Rich Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast for his monthly update on Social Security heading into a critical election season.
Fiesta began by describing the 2032 funding cliff. If Congress does nothing, forecasts predict a 22 percent across-the-board benefit cut would be needed that year. That would reduce a $1,000 monthly benefit to approximately $780. He updated listeners on the bipartisan movement to scrap the Social Security earnings cap, with U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno still negotiating a joint bill. He also warned against a fiscal commission bill that would fast-track Social Security recommendations to a congressional vote without the normal legislative process of hearings, testimony and amendments. He called it a mechanism designed to enable benefit cuts under the cover of shared sacrifice.
Finally, Fiesta pointed listeners to the Alliance's congressional voting record database at retiredamericans.org, updated through the 2025 session and covering 25 years of votes on seniors’ issues in the U.S. House and Senate.
- The Social Security trustees have projected that without congressional action, the trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits in 2032, triggering a 22 percent across-the-board cut. Fiesta said extending the trust fund's solvency does not require cutting benefits or raising the retirement age — scrapping the earnings cap is the most straightforward mechanism available. The Alliance has been making that case for nearly 20 years, he said.
- U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno are still in negotiations on a joint bill to scrap the Social Security earnings cap. Fiesta said both senators remain committed to the goal. The extra revenue from removing the earnings cap could also fund improvements for the lowest-benefit recipients and address the gap for caregivers who work but do not accrue Social Security credits. The House returns from recess Aug. 31, and the Senate returns the week after Labor Day, though Fiesta said significant action before the end of the year is uncertain.
- The Alliance's primary legislative fight for the remainder of the 119th Congress is defeating a fiscal commission bill principally sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin and Bill Cassidy — neither of whom returns to the Senate in the next Congress — that would create an outside commission to make Social Security recommendations and fast-track them to a vote, bypassing the normal committee and amendment process. Fiesta said the Alliance knows the problem and the solution and does not need a third party to impose benefit cuts under the guise of shared sacrifice.
91 Years of Social Security and a Cliff Coming Into View
Rich Fiesta opened with some historical context. Social Security was created 91 years ago during the Franklin Roosevelt administration. It has been one of the most successful and most popular government programs in American history. If Congress does nothing in the next several years, it will be forced to cut benefits by 22 percent across the board in 2032.
The Social Security trustees have made that projection based on the current trajectory of the trust fund. The math is not disputed. What is disputed is what Congress should do about it. The Alliance for Retired Americans has been arguing for nearly two decades that the solution is to scrap the earnings cap. Workers stop paying Social Security payroll taxes once their income exceeds about $176,000. High earners effectively pay into the system for only part of the year, while everyone else contributes on every paycheck. Eliminating that cap would generate enough revenue to extend the trust fund's solvency for decades without cutting benefits or raising the retirement age.
The Warren-Moreno Bill and What It Could Do
The most notable recent development on the Social Security front has been the unlikely partnership between U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno — one of the Senate's most progressive members and one of its more conservative Republicans. The two senators are working to advance a joint bill to scrap the earnings cap. Fiesta said both senators remain committed to the goal and that negotiations are still active.
Beyond extending the solvency, Fiesta said the additional revenue flowing into the trust fund could support improvements to monthly benefits for the lowest-income Social Security recipients, many of whom live from benefit check to benefit check. It could also address a longstanding gap affecting caregivers who spend years out of the workforce providing unpaid care and do not accrue Social Security credits during that time. They eventually end up with lower benefits despite years of real work. A restructured system, funded by eliminating the earnings cap, could begin to address both.
The U.S. House returns from recess on Aug. 31, and Senators return the week after Labor Day. Fiesta said significant Social Security action before the end of the year is uncertain, but the Alliance is pushing at every level to advance the conversation.
The Fiscal Commission: A Fast Track to Benefit Cuts
Fiesta's more urgent concern is a piece of legislation he said the Alliance is fighting with everything it has for the remainder of the 119th Congress. A fiscal commission bill, with several versions in both chambers, could create an outside commission to develop recommendations on Social Security and then fast-track those recommendations to a congressional vote. That would bypass the current process of committee hearings, public testimony and floor amendments.
The principal sponsors are Sens. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana. Both lost their primary races and are not returning to the Senate in the next Congress. Fiesta said that underscores how disconnected the bill is from democratic accountability. Two outgoing senators are attempting to set up a mechanism for benefit cuts that will be implemented after they are gone, he explained.
Fiesta said supporters of creating the fiscal commission explain that everyone must participate in shared sacrifice, which he believes is a reversal of the actual situation. Social Security benefits are already modest, particularly for the lowest-income recipients. The people who would share the least sacrifice under the cap structure are the highest earners who have stopped contributing to the system partway through the year, he said.
Fiesta stressed that the Alliance knows the problem and knows the solution. It does not need a commission to discover what is already well understood and then deliver it to Congress through a process designed to limit debate.
The Voting Record: 25 Years of Accountability
Finally, Fiesta pointed listeners to one of the Alliance's most consistent and useful tools heading into the midterm elections: the congressional voting record database at retiredamericans.org. The database covers 25 years of votes in both the House and Senate on issues affecting seniors, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It is updated through the 2025 congressional session. It will be supplemented as more votes occur this year through the Alliance's weekly Friday Alert, available by sign-up at retiredamericans.org.
He said the direct URL is retiredamericans.org/voting-record and that it provides a complete picture of where every current representative and senator has stood on the issues that matter most to retirees and to the workers who will rely on Social Security when they retire.
More information on the Alliance for Retired Americans is available at retiredamericans.org.
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