Trump’s pick for Vice President, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) arrives on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
The clock is ticking to fix Social Security‘s funds.
The next White House administration may have a powerful role in shaping the program’s future.
Social Security’s combined trust funds are projected to last until 2035, at which point 83% of benefits will be payable, the program’s trustees projected earlier this year. Yet the fund Social Security relies on to pay retirement benefits is due to run out sooner, in 2033, when 79% of those benefits will be payable.
Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have promised not to touch benefits, though Trump alluded to cutting entitlements in a March CNBC interview.
The November race includes the oldest presidential candidates. Biden, at 81, is the oldest American president, while Trump, 78, is among the 20 oldest world leaders.
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Trump’s pick for vice president — Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio — adds another perspective on the issue.
Either Vance, 39, or Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, may be poised to one day occupy the Oval Office. Historically, one-third of U.S. presidents previously served as vice president.
Some experts have expressed reservations about what Vance as VP could mean for Social Security and Medicare.
“Former President Trump, one day he’ll talk about, ‘We need to cut these programs,'” said Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
“And then the next day, he’ll say, ‘Well, that’s not what I what I was talking about,’ and Vance is kind of cut from the same mold,” Richtman said.
In recent years, Vance has said he does not support cuts to Social Security or Medicare, according to press interviews sent by his Senate team dating back to 2022.
“In 2019, we had about $4.4 trillion of federal outlays …. last year, we expect to collect about $4.4 trillion in taxes,” Vance told Fox Business in January. “So the idea that you need to mess with Social Security and Medicare to get to a long-term fiscal sanity picture … I don’t think that’s right.”
However, the National Committee points out that is an…
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