The largest caucus of House Republicans called for an increase in the Social Security retirement age Wednesday, setting up a clash with President Joe Biden over spending on popular entitlement programs.
The Republican Study Committee, which comprises about 80% of House Republicans, called for the Social Security eligibility age to be tied to life expectancy in its fiscal 2025 budget proposal. It also suggests reducing benefits for top earners who aren't near retirement, including a phase-out of auxiliary benefits for the highest earners.
The proposal sets the stage for an election-year fight with Biden, who accused Republicans of going after popular entitlement programs during his State of the Union address.
"If anyone here tries to cut Social Security, Medicare, or raise the retirement age, I will stop you," Biden said in his March 7 address to Congress.
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), the caucus's chairman, said the president's opposition to Social Security policy changes would lead to automatic benefit cuts when the program's trust fund is set for insolvency in 2033. A phased-in retirement age change was a standard feature of past negotiations, he said.
"Anytime there's been any reforms in history – President Clinton, President Reagan – had a slow migration of age changes for people that are 18, 19 years old," Hern told reporters Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee this year, has offered an inconsistent position on entitlements. He said in a March 11 CNBC interview that "there's a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting." He then told Breitbart he "will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare."
The caucus's budget proposal is more aggressive than the recent proposal by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who advanced a budget resolution earlier this month that called for a bipartisan commission to negotiate Social Security and Medicare solvency but didn't make specific policy recommendations. The Republican Study Committee, meanwhile, called for policy changes that would reduce spending on Social Security by $1.5 trillion and Medicare by $1.2 trillion over the next decade.
