Social Security Retirement Age Could Rise Under Trump

Social Security Administration (SSA) commissioner Frank Bisignano has not ruled out raising the retirement age to help shore up the payment system's solvency.

Speaking on Fox's Mornings with Maria on Thursday, Bisignano, who was appointed by President Donald Trump earlier this year, said "I think everything's being considered" when asked by host Maria Bartiromo if he would look at raising the retirement age.

A spokesperson for the SSA told Newsweek that Bisignano "outlined that there are a whole host of items being considered and that eight years is a long way away. While he did say that 'everything will be considered,' it was after a much more insightful conversation regarding solvency and how Commissioner Bisignano is making the Social Security Administration easier to access, faster to respond, and better prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow."

Why It Matters

According to the latest report from the Social Security Trustees, the program's two trust funds, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) funds, are projected to reach insolvency by 2034. At that point, benefits would be funded solely through incoming payroll taxes, triggering an automatic cut of around 21 percent unless Congress passes legislation to fix the looming funding cliff.

What To Know

Along with potentially raising the retirement age, Bisignano suggested other measures to address the funding challenge.

"There's a whole host of items out there" that could be considered, he said, pointing to options such as increasing the maximum amount of taxable earnings subject to Social Security tax, which currently stands at $176,100.

Social Security's trustees estimate that Congress would need to permanently raise payroll taxes for all income groups by 3.65 percentage points, from 12.4 percent to 16.05 percent, to cover the program's 75-year funding gap.

Bisignano added that there is a "long time," about eight years, to determine how to resolve the solvency issue, emphasizing that the responsibility ultimately lies with the Social Security Trustees and Congress.

Bisignano said generations that will collect Social Security in the future "will probably have a different set of rules."

Reaction

House Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member John B. Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, has hit back at the prospect of pushing up the retirement age.

"After months of denying it, the Trump Administration is finally admitting what we suspected all along," Larson said. "They are planning on raising the retirement age. For every year you raise the age, that is a 7 percent cut in benefits."

"As costs continue to rise, seniors living on fixed incomes are being hit the hardest," he continued. "Five million seniors are currently living in poverty. If Trump and his loyalists push through this plan, millions more will be pushed below the poverty line. Not on my watch!"

Raising the Retirement Age

The full retirement age (FRA) has been steadily rising since legislation was passed by Congress in 1983, a move made to help shore up the Social Security trust funds that pay benefits to more than 70 million Americans in 2025.

Raising the FRA has been proposed by Republicans before, name in March 2024 by the Republican Study Committee, which said "modest adjustments" to the retirement age for future retirees to reflect rising life expectancy. While not an official administration policy, the group consists of around 170 GOP lawmakers.

In December 2024, Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, introduced an amendment to the successful Social Security Fairness Act to raise the full retirement age all the way to 70, proposing three-month annual increases until reaching that threshold, but it was not adopted.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has previously estimated that increasing the FRA to 70 would address roughly half the system's 75-year shortfall.