With the potential of a government default on debt currently looming, it’s no surprise that Social Security recipients are worried about what might happen to their benefits. Congress needs to decide whether or not to raise the current government debt ceiling, which is $31.4 trillion. If this issue isn’t resolved by the June deadline, the government could go into a shutdown — or worse, a default.
In the past, when the debt ceiling has not been raised, the government has gone into a shutdown. When a shutdown happens, essential workers still stay the course, whereas, with a default, there’s really no plan for how the government can manage who still gets paid and who doesn’t.
And in what is no doubt a completely unfair scenario, the federal government’s default could lead to Social Security beneficiaries going unpaid, yet members of Congress will still get their checks! (It may also impact payments to veterans and military families.)
Needless to say, the potential of this happening is quite alarming, not to mention concerning. This is essentially what people are facing if Congress doesn’t raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
You Deserve the Benefits You Were Promised
Aside from this potential crisis, we can’t forget that seniors have already been short-changed the amount of $581 from their benefits due to insufficient cost of living adjustments (COLAs) over the years.
This is why Council of Seniors is working to get Congress to pass The SAVE Benefits Act, which would get this money returned. We ask that you please take a moment right now to sign our petition. Congress needs to recognize how many people support this bill.
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