Sponsors (4)
The bill would give Social Security beneficiaries stronger, inflation-protected, legally enforceable guarantees of their benefits, but it would add fiscal costs, reduce Congressional flexibility, and create administrative burdens for federal agencies.
Current and future Social Security beneficiaries (seniors, retirees, disabled) would have a legally enforceable guarantee of their monthly Title II benefit amounts, reducing the risk of arbitrary cuts or missed payments.
Beneficiaries would receive benefits indexed at least annually to accurate cost-of-living increases, protecting recipients from inflation eroding their purchasing power.
Issuing certificates that constitute budget authority would make benefit payments an explicit federal obligation, reducing payment uncertainty and strengthening beneficiaries' confidence in timely payments.
Treating certificates as budget authority could increase projected federal mandatory spending and complicate budget enforcement and deficit control, potentially raising fiscal pressures on taxpayers.
Creating a new legally enforceable benefit obligation could limit future Congresses' flexibility to modify Title II benefits without incurring legal liability or compensatory costs, constraining policymaking.
The requirement to issue, track, and annually adjust certificates would impose administrative burdens on SSA and the Treasury, raising operational costs and creating transition challenges for federal staff and systems.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires Treasury to issue enforceable certificates guaranteeing each Social Security Title II beneficiary’s monthly benefit and treating those certificates as budget authority and a federal obligation.
Introduced November 18, 2025 by Timothy Burchett · Last progress November 18, 2025
Requires the Treasury Secretary to issue a legally enforceable "benefit guarantee certificate" to every person entitled to Social Security Title II benefits (and to persons when they are later determined eligible). Each certificate locks in the monthly benefit amount as calculated on the issuance date, requires at least annual adjustments for cost-of-living increases and changes in eligibility, and the certificates are defined as budget authority in advance of appropriations and as an obligation of the United States. The Treasury must issue certificates for current beneficiaries within 90 days of enactment and for newly determined beneficiaries on the date of determination. This does not change how Title II benefit amounts are calculated but reclassifies those guaranteed amounts as legally enforceable federal obligations and advance budget authority, with likely consequences for federal budgeting, agency operations, and potential legal challenges over budget process and enforcement.