For most retired workers, Social Security isn't just a check they receive each month -- it's a necessary source of income that helps sustain their way of life. For 20 years, national pollster Gallup has surveyed retirees and found that between 80% and 90% require their Social Security income, in some capacity, to make ends meet.
Understanding the importance of Social Security to current and future retirees is what made the program a key talking point for President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address to Congress and the American people nearly four weeks ago. Biden proudly remarked during his speech that, "[if] anyone tries to cut Social Security, we're going to stop it."
President Biden delivering remarks. Image source: Official White House Photo by Hannah Foslien.
But if you examine Joe Biden's 50-year career on Capitol Hill as a senator, vice president, and now president, you'll find three instances where he's directly or indirectly advocated for Social Security benefit cuts.
1. Biden voted in favor of sweeping overhauls that introduced the taxation of benefits
The first instance where then-Senator of Delaware Joe Biden supported legislative measures that would, over time, gradually reduce take-home and lifetime payouts for Social Security beneficiaries occurred in 1983.
Biden was one 88 senators that helped pass the Social Security Amendments of 1983. This bill, which represents the last major bipartisan overhaul of the program, gradually raised payroll taxes on working Americans, introduced the taxation of benefits on persons and couples that hit certain income levels, and laid out a gradual increase to the full retirement age over four decades. The full retirement age is the age when a retired worker becomes entitled to 100% of their monthly payout.
Raising the full retirement age in response to increased longevity is a means to reduce the lifetime benefits paid by Social Security. Whether a retired worker chooses to take their payout early and accepts a permanent reduction to their monthly benefit, or waits longer to reach their full retirement age, it results in less lifetime benefits being paid to future generations.
Meanwhile, the taxation of benefits allowed for half of an individual's or couple's benefits to be taxed at the ordinary federal income tax rate. If a single filer's modified adjusted gross income plus one-half of benefits exceeds $25,000 ($32,000 for couples filing jointly), they become subject to the taxation of benefits.
To be completely fair, Social Security's asset reserves were running on fumes in 1983, and the program was less than a year away from sweeping benefit cuts if nothing was done. This is why 88 of 97 voting senators cast their vote in favor of these wide-ranging changes.
In other words, it wasn't just Joe Biden championing these measures. The passage of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 was a concerted effort by both parties to strengthen Social Security, and Biden's vote was one of many that helped it get signed into law.
Image source: Getty Images.
2. He tinkered with the idea of raising the full retirement age (again)
A second instance where Joe Biden intimated that Social Security cuts were on the table was in 2007, when he was running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
As part of Biden's plan to protect the retirement savings of Americans, he proposed raising the payroll tax cap on high-earning workers. The 12.4% payroll tax was applicable to wages and salary up to $97,500 in 2007. Any earned income above this amount was exempted from the payroll tax.
Prior to his 2020 election as president, Joe Biden introduced a modified version of this solution. He proposed the creation a small doughnut hole where earned income would remain exempt from the payroll tax between the maximum taxable earnings cap ($160,200 in 2023) and $400,000. Meanwhile, all earned income above $400,000 would be subject to the payroll tax.
But according to NBC News in 2007, Biden made clear that he was willing to bring both political parties to the table to discuss options that would strengthen Social Security. This meant one of the core Republican proposals -- gradually raising the full retirement age -- would be considered.
As previously noted, raising the full retirement age creates a scenario where future generations of retirees would see their lifetime benefits reduced, regardless of their claiming age.
3. He implied the need for means-testing of Social Security payouts
The third time Joe Biden advocated for some form of Social Security benefit cuts came just five years ago while speaking at a Brookings Institution event. During that talk, Biden alluded to the idea of introducing means-testing for benefits. Said Biden:
Paul Ryan [former Republican speaker of the house] was correct when he did the tax code. What's the first thing he decided we had to go after? Social Security and Medicare. Now, we need to do something about Social Security and Medicare. That's the only way you can find room to pay for it. Now, I don't know a whole lot of people in the top one-tenth of 1% or top 1% [who] are relying on Social Security when they retire.
Means-testing would be a way for Social Security benefits to be partially reduced or completely removed based on the income of an eligible beneficiary.
Based on the Gallup survey I alluded to earlier, between 10% and 20% of retired workers over the past two decades aren't reliant on their Social Security income in any capacity to make ends meet. If these folks don't require a payout to maintain their standard of living, hanging on to this cash by not offering a payout to lifetime high earners could strengthen the program.
While means-testing is a solution that would impact only a small percentage of beneficiaries, it still represents a suggestion by Biden that would cut Social Security benefits.
