John Cavanaugh: Here's how I'd work in Congress to protect Social Security

As we celebrate the 90th anniversary of Social Security, we must renew our commitment to protect Social Security for another 90 years.

Social Security was an important part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal. It was enacted into law in 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression. In the midst of massive unemployment and profound poverty, it was created to ensure that older Americans had a basic source of income to meet their monthly needs.

Today, 68 million Americans receive Social Security. Here in Nebraska, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), 378,332 Nebraskans receive Social Security, nearly 20% of our population.

Social Security is a financial bedrock for working Americans. It has lifted generations of seniors, and others who qualify, out of poverty with guaranteed monthly payments and cost of living increases most years.

But today Social Security faces two main threats.

1. Cuts to Social Security:

The first threat is the deep cuts to the administration of Social Security imposed by the DOGE/Trump recommendations and enacted by the current Congress.

That means SSA plans to close many field offices around the country. And thousands of employees have been let go. With these staff reductions, fewer people can visit a local office for assistance, and phone help lines are jammed with calls causing very long wait times. They are wrapping Social Security in red tape and making this earned benefit inaccessible. So anyone with a question or problem isn’t getting the service they are entitled to.

2. Funding the System:

The second threat is funding. Without congressional action, the system’s trust fund reserves will no longer be fully funded in 2034. This means people will still receive Social Security every month, but they will receive 19 percent less than they are owed. This problem will only grow over time due to changes in life expectancy and a shrinking workforce.

Some Democrats have proposed adjusting the payroll wage cap and including net investment income for higher earners so that the wealthy begin contributing their fair share.

Republicans advocate deeper cuts to Social Security, by raising the retirement age, lowering the cost of living adjustments, or outright privatizing the system. Or just plain making it harder for people to access their earned benefit through increased red tape.

Just a few weeks ago, President Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the proposed “Trump Accounts” would be the backdoor avenue to privatizing Social Security.

Privatizing Social Security would mean that benefits would be tied to the stock market. That means your guaranteed monthly payment would be gambled in the stock market and at risk every month. These are benefits that recipients have paid for all of their working lives with the expectation that they could count on predictable monthly payments. The only winner under a privatization scheme would be Wall Street.

If I earn your trust and am elected to Congress, I’ll fight to protect and improve Social Security for the next 90 years and beyond. Both for current beneficiaries and for generations to come.

I’ll look for bipartisan solutions to put the system on a stronger, longer term financial footing. I’ll also use my experience as a State Senator to cut the red tape and restore funding to how Social Security is administered so that people get the help they need. And I’ll always fight any scheme to privatize the system.

90 years ago, America made a promise that we must keep so that we have a Social Security system that will be strong and safe for generations to come.

John Cavanaugh is a Nebraska state senator from Omaha, representing the legislature’s ninth district. He’s a candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. House race in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.