Part of the income tax people pay on their Social Security benefits goes back into the program's trust funds, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act lowers that tax, so Social Security takes in less; Brad Knott of North Carolina's 13th District was a yes when the act cleared the House on July 3, 2025, and the program's chief actuary estimates it raises Social Security's net costs by $168.6 billion from 2025 through 2034.
Knott's April 2025 vote decided the budget resolution that gave the tax committee room to add $4.5 trillion to deficits. The retirement fund's reserves are now forecast to give out in the fourth quarter of 2032, and 142,357 people in his district were drawing Social Security in December 2024.
Brad Knott's Votes on the Tax Changes That Weaken Social Security's Finances
- Knott Voted for a Lower Tax on Benefits That Costs Social Security $168.6 Billion and Brings Its Shortfall Three Months Closer. The July 3, 2025 roll call on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, 218-214, lists Brad Knott among the yeas; six weeks earlier, on May 22, the House version had squeaked by 215-214 with Knott's vote in the majority. With less income tax collected on benefits, revenue that is partly credited to Social Security, the program's chief actuary found "the total net increase in OASDI program cost is estimated to be $168.6 billion" over 2025 through 2034. Reserves for retirement benefits are now expected to run out in the "fourth quarter of 2032, three months earlier than previously expected."
- Knott's Deciding Budget Vote Opened $4.5 Trillion in Deficit Room That the Law Used to Lower the Tax on Benefits, in April 2025. Knott's yes adopted the final budget resolution, H.Con.Res. 14, 216-214 on April 10, 2025, a vote his switch would have turned into a failing tie. Ways and Means got license for tax cuts that "increase the deficit by not more than $4,500,000,000,000", and the lighter tax on benefits came out of that room. Per the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, every retiree is projected to see an "immediate 24% benefit cut upon trust fund exhaustion" when the retirement fund empties, under current law.
What a Weaker Social Security Trust Fund Means for North Carolina After Brad Knott's Votes
- 142,357 people in North Carolina's 13th District draw Social Security from a fund the law depletes sooner. Tallied by the Social Security Administration as of December 2024, North Carolina's 13th District had 142,357 beneficiaries, with retired workers (107,354) the largest group and disabled workers (17,110) next. Every one of them depends on a retirement and disability system whose costs the law raises.
- North Carolina retirees face an average $501 monthly benefit cut when the retirement fund runs short. CRFB's state-by-state model has North Carolina retirees and others paid from the retirement fund losing $501 a month on average once the across-the-board insolvency cut hits, which would reach 2.0 million people, or 18.2% of the state's population, and pull $11.6 billion a year out of the state's economy.
- 2.3 million North Carolinians on Social Security, 278,281 of them disabled workers, rely on the program the law weakens. Statewide, North Carolina counted 2,329,477 Social Security beneficiaries in December 2024, among them 1,768,974 retirees and 278,281 workers drawing disability benefits, by the Social Security Administration's tally, all paid from the trust funds whose revenue the law reduces.
Frequently Asked Questions About Brad Knott on Social Security
What is Brad Knott's record on Social Security under Trump?
On July 3, 2025, Brad Knott voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which by its lower tax on benefits adds $168.6 billion to Social Security's costs through 2034, the program's chief actuary estimates. That tax change fit inside a budget resolution that would have failed in April 2025 had Knott voted no, and the retirement trust fund's projected depletion has since moved to late 2032, three months sooner than before.
How does the tax change Brad Knott voted for drain Social Security's trust fund?
The 2025 law Brad Knott voted for cuts the federal income tax owed on Social Security benefits, and since a portion of that tax is routed into the trust funds that pay benefits, the funds collect less each year. Social Security's chief actuary put the added net cost at $168.6 billion over ten years, and the retirement fund's projected depletion moved three months earlier, to the fourth quarter of 2032.
What would the Social Security shortfall mean for a retiree in North Carolina after Brad Knott's vote?
Because the law Brad Knott voted for brings the retirement fund's exhaustion closer, the across-the-board cut that follows it arrives sooner, and by CRFB's math it would cost a North Carolina retiree or anyone else paid from the retirement fund an average of $501 a month. About 2.0 million North Carolinians would be hit, 18.2% of the state's residents.
Last updated: 2026-10-27