The Vermont senator urged Democrats to reject any Social Security privatization or benefit cuts, arguing the bill's advisory board would make rushed recommendations before midterm election changes.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned Democrats that backing Social Security privatization or the Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone (PROMISE) Act could trigger a breakdown of trust with Democratic voters in a pivotal midterm election year. In a "Dear Colleague" letter first reported by Politico, Sanders urged the Democratic caucus to state plainly that it would not support legislation that cuts Social Security benefits, raises the retirement age, reduces Cost-of-Living Adjustments (annual inflation-based benefit increases), or privatizes the program. The PROMISE Act would create a bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board to recommend ways for Congress to keep Social Security solvent for 50 years. Sanders argued the panel would be an "unelected commission" operating on an accelerated timeline before electoral changes after the midterms, calling it "absurd, anti-democratic and unacceptable" to decide the program's future so close to the elections. He instead called for lifting caps on Social Security income taxes, writing that the wealthiest Americans should pay the same share of income into Social Security as working people. Sanders cited SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as paying the same amount into the system as someone earning $184,500 a year. The fight comes as Social Security, a core retirement income program, faces long-term financing strain: the Bipartisan Policy Center, which endorsed the bill, said the system has a 75-year shortfall and an estimated deficit of more than $30 trillion. It also pointed to demographic pressure, with the worker-to-beneficiary ratio falling from 5-to-1 in 1960 to 2.9-to-1 today. The American Association for Retired People (AARP) also opposed the bill, objecting to "an unelected board" moving quickly to draft legislation on the program's finances.