WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senators Dick Durbin, Bill Cassidy, Tim Kaine, Thom Tillis, Angus King, John Cornyn, Chris Coons, and Alan Armstrong introduced the Promise Act, bipartisan legislation designed to address Social Security’s projected insolvency by 2032. The bill establishes a new advisory process to secure the program’s solvency for at least 50 years without raising taxes, reducing benefits, or altering eligibility requirements.

The Promise Act, which stands for Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone, directs the seven-member Social Security Advisory Board to draft legislation that ensures the program’s trust funds remain solvent. Before drafting the bill, the advisory board must gather public input, ensuring transparency and broad stakeholder engagement in the reform process.

Under the legislation, any proposal developed by the advisory board must be introduced in both the House and Senate by congressional leaders. If those leaders decline to act, other members of Congress retain the right to introduce the bill themselves. Once introduced, the base bill would be referred to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee for hearings, consideration, or potential amendments.

The bill would then be brought to the floors of both chambers for exactly 100 hours of consideration. During that window, lawmakers may propose substitute amendments. In the Senate, any amendment would require 60 votes to be adopted, and the final bill itself would also need at least 60 Senate votes to pass. In the House, the final bill would require a simple majority to clear the chamber.

The Promise Act also creates a recurring solvency review mechanism that activates every 10 years. If a Social Security funding shortfall is projected during any of those reviews, the same floor procedures would be triggered automatically, aiming to prevent future crises from reaching the brink of insolvency. The legislation explicitly does not bypass regular legislative order, predetermine a specific policy outcome, or establish a fiscal commission.

Sen. Dick Durbin emphasized the urgency of action. “Congress has known about this challenge for more than a decade, but it has not taken up these politically challenging issues,” Durbin said in a statement. He added, “And the longer Congress waits, the more difficult it will be to address this issue in the future.”

Durbin described Social Security as “the bedrock promise of a secure retirement, earned after a lifetime of hard work.” He said the Promise Act “opens Congress to debate this issue in a transparent, fair, and bipartisan way.” Durbin also stated, “We were elected to solve problems — we owe it to our kids and grandkids to protect and strengthen this critical program.”

On June 10, Senators Cassidy, Durbin, Kaine, and Tillis issued a joint statement urging their colleagues to act. “We say to our colleagues: join us in doing what we were elected to do—legislate on hard issues and protect this lifeline program for our kids and grandkids,” the senators wrote.

Sen. Bill Cassidy has separately expressed his desire to finalize Social Security reform before leaving office. In a June interview with CNBC.com, Cassidy said he wants to get the reform done before he and Durbin depart the Senate. Cassidy has also previously proposed creating a separate investment fund for Social Security, modeled on changes made to the federal Railroad Retirement system during President George W. Bush’s administration.

The legislation has drawn support from policy organizations. The Bipartisan Policy Center and the Progressive Policy Institute welcomed the bill. Ben Ritz, vice president of policy development at the Progressive Policy Institute, praised the approach: “The Promise Act should be commended for not only offering one possible mechanism to fast-track bipartisan solutions that are long overdue through regular order, but also creating a recurring check-in to discourage policymakers from getting this close to a similar cliff again in the future.”

Social Security currently provides monthly benefits to more than 71 million Americans. According to the 2026 annual report from the Social Security Board of Trustees, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is projected to become insolvent in the fourth quarter of 2032—three months earlier than previously forecast. If the retirement and disability trust funds are combined, the program could pay full benefits until 2034. After that, it would be able to pay only 83% of scheduled benefits.

If Congress takes no action before 2032, the retirement trust fund’s insolvency would trigger an automatic 22% across-the-board benefit cut. The trustees report also notes that in 2032, the program may only be able to pay 78% of retirement benefits. A June estimate by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warned that beneficiaries could see their monthly checks reduced by hundreds of dollars once trust fund reserves are depleted.

The 75-year actuarial deficit for Social Security has widened to 4.42% of payroll, up from 3.82% in prior estimates. The trustees attribute the program’s funding shortfall primarily to lower projected birth rates, reduced immigration, and reduced trust fund revenue. That revenue decline, the report states, stems in part from the fiscal impact of the tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump last summer.

For 2026, the payroll tax cap stands at $184,500. Social Security benefits were last reformed about 40 years ago, when Congress gradually raised the full retirement age from 65 to 67. That change followed recommendations from a commission led by economist Alan Greenspan.

The Promise Act responds to a growing fiscal deadline: without congressional intervention, Social Security’s main trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits in less than a decade. By establishing a structured, bipartisan process that avoids tax increases, benefit cuts, or eligibility changes, the legislation attempts to break a decades-long political stalemate over how to preserve the program. The recurring 10-year review mechanism is designed to prevent future Congresses from deferring action until the brink of collapse.

More than 71 million Americans rely on Social Security, and the projected benefit reductions—ranging from 17% to 22%—would affect retirees, disabled workers, and survivors alike. The bill’s requirement that any advisory board proposal receive guaranteed floor consideration, with clear voting thresholds, aims to ensure that politically difficult decisions are no longer indefinitely postponed.