A recent Cato Institute survey of 2,000 adults found strong bipartisan support for creating an independent, nonpartisan commission with authority to address Social Security’s long-term funding shortfall.
Seventy-one percent of respondents said they favor Congress establishing such a body, reflecting broad frustration with lawmakers and growing openness to an alternative decision-making process.
Support cuts across age, income and party lines in the survey. Democrats expressed the strongest backing at 78%, followed by independents at 72% and Republicans at 68%.
Respondents were asked whether Congress should create a national commission of independent experts on Social Security reform and give it authority to solve the program’s budget problems.
BRAC-style model
The proposal is modeled on the Base Realignment and Closure process — better known as BRAC — which was used after the Cold War to close unneeded military bases.
At the time, many members of Congress recognized the need for closures but worked to shield bases in their own districts. The BRAC process overcame that stalemate by relying on independent experts, not lawmakers, to draft recommendations.
These recommendations were sent to the president and then to Congress, where they became law automatically unless both chambers passed a joint resolution of disapproval.
Lawmakers could not amend the packages — they could only accept or reject them outright — which sharply raised the political cost of blocking reforms, according to the Cato Institute.
Advocates say a similar structure could help overcome decades of gridlock. Cato said previous commissions failed, in part, because they lacked insulation from politics and fast-track authority.
Survey points to distrust in leadership
Support for an independent Social Security commission appears rooted in deep public distrust of Congress’s handling of the program, according to the Cato survey findings.
Sixty-two percent of respondents said Congress has mostly broken its promises to workers in managing Social Security — a view shared across age groups and party lines.
The poll also revealed sharp generational divides. While most Americans oppose reducing benefits, nearly half of adults ages 18 to 29 said they would support benefit cuts to help close funding gaps.
Earnings cap elimination
Outside of Cato, one widely discussed reform to improve Social Security’s finances is to lift or eliminate the cap on earnings subject to the payroll tax.
Under current law, only wages up to the “contribution and benefit base” are taxed for Social Security — $176,100 in 2025 and rising to $184,500 in 2026 — with income above that level exempt from the 12.4% Social Security tax.
Proponents argue that raising the cap or removing it entirely would require higher-income workers to pay Social Security taxes on more of their income, generating substantial new revenue and extending solvency.
Social Security Administration policy options have included gradually lifting the cap so that 90% of covered earnings are taxed, or fully eliminating the limit over time.
Critics note that removing the cap alone would not completely solve long-term shortfalls and could alter the link between contributions and benefits.
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