The Republican Study Committee (RSC), a conservative caucus to which most House GOP members belong, released its fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget proposal, “Fiscal Sanity to Save America,” on March 20.
It said the budget would address the federal spending problem and pay down debt so that it would “balance in seven years, cut spending by $16.7 trillion over ten years, and reduce taxes on Americans by $5.3 trillion over ten years.”
Notably, the proposal called for an increase in the age at which people can claim full Social Security benefits, although it did not mention what that age would be.
Spending on Social Security will grow tremendously between FY 2023 and 2034, from nearly $1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion,” according to the RSC. “The RSC Budget is committed to preventing 23 percent across-the-board cuts in benefits that will hit every Social Security recipient in 2033.
It added that, unlike the Biden budget, the RSC Budget would phase in what it called common-sense, bipartisan reforms that have been narrowly tailored to affect no senior in or near retirement.
The reforms include “modest and delayed” changes to the Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) benefit formula, the retirement age, auxiliary benefits for high-income earners, and a gradual transition to a flat benefit. Collectively, they would “stave off Biden’s 23 percent cuts to Social Security benefits and eventually make the retirement trust fund sustainably solvent.”
It emphasized that none of the changes would affect anyone in or near retirement.
“The RSC Budget would also make common-sense reforms to Disability Insurance (DI) to promote work, earned success, and human dignity,” the RSC concluded.
“The RSC Budget would convert DI payments to a flat benefit structure that increases benefits for low-income workers and removes benefit cliffs. Additionally, the RSC Budget would expand access to private disability insurance, which offers stronger benefits, is less expensive, and is more effective at returning employees to work.”
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