Speaker Mike Johnson says Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid must be cut

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid must be “adjusted and fixed,” setting up a high-stakes confrontation over the bedrock safety net programs even as Republicans’ own tax cuts are projected to add nearly $5 trillion to the national debt.

The Louisiana Republican, speaking on a radio program, said entitlement programs account for more than 74 percent of federal mandatory spending and cannot be ignored.

“They have to be adjusted and fixed,” Johnson said. “We have a plan to do that next year.”

Johnson offered no details. He did not say whether the plan would raise the retirement age, reduce cost-of-living adjustments, or trim benefits for future retirees.

Past Republican proposals have included all three, according to Congressman Thomas Kean Jr.

During previous budget debates, Kean has faced criticism and digital ad campaigns from groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and American Bridge 21st Century, alleging that fiscal conservative measures he has supported threaten social safety nets.

“Kean has enabled cuts that will gut Social Security and Medicaid. He’s responsible for this, and while his voters are struggling to afford groceries and health care, they won’t forget Kean’s betrayal,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Nico Delgado, who pointed out that about 148,359 people in New Jersey’s 7th District depend on Social Security.

The Social Security Administration has shed over 7,100 employees—nearly 13% of its workforce—over 15 months through early buyouts, voluntary early retirements, and layoffs.

In 2024, the agency hit a 50-year staffing low after congressional Republicans refused to agree to append the agency’s funding to account for fixed cost increases as part of a continuing resolution to keep agencies open.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initially targeted 47 Social Security Administration (SSA) field and hearing offices across 21 states for lease cancellation. However, following intense pushback from older adult advocates and lawmakers, DOGE reversed course on roughly half of the proposed lease terminations.

Republicans eliminated the ability for individuals applying for certain retirement and survivor benefits to verify their identities over the phone, forcing applicants to rely on online systems or in-person visits.

What Johnson also did not mention was the $4.8 trillion price tag attached to the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this year. That measure extended Trump’s first-term tax cuts, added new deductions for seniors and lowered corporate rates further. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add nearly $5 trillion to the debt over a decade.

To offset some of that cost, Republicans cut Medicaid by more than any single piece of legislation in the program’s history. Millions of low-income Americans stand to lose coverage. The tax cuts, meanwhile, flowed overwhelmingly to the wealthiest households and largest corporations.

The Social Security trustees released their annual financial report Tuesday, the same day Johnson floated his plan. The report contained a stark warning: the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits by the fourth quarter of 2032, three months earlier than projected last year. After that, incoming payroll taxes would cover only 78 percent of scheduled benefits.

The trustees explicitly tied the accelerated timeline to Trump administration policies. The “Big Beautiful Bill” reduced payroll tax revenues flowing into the system. Lower immigration rates, driven by the administration’s border crackdown, mean fewer workers paying into the trust fund. Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing war with Iran have also weighed on economic growth, further depressing revenue.

“The first Social Security trustees report that begins to take Donald Trump’s second term policies into account shows a weakened system,” said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works.

House Democrats moved quickly to seize on Johnson’s remarks. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee accused the speaker of hiding his plans until after the November midterm elections.

“MAGA Mike Johnson won’t show the American people his secret plan to eliminate Social Security because he knows Republican policies are wildly unpopular,” said Justin Chermol, a DCCC spokesperson.

White House officials declined to comment on Johnson’s remarks. Trump has repeatedly promised to protect Social Security and Medicare. On the campaign trail last year, he said he would not cut either program. His budget proposals have not detailed how he would keep that promise while also extending tax cuts that primarily benefit high earners.

The trustees’ report noted that the combined retirement and disability trust fund, known as OASDI, is projected to run out in 2034. At that point, continuing income would cover 83 percent of benefits. The retirement-only fund is the one that runs dry in 2032.

Max Richtman, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said the report is not a death sentence. “This does not mean that Social Security is going bankrupt or broke,” Richtman said. “As long as people are working and paying into the system, Social Security will continue to pay benefits.”

Richtman and other advocates argue that the shortfall can be closed not by cutting benefits but by raising taxes on the wealthy. Currently, workers pay the Social Security payroll tax on income up to $184,500. Income above that threshold is exempt.

A progressive activist from New Jersey, Lisa McCormick, has been making that argument for nearly a decade. She points to high earners like LeBron James, who makes roughly $140 million annually. Under current law, James stops paying Social Security taxes during the first quarter of his first game of the season.

“Elon Musk wants a $1 trillion salary, and he will not pay a penny to support the nation’s retirement system on nearly all of that money,” McCormick said.

The trustees’ report said lower fertility rates and reduced immigration have contributed to the system’s financing gap. Fewer workers paying in for each person drawing benefits is a demographic reality that no policy can immediately reverse. But advocates note that a growing share of national income is now concentrated among high earners whose investment income is not subject to payroll taxes. That concentration, they argue, is a major and overlooked cause of the shortfall.

Former Social Security Chief Actuary Steve Goss testified to Congress in 2023 that increasing wealth inequality has made the program harder to finance.

Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to shore up the system by lifting the payroll tax cap and, in some versions, applying the tax to certain investment income. Those bills have gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled House.

Johnson said the GOP would release its own plan next year. That timeline would place the proposal after the midterm elections, sparing Republicans from having to defend specific cuts before voters go to the polls.

AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said Americans have earned their benefits and should not see them reduced. “Americans have worked hard and paid into Social Security their entire lives, and they deserve to count on it when they retire,” she said.

The Medicare hospital insurance trust fund is also in trouble. The trustees reported Tuesday that it will run out in 2033, after which it would have to reduce benefits.

Some lawmakers are pushing for a commission to study solutions. Representatives Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, and Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat, introduced a bill Tuesday to create an independent panel. Similar commissions have been proposed before. None has produced a bipartisan solution that survived congressional action.

For now, the math is simple. Republicans want to cut benefits. Democrats want to raise taxes on the rich. The trustees say the system can pay full benefits for only six more years.

Nearly 70 million Americans receive Social Security checks. For most elderly beneficiaries, it is the majority of their income. The average monthly payment is just over $1,500.

Richtman put it plainly: “The next Congress, and especially the next class of senators, will decide the future of Social Security. Anyone elected to the Senate this November will likely be in office until at least 2033.”

The clock is running. The choices are clear. The question is whether Washington will act before the checks stop coming in full.