Our Director of Government Relations & Policy, Dan Adcock
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 programs. Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy blueprint, but the people behind it 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 missing context in the FactCheck.org article — and the bigger picture on Social Security and Medicare in 2024.
Q: The FactCheck piece quotes Donald Trump claiming he would “get rid of the waste and fraud” and “save (Social Security and Medicare) without cuts.” Why should America’s seniors believe that “getting rid of waste and fraud” isn’t just a fancy way of saying “cutting benefits?”
A: Trump’s previous public statements make it clear that he’s open to the idea of making cuts. He said on CNBC that cutting “entitlements” would be easy. Then, of course, he walked that back. In one of his books he compared Social Security to a “Ponzi scheme.” It’s clear that he doesn’t really care about Social Security. On one hand, he’s said that he won’t cut benefits… and that’s great. But as president, his budgets proposed to cut Social Security Disability Insurance by billions of dollars. He also proposed getting rid of the Social Security payroll tax — which finances the program itself. Without the Social Security payroll tax, there would be no Social Security.
Q: The FactCheck article makes the claim,“In his four years as president, Trump did not propose cutting Social Security’s retirement benefits.” Is this misleading? If so, how?
A: This is definitely misleading wording from FactCheck. To imply that disability insurance can be isolated from retirement insurance is hogwash. It’s all the same program. Workers pay for both retirement and disability insurance together with every paycheck. We are currently part of efforts, both legislatively and in the press, to make it clear that it is in fact a single program, and that cutting any component of Social Security would mean tearing the whole thing down.
Q: Trump denies that Project 2025, authored by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, is a blueprint for his second term. Project 2025 proposes devastating cuts to Medicare — and the Heritage Foundation itself has called for cuts to Social Security. It is disingenuous for Trump to try to distance himself from Heritage and Project 2025?
The Heritage foundation authored Project 2025, and they aren’t going anywhere. They’ve made it clear that they will be behind a substantial number of potential Trump administration nominations, which will be based on ideology and loyalty to the President — as opposed to expertise. These would be the people that he feels are most loyal to him and his staff. The Heritage Foundation considers itself the “brain trust” of any potential Trump Administration, and often focuses on cherished issues of the conservative elite that Trump may not know in detail or care much about. But he will do their bidding, if past is precedent. The Heritage Foundation will have a lot of influence if Trump is re-elected.
Q: Republicans often claim that they have not called for any changes to Social Security affecting today’s seniors. But they leave the door open for cuts impacting the younger generations of workers. In truth, haven’t Republicans proposed significant benefit cuts — and won’t younger workers need every dollar of those benefits when they retire?
A: It’s clear when you look at the 2025 budget blueprint of the House Republican Study Committee, which includes 80% of the House Republican Caucus and 100% of the leadership, that they would raise the Social Security retirement age to 69 or 70. That is a huge lifetime benefit cut! And, of course, today’s younger workers will need every dollar of their promised benefits once they retire. Some House Republicans also would like to make the annual Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) discretionary, to be decided by each congress. Currently, seniors automatically get a yearly boost in benefits based on inflation. And on the Medicare side, the House Republican Study Committee plan would stack the deck against traditional Medicare in favor of privatized, for-profit plans that often provide inferior coverage.
Q: Any last comments on the FactCheck article and the claims it made?
A: I just want to reiterate the importance of Social Security survivor and disability benefits. President Trump has been all over the place with his rhetoric about Social Security as he tries to court support from seniors while placating his wealthy and influential backers on the right. But he and his allies have made it clear that they are coming for the disability and survivorship aspects of the program if Trump wins a second term. This isn’t okay. Like I said before, it’s all one program!