Warren asks Trump’s position on raising Social Security retirement age

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is calling on the Trump administration to clarify its stance on raising the retirement age — a move she said she opposes.

In a new letter sent to President Donald Trump on Sunday night, Warren cited details from the Social Security Administration’s latest trustees report. In late 2032 — just a bit more than six years from now — the trust fund Social Security relies on to pay retirement benefits will run out, according to new projections in the report. At that time, 78% of those benefits will be payable if lawmakers take no action.

“Republicans have a history of attempting to increase the retirement age, privatize Social Security, or otherwise cut Social Security benefits, and some Congressional Republicans have called to raise the retirement age or means-test benefits as the ‘solution’ to this problem,” Warren wrote with Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

Changes to the Social Security age thresholds would be tantamount to a benefit cut, experts have said.

It “hurts older Americans, cutting monthly benefits and forcing millions into poverty,” the lawmakers wrote.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Asked last week about the administration’s plans for the program, including perhaps raising the retirement age, White House spokesperson Liz Huston told CNBC in an email that, “President Trump will always protect and strengthen Social Security.”

Warren’s letter also comes shortly after House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly told a Louisiana radio station that he intends to push forward with a plan to address spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid next year.

The Republican Study Committee, a large group of House Republicans, had previously called for raising the retirement age in its budget proposal. However, in a January press release, the group stated its latest budget “balances the books without cutting Social Security or Medicare benefits” or “raising the Social Security retirement age.”

Lawmakers generally may repair Social Security’s solvency by raising taxes, cutting benefits or a combination of both.

Raising the retirement age would be a cut, since people would need to delay claiming to receive their full monthly benefit.

Currently, Social Security beneficiaries receive 100% of the benefits they’ve earned at their full retirement age. For people born in 1960 and later, that age is 67. Raising that bar could reduce benefits for people who claim at that age or…