Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.) said Monday that lawmakers have “a lot” of interest in raising the Social Security payroll tax cap to shore up the program’s funding base.
“There’s already a lot of interest, and some are starting to pop up on the other side of the aisle for raising the cap. So, we’ll be very involved in that,” Wyden, the incoming chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Officials from the Trump administration warned earlier this year that Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund will only cover the entirety of scheduled benefits until the final quarter of 2032. Starting then, the fund will cover 78 percent of scheduled benefits.
Taxpayers must pay Social Security taxes on up to $184,500 in income, an amount the Social Security Administration typically increases every year.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) backed raising the Social Security tax cap over the summer, calling it a “common-sense solution” to the program’s impending funding issues.
“This is a no-brainer: The wealthiest Americans, who have benefited the most from America’s opportunities, should contribute the same percentage of their income as a factory worker in Chillicothe, Ohio, or a teacher in Worcester, Mass.,” they wrote in a New York Times opinion piece.
While speaking to reporters, Wyden also pushed for Congress to pass Medicare for All legislation and restrictions on chip exports to China — after the board of Nvidia opened a probe into a reported affair the company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, had with an alleged Chinese spy.
The Oregon Democrat specifically focused on healthcare costs, calling the country’s healthcare system “broken.”
Wyden added, “We’re going to be looking at big pharma and big insurance very closely, because both of them, particularly the big insurance companies, have just gotten a ride.”
