Bernie Sanders Pledges $2,400 Social Security Boost as Chair

He would succeed Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley when the new Congress convenes in January. The post could give Sanders a larger platform to shape hearings and the debate over the program.

What the bill would do

Sanders, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and other Democrats introduced the Social Security Expansion Act in 2025. It would raise benefits by $2,400 a year for current and new recipients. It would also subject income above $250,000 to additional Social Security taxation.

The bill would change how annual cost-of-living adjustments are calculated. They would rely on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, known as CPI-E, which is meant to track seniors' spending more closely.

Workers now pay a 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax, matched by employers, but only up to an annual earnings limit. That taxable maximum is $184,500 in 2026 and is scheduled to rise to $192,300 in 2027.

The funding deadline

The Social Security trust fund is projected to be able to pay only 78 percent of scheduled benefits in late 2032. That would amount to a potential 22 percent cut if Congress does not act. Sanders has said lawmakers should raise taxes on wealthy Americans instead of cutting benefits or raising the retirement age.

Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, said the timeline leaves little room. "While the Trust Fund's depletion is still an estimated six years away, with how slowly major program changes move in Washington, proposals for change need to start seeing movement now," he said.

Beene cautioned that removing the cap would not settle the problem alone. "Studies have shown it more than likely wouldn't be a permanent fix," he said, adding that harder choices such as raising the qualifying age or cutting the program may be needed. Even so, he said, proposals like Sanders' "are needed to move the conversation forward."