WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law 90 years ago this week, he said it would provide economic stability to older people while giving the U.S. “an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.”
Today, the program provides benefits to almost 69 million Americans each month. It’s a major source of income for people older than 65 and is popular across the country and political lines.
It also looks more threatened than ever.
Just as it has for decades, Social Security faces a looming shortfall in money to pay full benefits. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the program has faced more tumult. Agency staffing has been slashed. Unions and advocacy groups concerned about sharing sensitive information have sued. Administration officials, including the president, have falsely claimed that millions of dead people were receiving Social Security benefits. Former top adviser Elon Musk said the program was a potential “Ponzi scheme.”
At an Oval Office event Thursday commemorating the program’s anniversary, Trump said that under his watch “we’re strengthening it.” But the president and Republicans who control Congress have not proposed a long-term solution to shore up the program.