WASHINGTON (June 9, 2026) — Social Security’s trustees released their annual report today showing that the program’s Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is projected to be depleted by 2032 – one year earlier than last year’s report. If policymakers don’t act before then, monthly benefits will automatically be cut by 22% in 2032 and those cuts will deepen to more than one-third by the end of the century.
In response, Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development at the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), issued the following statement:
“Today’s trustees report confirms that Donald Trump’s reckless tax and immigration policies have significantly increased Social Security’s shortfall and accelerated its insolvency.
“Now, for the first time in a generation, Social Security’s trustees project the program’s primary trust fund will be depleted during the next presidential administration. The next president, and the class of U.S. Senators elected in November, will have to address the crisis Donald Trump is passing onto them before the end of their term.
“Candidates must start seriously considering how they will protect vulnerable retirees from steep benefit cuts without imposing an undue debt or tax burden on working Americans. They cannot afford to kick the can down the road yet again.”
PPI previously proposed a sweeping package of reforms to strengthen Social Security’s future while making it fairer, more sustainable, and more pro-work as part of a comprehensive budget blueprint.
Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us at @PPI.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org
