) as early as June --- unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, which it has done 78 times since 1960. As CNN's Jake Tapper put it, "Republicans are vowing to cut future spending before agreeing to pay bills that are already due."

NCPSSM2023-02-03T12:32:29-04:00January 19th, 2023|Categories: Budget, Congress, Debt, Kevin McCarthy, Medicaid, Medicare, President Biden, Social Security|

Does New Hill Spending Deal Affect Social Security & Medicare?

Congressional negotiators have struck a compromise on spending for Fiscal Year 2023, avoiding a government shutdown this Friday. The House and Senate are expected to pass a short-term extension by the end of this week, giving negotiators more time to finish a final funding package for the rest of the fiscal year. We spoke with NCPSSM legislative director Dan Adcock about the compromise deal.