Republicans Look for a Unifying Stance on New Wedge Issue Social Security

Conservatives are pushing Republicans to rally behind an effort to overhaul Social Security, 88 years after the popular program was started. 

The idea being pushed in legislation by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, has gained some traction recently with news that benefits could start being slashed in a decade.

Almost half of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers support creating a new “independently managed, federal retirement investment fund which would grow over time to cover Social Security payments,” according to a WPA Intelligence poll conducted at the start of the month for The Club for Growth and provided to The Messenger.

The Government Accountability Office, which conducts audits and investigations for Congress, says that Social Security “will exhaust its reserves in 2033 and be unable to pay full scheduled benefits” if it maintains its status quo.

But it remains a sticking point in the race for the Republican nomination. 

Donald Trump – the party’s de facto nominee, and first former president facing multiple criminal cases,  crystallized the issue when he said this past spring that he wouldn’t touch the program – and then promptly used his newest stance to pound away on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying he would gut payments to elderly Americans and other recipients. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence has called for creating private savings accounts, but also said he wouldn’t cut benefits for anyone currently over the age of 40. Sen. Tim Scott, who’s been gaining in national polls recently, told an Iowa audience in June, “I will protect Social Security and Medicare for my own mother, and for you too."

The longstanding conservative stance calling for an overhaul of how Social Security is funded used to be embraced widely by the party, but has instead fallen victim to the wave of nationalist populism which has overtaken the GOP in the eight years since Trump began dominating the scene.

The issue received barely any attention last weekend as the top Republican candidates swarmed the Iowa State Fair looking to drum up support in the first Republican contest, just a little over five months from now. 

“Sticking your head in the sand on Social Security is neither viable nor conservative. The status quo is unacceptable, and Iowa voters clearly want an independently managed program to ensure their retirement,” Club for Growth Action president David McIntosh said in a statement to The Messenger. 

The Club for Growth is opposing Trump’s White House bid, saying it would drag down Republicans a fourth election in a row. McIntosh and Trump have a colorful history, going back to when the Club for Growth fought Trump in the 2016 primaries through last year’s midterm fights in which they worked together for a stretch before the relationship fell apart.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has been happy to hammer the issue — driving the wedge between the GOP’s factions ever harder. 

“Since its inception, Social Security has allowed Americans to retire with independence and dignity, and provided a critical financial lifeline to millions of workers with disabilities, survivors, and children,” Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison and party leader Steve Regenstreif said in a statement Monday, the 88th anniversary of the program. “To this day, Social Security remains a vital program, and that is why President Biden and Democrats are fighting to protect it so that future generations are met with the stability and respect they work their entire lives to achieve.”