With Republicans now heading into office in the Presidency, a majority in Congress, and the Senate, the future of Social Security is now even in more dire straights than it was before.

This political party is not known for its love of public assistance programs, and although Social Security, which provides financial stability for millions of retirees, disabled individuals, and survivors, is one of the most popular programs in the country, especially in their demographic, the drive to dismantle it has been going on for a long time.

This period will be no different, as the tide has not ever shifted yet and the Republican Study Committee (RSC) has already proposed a budget that seeks $1.5 trillion in cuts to Social Security. These changes now have a lot more possibility of making it through the chambers and being signed into law. Some of the proposed changes are:

Raising the Retirement Age

This has been one of the most consistent Republican proposals over the past few years. Full retirement age has been slowly increasing since the Social Security Collapse in the 80’s and it now sits at 67 years old for those born in 1960 or later. The proposal believes that increasing it even further, to 69 years old, would alleviate the financial strain on the Social Security Trust Fund.

This theory was quickly disproven by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget (COB) which found that increasing the retirement age would not change the year Social Security is projected to reach insolvency and that, as per usual, this policy change would disproportionately impact low-income retirees, which are the ones that need to work until full retirement age and sometimes even beyond.

The Republican party justifies this extension by stating that a higher retirement age would reduce the number of years benefits are paid out, thereby extending the solvency of the program, but since its shortfall will happen either way, a better proposal should take precedence.

Modifying the Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA)

This is a bipartisan proposal, but unsurprisingly both sides of the aisle take opposite sides on this issue as well. The COLA, which is meant to help those receiving Social Security benefits keep pace with inflation, is calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

This index weights weight categories and gives a percentage increase that applies to all benefits. But Republicans would like to change this index to the Chained Consumer Price Index (C-CPI), which typically has a slower growth than the CPI-W.

They argue that the C-CPI more accurately reflects changes in consumer behavior and inflation, and considering its slower growth it would also result in a lower COLA and thus fewer benefits being distributed.

This could financially cripple many beneficiaries that are already struggling to make ends meet as things stand.

In fact, Democrats and senior advocates wish to change the index as well, but to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) instead, which looks at spending among those 62 and older and grown even faster than the current CPI-W. This would give beneficiaries more income to play with but would accelerate the program’s insolvency.

Means Testing for Social Security Benefits

Means testing for Social Security benefits is a proposed reform that would adjust payouts based on an individual’s income and assets, potentially reducing or eliminating benefits for higher-income retirees.

Currently, benefits are determined by earnings history and contributions made during a person’s working years, regardless of their retirement savings. Proponents argue that means testing could direct resources to those with greater financial need and extend the program’s solvency. Critics, however, contend that it undermines Social Security’s universal nature and may discourage saving for retirement.