Republican senators fought in private Tuesday over a proposal to strengthen Social Security benefits for people eligible for non-Social Security government pensions.
The House-passed bill is expected to pass in the full Senate on Wednesday, but some Republicans fear the cost and want to block it.
One Republican senator who attended Tuesday's meeting called it a “intense discussion.”
The senator noted that the bill had not been considered in the Senate Finance Committee, and said most members were wary of “something this big” going straight to the Senate floor.
A group of conservatives in the Senate, led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), wants to phase out retirement ages to offset the costs of repealing two policies that cut Social Security benefits for public sector workers. They are calling for social security reform, such as increasing the amount of tax paid.
Paul said the bill, which has 14 Senate Republicans as co-sponsors, would further accelerate the collapse of Social Security.
“It will accelerate the collapse of Social Security. Social Security is scheduled to fail in 2034, but this would bring it up about a year. It would add $200 billion to an already underfunded program. ” he told The Hill.
He wants senators to vote on an amendment that would offset the bill's impact on the Social Security Trust Fund by gradually increasing the retirement age to 70.
“If we're going to expand it and further enhance its mission, we're going to have to pay for it,” he said. “One of the proposals that has come up over the years is to gradually increase the age of eligibility.
“I would like to propose an amendment. …Increasing the age… [of retirement] Over the next 12 years, you will gradually reach age 70 by about three months a year, and then you will live longer. That will pay for this expansion,” Paul said.
“I will not vote to support expansion.” [Social Security benefits] “Without paying anything,” he said.
“There are several other people who are against this bill, so others may just want to hold it off as long as possible in the hopes that it can't be completed this week,” he says.
The Social Security Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill, passed the House earlier this month by a vote of 327-75.
Mr. Paul's request to vote in favor of an amendment to the Social Security retirement age increase bill puts Republican senators in a tight spot, as many of them are reluctant to address the issue. It will be.
In a recent interview on NBC's “Meet the Press,” President-elect Trump said he “hasn't touched” Social Security other than to make it more efficient and opposed raising the eligibility age.
“The people are going to get what they're getting,” he said.
Paul has influence because he can drag out floor debate on the bill for days if the amendments fail to get a vote. That would delay the Senate's consideration of a temporary funding bill that must pass by Friday evening to avoid a government shutdown.
Senate Republican Leader John Thune (S.D.) said the issue was hotly debated at the Republican Policy Luncheon every Tuesday.
“There was a lot of conversation around. [it] Today,” Thune said, referring to proposals to raise the retirement age or find other ways to soften the impact on Social Security funding.
He described the debate at the Senate luncheon as a “rich conversation.”
But the divisions in the Republican conference are so pronounced that Thune is not taking sides, instead leaving his colleagues to vote their conscience.
“Ultimately, I think individual members will make their own decisions,” he said.
“Obviously, I'm concerned about the long-term solvency of Social Security, and I think that's an issue that we need to address,” he added.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), incorporates the windfall deduction provisions enacted in 1983 and the government pension offset provisions enacted in 1977. This will abolish the system and make it possible for people to receive public pensions. – Sector workers can receive full social security benefits.
Windfall elimination provisions, known as WEP, reduce Social Security benefits for workers who receive pensions from federal, state, or local governments for non-Social Security-covered employment.
Government pension offsets, known as GPOs, reduce Social Security spousal benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers whose spouses receive a government pension.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a prominent conservative, expressed concern that the Social Security trust fund could be further depleted for short-term political payoffs.
“There has to be some kind of offset. As far as I know, we've never in history set off a bomb so big that it would blow such a big hole in the Social Security Trust Fund ($200 billion). ” he said.
“We understand that we need to address the inequalities that are occurring in this area. I don't think there's a member of our council who doesn't think we need to do some repair. But I think it's a joke and an abuse of the American people to burn a $200 billion hole without thinking about how to fix it,” Lee said.
The Congressional Budget Office predicted in September that the bill would increase the budget deficit by $196 billion over the next 10 years.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told The Hill that conservatives are working hard to kill the bill.
“Hopefully we'll lose,” he said.
“I think a lot of people supported us… [did so] Because there are people in that state who are affected by it. They always assumed it would be paid for,” he said.
“It's too broad. It provides benefits to people who haven't been harmed by amendments from the 1970s,” he said, referring to the Government Pensions Act.
“I think that’s grotesquely irresponsible,” he said.
Johnson said the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho), has complained that the bill didn't even pass the same committee that has jurisdiction over Social Security.
Republican co-sponsors include Sens. Mike Braun (Indiana), Deb Fischer (Nebraska), Pete Ricketts (Nebraska), Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), and Lisa – Includes Sen. Murkowski (Alaska), Sen. Mark Wayne Mullin (Oklahoma), John. Boozman (Arkansas), Rick Scott (Florida), Jerry Moran (Kansas), John Kennedy (Louisiana) and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance (Ohio).
