ICYMI: Pappas Helps Lead Efforts to Save Social Security

August 7, 2026

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Congressman Chris Pappas joined House and Senate Democrats this week in demanding that the Republican majority commit to protecting Social Security, signing a bicameral letter urging Congress to safeguard the retirement benefits millions of Americans have earned, as The Hill reported.

Pappas has consistently backed legislation to protect and strengthen Social Security. He cosponsored the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, restoring full benefits for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants. He opposed Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, which increased the risk of Social Security cuts while delivering giveaways to corporate special interests, and he has earned the endorsement of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare PAC. Earlier this week, Pappas met with Granite Staters in Manchester to discuss the importance of protecting Social Security and ensuring it remains strong for generations to come.

Meanwhile, Pappas’s likely Republican opponent, former Senator John Sununu, led efforts in the Senate to privatize Social Security almost twenty years ago, which would have gambled Granite Stater’s retirement benefits on the stock market while padding Wall Street’s profits — and there’s no doubt he would work with Donald Trump and Washington Republicans to weaken Social Security by opening the door to privatization and threatening the retirement security of millions of Americans.

Instead of standing with Wall Street and special interests, Chris Pappas is standing up for New Hampshire seniors and working families by protecting the benefits they have earned and paid into over a lifetime of work.

By Mira Bhakta, 8/5/26

Congressional Democrats sent a letter Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) calling on Republicans to put forward a plan to save Social Security from insolvency.

The letter, led by seven senior Democratic lawmakers, calls on Republicans to find solutions to Social Security’s budget deficit amid warnings from its trustees that — within the decade — the program will be unable to pay its debts.

“With the Finance Committee preparing to discuss options to address the pending insolvency of Social Security, it is critical that the American people understand where Republicans truly stand regarding our pre-eminent economic security program,” the lawmakers wrote Tuesday.

The letter effort was led by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) along with Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.).

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the program faces a 75-year shortfall and an estimated deficit of more than $30 trillion. As the aging population grows, the workforce is shrinking, with the ratio of workers to beneficiaries dropping from 5-to-1 to 2.9-to-1 between 1960 and today.

In June, Social Security’s trustees warned that the program will become insolvent by the end of 2032 and beneficiaries would see their monthly payments reduced by 22 percent.

The letter referenced a “plan” by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for Social Security and other social programs to be moved from mandatory spending to tackle their ballooning costs.

[…]

The Democratic lawmakers called Johnson’s plan a “smoke-and-mirrors scheme” to cover Social Security cuts, which they also criticized in the letter. In his “Moon Griffin Show” interview, he said Social Security needs to be “adjusted and fixed” but did not elaborate on his approach.

“A plan you will not show the voters before they vote is not reassurance. It is a warning and revealing of Republican priorities,” they wrote.

[…]

“It is time for Republicans to put their money where their mouth is and put forward their plan. We call on each of you to release the plan referenced by Speaker Johnson,” the letter concluded.

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