Warren asks President Trump’s position on raising Social Security retirement age

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is calling on the Trump administration to clarify its position on raising the retirement age.

In a new letter to President Donald Trump on Sunday night, Warren cited details from the Social Security Administration’s latest trustee report. The report’s new projections show that by the end of 2032, more than six years from now, the trust fund that Social Security relies on to pay out retirement benefits will be depleted. If lawmakers take no action then, 78% of the benefits will be paid.

“The Republican Party has a history of attempting to raise the retirement age, privatize Social Security, and reduce other Social Security benefits, and some Republicans in Congress are calling for raising the retirement age and increasing means-tested benefits as a ‘solution’ to this problem,” Warren wrote.

Experts say changing the Social Security age threshold is tantamount to cutting benefits.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Warren’s letter.

“President Trump will always protect and strengthen Social Security,” White House press secretary Liz Houston told CNBC in an email last week when asked about the administration’s plans for the program, including raising the retirement age.

Warren’s letter also comes shortly after House Speaker Mike Johnson told a Louisiana radio station that he intends to move forward with a plan to address spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid next year.

The Republican Study Committee, a large group of House Republicans, had previously called for raising the retirement age in the budget bill. But the group said in a January press release that the latest budget “balances the books without reducing Social Security or Medicare benefits” or “raises the Social Security retirement age.”

Lawmakers can generally repair Social Security’s solvency by raising taxes, cutting benefits, or a combination of both.

Raising the retirement age would result in a reduction because people would have to delay receiving their full monthly benefits.

Currently, Social Security recipients receive 100% of the benefits they earned at full retirement age. For people born after 1960, that age is 67 years. Raising this threshold may reduce benefits for those who claim before that age.

“In effect, raising the retirement age by two years would reduce the median monthly benefit for retirees by $345 to $741, or 17% to 35%. In effect, tens of millions of Americans would have their Social Security benefits cut, placing a disproportionate burden on seniors at the bottom of the income distribution who rely on Social Security as one of their primary sources of income,” Warren wrote in a letter to Trump.

Under reforms passed by Congress in 1983, the Social Security retirement age was gradually raised from 65 to 67. At the time, the program was facing pressing funding issues, and age changes were added to the package to restore the program’s solvency.

Some experts point out that raising the retirement age again will not easily solve Social Security’s current funding problems.

Joel Eskovitz, senior director of Social Security and Savings at AARP’s Public Policy Institute, said during a virtual briefing on the Trustee’s report Thursday that the last time the retirement age was changed, it took decades to take effect gradually. The briefing was sponsored by the National Academy of Social Insurance, a nonprofit organization focused on social insurance policy.

“Raising the retirement age doesn’t really help in this short-term discussion,” Eskovitz said. “This is a solution to a long-term problem.”

It’s also not clear whether it’s a “great fix,” he said.

While the Social Security Administration’s report shows that life expectancy will increase going forward, it won’t be experienced in the same way, Eskovitz said. People who tend to live longer are wealthier and have higher levels of education, he said.

Eskowitz said raising the retirement age could further widen the reduction in benefits that claimants receive by taking benefits earlier than age 62.

Because restoring Social Security’s solvency will likely require multiple changes, some experts, including Jason Fichtner, a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance, a nonprofit organization focused on social safety net programs, argue that raising the retirement age is also an option to consider. Mr. Fichtner previously served as acting deputy administrator and chief economist at the Social Security Administration.

But Fichtner said raising the retirement age would need to go hand in hand with other changes, such as establishing stronger minimum benefits for individuals who are unable to work past age 62 due to health problems or physically demanding work.

Fichtner said raising the retirement age isn’t an immediate solution, but could help the program decades later.

But changing your retirement age can be difficult.

AARP opposes any changes that would reduce Americans’ Social Security payments, including raising the retirement age, said Nancy Leamond, director of advocacy and engagement, in a May 28 media briefing.

A 2025 survey by NASI, AARP, the National Institute on Retirement Security, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that Americans broadly opposed benefit cuts, including raising the retirement age.

Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders last year proposed a bill that would restore Social Security’s solvency for 75 years and increase benefits, while avoiding cuts such as raising the retirement age.

To make up for it, the proposal, called the Social Security Expansion Act, calls for extending payroll taxes on wages, salaries and self-employment income for incomes above $250,000. It would also raise the net investment income tax and apply the tax to active trade and business income.

Social Security reform cannot be achieved with a one-party majority, so Republican support is needed for the bill to move forward. But Republicans largely oppose tax increases.

The bill has been before the Senate Finance Committee since February 2025.