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PROMISE Act Aims to Avert 2032 Social Security Cut

7/25/2026

50 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Durbin, Cassidy Reform

The PROMISE Act, introduced July 14 by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), requires the Social Security board to submit a proposal by Sept. 17, 2026.
The 2026 Trustees report warns the OASI trust fund will be depleted in Q4 2032, causing a 22 percent benefit cut.
AARP vice president Bill Sweeney and AARP chief Nancy LeaMond say Congress must write Social Security reform itself and warn will limit scrutiny and transparency.

Summary

Trump eyes COLA

CRFB analysis finds a flat-rate COLA at the 20th percentile would close 50% of the 75-year Social Security shortfall and push insolvency back two years.
The COLA would raise the lowest quintile’s benefits by 13%-14% while slowing the top quintile’s growth by 17%-19%.
President Donald Trump said he is “very strongly” looking at an Australia-style retirement system, echoing Rep. Tim Penny’s 1987 flat-rate COLA proposal.

History

Historical Context

In 1935 Congress created Social Security as a pay-as-you-go insurance program. By the early 1980s the Greenspan-led National Commission warned the trust fund would run out, prompting President Ronald Reagan to sign the Social Security Amendments on April 20 1983. The law accelerated payroll-tax hikes, taxed benefits and set a gradual increase of the retirement age to 67 by 2027, a framework echoed in today’s reform proposals.

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Durbin, Cassidy Reform

The PROMISE Act, introduced July 14 by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), requires the Social Security board to submit a proposal by Sept. 17, 2026.
The 2026 Trustees report warns the OASI trust fund will be depleted in Q4 2032, causing a 22 percent benefit cut.
AARP vice president Bill Sweeney and AARP chief Nancy LeaMond say Congress must write Social Security reform itself and warn will limit scrutiny and transparency.

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