Celebrating Social Security’s
90th Birthday

Dear Fellow Vermonter, 

Ninety years ago this week, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, creating the most popular government program in our nation’s history.

For nearly nine decades, through good times and bad, Social Security has paid out every benefit owed to every eligible American on time and without delay. 

Before Social Security was signed into law, half of seniors in America lived in poverty. Today, although still way too high, that figure is 10%. Social Security is not, as Elon Musk has suggested, “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” Quite the opposite. It is the most successful government program in American history — a program that over 160,000 Vermont seniors and people with disabilities benefit from each year.

And yet despite its success, President Trump and others have been working overtime to dismantle Social Security and undermine the confidence that the American people have in it. Since he took office, the Trump administration has fired at least 7,000 workers at the Social Security Administration, shut down Social Security field offices and made it more difficult for seniors and people with disabilities to receive the benefits they have earned over the phone. Here in Vermont, we are already beginning to see the effects of this with more and more people struggling to get the assistance from Social Security that they need to access their benefits.  

Trump and Musk have also absurdly suggested that millions and millions of people who are between the ages of 140-360 are receiving Social Security checks. That is a lie. The reality is that well over 99% of Social Security checks go to the people who have earned those benefits. No one who is 150 or 200 or 300 years old is collecting Social Security.

So today, on this 90th anniversary of Social Security, we are making it very clear. No. We are not going to allow Social Security to be dismantled or privatized. On the contrary, we are going to strengthen and expand Social Security. And that is exactly why I am introducing the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act.

This legislation would reverse all of the cuts that the Trump administration has made to Social Security. It would prevent the Trump administration from shutting down Social Security field offices in America — including our field offices in Burlington, Montpelier and Rutland — that provide essential services to Social Security beneficiaries.

My legislation would also make it easier for seniors and people with disabilities to receive the benefits they have earned over the phone. Each and every year, some 30,000 people with disabilities die waiting for their Social Security benefits to be approved. Trump’s cuts will make this horrific situation even worse. We cannot allow that to happen.

Earlier this year, I introduced the Social Security Expansion Act. This legislation increases Social Security benefits and extends the solvency of Social Security for the next 75 years by lifting the cap on taxable income so that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes

Right now, a billionaire pays the same amount into Social Security as someone who makes $176,000 a year. If we end that absurdity, we could expand Social Security benefits by $2,400 a year, lifting millions of seniors out of poverty, and making sure that Social Security is solvent for generations to come. The Social Security Expansion Act does that without raising taxes by one penny on the bottom 91% of Americans who makes less than $250,000 a year. 

And as we fight to protect and expand Social Security, we are also working hard to make sure Social Security works for all who need it. If you or someone you know is struggling to get the help you need with your Social Security benefits, please call my office at 802-862-0697 and a member of my staff will be happy to assist you.


Sincerely,