U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant stated at a congressional hearing that the Trump administration will not raise taxes on the elderly or cut Social Security benefits. Facing the pressure of approximately 10,000 baby boomers entering the Social Security system daily and a federal debt exceeding $39 trillion, he stakes his solutions on faster economic growth and stricter fiscal spending controls.

No new proposals were put forward at the hearing.

Senator Bill Cassidy questioned at the hearing that the White House has yet to come up with a concrete plan to address the long-standing Social Security deficit. He mentioned that current calculations show the methods under discussion are insufficient to fill the gap. Instead of proposing new institutional arrangements, Bessant reiterated the government's bottom line: seniors will not pay more taxes, and their benefits will not be reduced.

Bessenter focuses on growth and cost control

In response to questioning from lawmakers, Bessant stated that the problem in the United States is not insufficient tax collection, but rather slow growth and excessive spending. He indicated that increased employment and rising wages will generate more payroll tax revenue, which will flow into the Social Security Trust Fund.

This is also the fiscal strategy he has repeatedly emphasized recently. According to his "3-3-3" framework, if the United States can achieve a real economic growth rate of about 3%, keep the fiscal deficit at about 3% of GDP, and increase domestic energy production by 3 million barrels per day, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to stabilize at about 100%.

Democrats say fiscal deficit is still widening

Democratic lawmakers countered at the hearing that the actual data did not indicate improvement. Even with resilient economic growth, the U.S. fiscal deficit remains high, and interest payments continue to rise as more old debt is refinanced in a higher-interest-rate environment.

They argue that the permanent tax cuts and higher defense and industrial spending pushed by the Trump administration are themselves contributing factors to the increasing fiscal pressure. If both tax increases and welfare cuts are excluded, the gap between Social Security commitments and long-term financial projections will only continue to widen.

The health insurance fund is projected to be depleted by 2040.

A recent Medicare trustee report indicates that the hospital insurance trust fund is projected to run out by 2040, four years earlier than predicted a year ago. The report notes that the fund's deteriorating condition is partly due to reduced payroll and income tax inflows following Trump's tax cuts. If Congress does not act by then, the fund's current income will only cover approximately 92% of its planned benefit expenditures.

The Social Security Master Trust also faces a significant shortfall under current law. Meanwhile, the U.S. national debt has surpassed $39 trillion. Budget watchdogs, including the Peter Peterson Foundation and the Committee on Responsible Federal Budget, believe that the current fiscal path is unsustainable, and that growth alone will not be enough to reverse the situation without policy adjustments.