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BERNIE MORENO AND ELIZABETH WARREN: OUR PLAN TO SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY
 
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Bernie Moreno and Elizabeth Warren
June 23, 2026
The New York Times
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_ Instead of cutting benefits for the retirees who count on Social
Security, we need to take bipartisan action to protect those benefits.
That starts with a common-sense solution: lifting the Social Security
payroll tax cap. _

, Jing Wei

 

One of us is a Republican from Ohio who built a business that
generated hundreds of jobs. The other is a Democrat from Massachusetts
who built a career protecting consumers from financial tricks and
traps.

We don’t agree on everything, but here’s one thing we do agree on:
Congress must act now to save Social Security for generations of
Americans to come.

Social Security is a core component of our nation’s promise — a
covenant between the federal government and Americans who pay into it
throughout their working years so they can retire with dignity.

That promise is at risk of unraveling. For years, seniors in Ohio and
Massachusetts have told us how concerned they are about the future of
Social Security. A new report
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oversee the Social Security Trust Funds shows they are right to worry:
Unless Congress acts, the fund from which most Social Security
beneficiaries are paid will be significantly depleted by late 2032.
After that, Social Security benefits could be cut by more than 20
percent
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That’s just six years away. Instead of cutting benefits for the
retirees who count on Social Security, we need to take bipartisan
action to protect those benefits, reward work and restore fairness.

That starts with a common-sense solution: lifting the Social Security
payroll tax cap.

For 2026, the payroll tax cap, or taxable maximum, is $184,500.
Workers and their employers each pay 6.2 percent on wages up to that
amount. (Self-employed individuals pay 12.4 percent.) Today, the
maximum Social Security withholding for one worker is $22,878, or 12.4
percent of $184,500. Not a penny more, even if an individual’s
salary far exceeds $184,500. Since the vast majority of Americans make
less
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than that, most people are paying Social Security taxes on 100 percent
of their earnings while the highest earners are paying on only part of
theirs.

Why should a middle-class nurse pay a larger share of her paycheck
than a wealthy corporate lawyer? This is doubly unfair in an economy
in which top earners’ wages, over
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time
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have pulled far ahead of those of the average worker.

According to one estimate
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eliminating the payroll tax cap would inject around $3 trillion into
the program over the next 10 years. Lifting the cap so that all income
is treated the same would generate substantial revenue that would
extend the solvency of Social Security for another generation.

Our plan would also help to safeguard Social Security’s
earned-benefit structure
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contributions to the program from their paychecks. This structure has
delivered a basic level of retirement certainty for generations. One
2025 poll
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found that 65 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of Republicans
support lifting the cap, “including a significant majority of
respondents with annual household income over $200,000.”

This is a no-brainer: The wealthiest Americans, who have benefited the
most from America’s opportunities, should contribute the same
percentage of their income as a factory worker in Chillicothe, Ohio,
or a teacher in Worcester, Mass.

Most Americans work into their 60s or 70s. Throughout their working
lives, they pay into Social Security with the understanding that it
will help them support themselves in retirement. With rising prices
and artificial intelligence causing economic uncertainty for the
future, Social Security must remain a stable foundation to help
retirees afford life’s basic necessities.

Social Security was created by overwhelming bipartisan congressional
majorities. Today, members of Congress from both parties must come
together again to save it. That’s why the two of us are working
together on legislation to remove the cap on Social Security taxes and
extend the solvency of our retirement system. Americans deserve
nothing less. Preserving the American dream for our children and
grandchildren depends on it.

_Bernie Moreno is the senior U.S. senator from Ohio. Elizabeth Warren
is the senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts._

* Social Security
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* Financial Crisis
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* payroll taxes
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* tax reform
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