Social Security

Warren's Plan To 'Fix' Social Security Would Be Largest Tax Increase in Over 40 Years

Her plan is being pitched as a tax on the wealthy, but half the burden would fall on businesses. That would have dire consequences for the economy.

Eric Boehm | 7.8.2026 10:10 AM

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(Illustration: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) has a plan to "save" Social Security from upcoming benefit cuts—and all it will require is sacrificing a huge chunk of the economy via the biggest tax hike in over 40 years.

Is that worth it? Americans ought to be skeptical.

Warren's plan calls for eliminating the cap on the payroll tax as a way to generate more revenue for Social Security. Right now, Social Security is funded with a 12.4 percent tax on all earnings up to $184,500. Earnings that exceed the cap are not taxed—so, a single worker cannot pay more than $22,878 into Social Security annually.

Warren and her allies—now including some Republicans, like Sen. Bernie Moreno (R–Ohio), who has endorsed the idea—have dressed up this proposal as a way to tax the rich, because it would only affect earnings that exceed the annual cap.

But that's only half the........

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