Last week, Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) held a hearing on the financial health of Social Security.
The specific impetus for the meeting was the discrepancy between the long-term projections of two trusted groups of Social Security experts: the Congressional Budget Office and Social Security’s own Trustees.
While both agencies agree the program spends more than it takes in, they differ on when the program’s funds will exhaust. The CBO puts the exhaustion date at 2029, while the Trustees have it at 2034.
Naturally, it is more difficult for Congress to devise a workable solution when they’re unsure of their deadline. Experts from both agencies sat down with Rep. Johnson in an effort to account for the discrepancy.
The full hearing may be viewed here.