Social Security 2032 Crisis: Senate Candidates Share Plans to Protect Benefits

Social Security 2032 Crisis: Social Security’s future has become an important issue in the 2026 US Senate elections. The lawmakers elected in November will serve six-year terms and will still be in office when the programme faces a major funding problem in 2032.

The Social Security Administration’s 2026 report says the main retirement and survivor benefits fund could run out of its reserves by the last quarter of 2032. If Congress doesn’t make changes, the money collected through payroll taxes would cover only 78% of scheduled benefits. This means a possible 22% reduction. Scripps News has described the expected cut as around 20%. The programme won’t shut down, but beneficiaries could receive less money than they were promised.

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The problem is linked to changes in the US population. More people are reaching retirement age and collecting benefits, while fewer workers are paying into the system at the same pace.

Candidates Debate Raising the Social Security Tax Cap

One proposal is to increase or remove the limit on income that is taxed for Social Security. In 2026, this limit is $184,500. Workers and employers each pay 6.2% tax on earnings up to this amount. Income above the limit isn’t charged the standard Social Security payroll tax.

In Michigan, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed supports removing the limit so wealthy Americans pay tax on more of their income. His Republican opponent Mike Rogers has spoken about finding and removing fraud from the system and has called for a bipartisan solution.

Maine’s Democratic candidate Troy Jackson also wants to remove the cap. He said: “People who work hard their entire lives should be able to retire with dignity,” Jackson said in a statement to CBS News.

“While Susan Collins has repeatedly voted to weaken Social Security, I’ll work to scrap the cap because billionaires should pay into Social Security at the same rate teachers and loggers do. Social Security is a promise, and I intend to keep it.”

Which Other Candidates Have Plans to Protect Social Security?

Republican Senator Susan Collins, who is facing Jackson in Maine, supports setting up a bipartisan commission to study ways to protect the programme. She has suggested options “such as potentially raising the earnings cap for Social Security taxes.” She has also said she doesn’t support cutting benefits.

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Collins worked with former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown on the Social Security Fairness Act, which became law in January 2025. It removed two rules that had reduced benefits for some public-sector workers and their families.

An analysis published by economist Jon Schwabish on October 27 looked at 41 candidates in 20 Senate races. It found that 20 candidates support raising or removing the tax cap. This included 13 of 17 Democrats, all four independent candidates and three of 20 Republicans. Republican John Deaton, Roger Marshall and Collins were among those supporting a change. Marshall said he would “eliminate the cap altogether.”

Ohio Republican Jon Husted is against removing the limit and said he was “not on board” with the proposal. Democrat Sherrod Brown supports raising it. Democrats Roy Cooper and Chris Pappas want wealthy Americans to pay more but haven’t backed a specific change to the cap. Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff has instead called for repealing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

A September survey by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that 81% of voters in five competitive Senate states were more likely to support a candidate with a plan to prevent benefit cuts. Overall, 91% supported Social Security reform and 77% said delaying action would make the problem harder to fix.