A Republican and a Democrat senator are making a bipartisan push to shore up Social Security by requiring high-income earners to pay payroll taxes on all of their wages, arguing the change would help prevent steep benefit cuts and strengthen the program, which provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits.
"Congress must act now to save Social Security for generations of Americans to come," Sens. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote in an opinion piece published by The New York Times on June 23.
"Social Security is a core component of our nation's promise — a covenant between the federal government and Americans who pay into it throughout their working years so they can retire with dignity. That promise is at risk of unraveling."
The trustees who oversee the Social Security Trust Funds have projected the program's main trust fund could be depleted by late 2032.
"That's just six years away," the senators wrote.
"Instead of cutting benefits for the retirees who count on Social Security, we need to take bipartisan action to protect those benefits, reward work and restore fairness. That starts with a common-sense solution: lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap."
Under current law, the 12.4% Social Security payroll tax applies only to the first $184,500 of annual wages in 2026.
Moreno and Warren propose eliminating that cap and requiring higher earners to pay Social Security taxes on all of their income.
The senators cited estimates that the change would inject about $3 trillion into the program over the next decade and "extend the solvency of Social Security for another generation."
The senators argued the current system unfairly favors top earners because "most people are paying Social Security taxes on 100 percent of their earnings while the highest earners are paying on only part of theirs."
They asked, "Why should a middle-class nurse pay a larger share of her paycheck than a wealthy corporate lawyer?"
They also framed the proposal as a matter of equity, writing, "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."
The proposal has drawn criticism from Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who called it a "giant tax increase" and said he supports strengthening Social Security but not through the approach outlined by Moreno and Warren.
The bipartisan plan comes as lawmakers consider several options to address Social Security's long-term financing gap, including increasing payroll tax rates and creating an independent commission to recommend reforms. Without congressional action, trustees have warned that automatic benefit cuts of more than 20% would take effect once the trust fund is exhausted.