Trump signs Social Security proclamation, calls tax law "big, beautiful" for seniors
"On the 90th anniversary of the establishment of this historic program, I recommit to always defending Social Security, rewarding the men and women who make our country prosperous, and taking care of our own workers, families, seniors and citizens first," Trump said in the Oval Office, The Hill reported.
The president touted his "big, beautiful" tax law enacted last month as paving the way for the "largest tax break for seniors in the history of our country," while lauding efforts in his administration to root out "fraud, waste and abuse."
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July, greenlighted a temporary $6,000 tax deduction for Americans aged 65 and above. Experts, however, have noted that the benefit may disproportionately favour the upper-middle class rather than lower-income seniors, The Hill reported.
"You reported it all the time. In four or five years, it's going to go bust, but not anymore, it's not," Trump said, also citing efforts in his administration aimed at uncovering "tremendous fraud, where we have illegal aliens."
Recent analysis from the Social Security Administration's chief actuary projected that Trump's recent tax and spending megabill could accelerate insolvency for Social Security's trust funds. The Office of the Chief Actuary estimated that the combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds may now face depletion by the first quarter of 2034, earlier than the third quarter projected in the trustees' report baseline.
The president's comments come as the administration faces scrutiny over plans to significantly reduce the agency's workforce and heightened focus on eliminating "billions of dollars" in fraud in the program, The Hill reported.
Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who attended the event, said the agency would move to become "digital first."
"This will be a digital first agency, and we are building My SSA accounts, that's the digital account, and we have a bold goal of 200 million Americans to have a digital SSA account by the end of next year," he said. "It will happen, just like we had a bold goal of single-digit wait time on the calls when they were at 40 minutes."
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