Commissioner Martin O'Malley On the Future of Social Security

WORT Local News

Martin O’Malley is the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. He was in Madison on Wednesday to visit a Social Security field office and host a panel discussion on the past, present and future of Social Security. Commissioner O’Malley stopped by the WORT studio for a longform interview with WORT's Jeannine Ramsey. This is that extended conversation.

O'Malley says one of Social Security's challenges - a crisis in customer service - is already here, and he's calling on administrative funding for the program to be restored to 1.2% of benefits paid. That wouldn't add to the national debt but would help improve customer service.

Meanwhile, Social Security is facing another challenge on the horizon: a potential reduction in benefits in 2035. O'Malley says that income inequality has driven faster-than-expected depletion of the Social Security surplus.

But that cliff would only hit if Congress doesn't act. And one potential fix would be to increase the cap on earnings that can be taxed. In 2025, the cap is estimated to rise to $174,900 -- meaning if you make more than that, you will only pay taxes on the first $174,900 of your income, while someone making less than the cap pays taxes on their full income.

Some senators have proposed raising the cap, with some suggesting it should be on income above $400,000 or $250,000, though proposals to eliminate the cap completely aren't common.

Meanwhile, we ask the Commissioner for his thoughts on the false claim that illegal immigrants are bankrupting the system. He says, "To say that illegal immigrants are bankrupting Social Security is patently false. It is not true. They cannot earn benefits. However, they do pay in for the rest of us, $22 billion a year that they're never, ever going to be able to see a dime of coming back to them in benefits. And they get zero credit for it."

You can create a Social Security account and see the status of your current or future benefit at ssa.gov/myaccount.