On July 3, 2025, Bryan Steil, the House member for Wisconsin's 1st District, voted for final passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Social Security's chief actuary found adds $168.6 billion to the program's costs over ten years and which moved the retirement trust fund's projected depletion three months earlier, to late 2032. In April 2025 he cast a deciding vote for the budget resolution that set up its tax changes.
Steil praised the law's "$6,000 tax cut for seniors," a deduction that people on Social Security disability under age 65 cannot claim. A month after the vote he told constituents that he would not support a future reduction in Social Security. In Wisconsin, 1,365,446 people received Social Security at the end of 2024.
Bryan Steil's Votes and Statements on Social Security
- Steil Voted for a Law That Adds $168.6 Billion to Social Security's Costs and Speeds Up Its Shortfall, in 2025. On July 3, 2025, Bryan Steil voted for final passage of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 218 to 214, after casting one of the votes that passed the House version 215 to 214 on May 22. By lowering the income tax on benefits, part of which is credited to the trust funds, the law adds to Social Security's costs: the program's chief actuary estimated that "the total net increase in OASDI program cost is estimated to be $168.6 billion" from 2025 through 2034. The retirement trust fund is now projected to run short in the "fourth quarter of 2032, three months earlier than previously expected."
- Steil Cast a Deciding Vote for the Budget Plan That Set Up the Tax Changes, in April 2025. On April 10, 2025, Steil voted for the final budget resolution, H.Con.Res. 14, which passed 216 to 214, so a switch by him alone would have tied it, and a tie fails. It let the Ways and Means Committee write tax changes that "increase the deficit by not more than $4,500,000,000,000", the room the law used for its lower tax on benefits. When the retirement fund runs short, under current law "retirees face an automatic 22% benefit cut" unless Congress acts, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
- Steil Praised the Law's "$6,000 Tax Cut for Seniors," Which Disabled Workers Under 65 Cannot Claim, in July 2025. On July 3, 2025, Steil posted that the bill "delivers a $6,000 tax cut for seniors." The deduction applies only to a taxpayer who "has attained age 65 before the close of the taxable year," so the 138,357 disabled workers who received Social Security in Wisconsin at the end of 2024 cannot claim it unless they have reached 65, and it lasts only through 2028, while the law's cost to Social Security continues.
- Steil Said He Would Not Support a Future Cut in Social Security, a Month After Voting to Bring the Shortfall Closer. At his August 7, 2025 telephone town hall, Steil told a caller: "Under current law, if there were no changes, there would be a future reduction in Social Security. I would not support that" (Racine County Eye transcript). A month earlier he had voted for the law that moved that reduction closer: the Social Security and Medicare trustees now project the retirement fund will run out of reserves "in just six years, in 2032," the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget reported in June 2026.
What the Social Security Changes Bryan Steil Voted For Mean for Wisconsin
- 1.37 million Wisconsinites rely on Social Security checks. 1,365,446 Wisconsinites received Social Security in December 2024, including 1,077,180 retired workers and 138,357 disabled workers; in Steil's 1st District, 167,651 people received benefits, 19,008 of them disabled workers. These are the Wisconsinites whose checks shrink if the retirement fund runs short.
- One in five Wisconsinites would see a Social Security cut when the fund runs short. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget counts about 1.2 million Wisconsin beneficiaries, 20.2% of the state's population and the eighth-highest share of any state, who would be directly hit by the automatic cut if Congress does not act before the retirement fund runs short.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bryan Steil on Social Security
What is Bryan Steil's record on Social Security under Trump?
Bryan Steil voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a law that raises Social Security's costs, by the chief actuary's estimate, and brings the retirement fund's shortfall forward to late 2032. Steil's April 2025 vote for the budget plan that allowed its tax cuts was decisive, and he has praised its senior deduction, which leaves out disabled beneficiaries younger than 65. In August 2025 he told constituents he opposed letting benefits fall when the fund runs short.
How does Bryan Steil say he would protect Social Security?
Bryan Steil has pointed to spending cuts elsewhere: at his October 20, 2026 debate he said Social Security and Medicare should be protected by "rooting out wasteful spending," the Wisconsin Examiner reported. At his August 2025 town hall he made the same case, and Racine County Eye, reviewing his answer, found that cutting "waste, fraud, and abuse" is "insufficient to close the funding gap."
How many people in Bryan Steil's district get Social Security disability?
In Bryan Steil's 1st District, 19,008 disabled workers were drawing Social Security benefits in December 2024, according to the Social Security Administration. The senior deduction Steil praised does not reach them unless they have turned 65, while the law he voted for adds $168.6 billion to Social Security's costs over ten years.
Last updated: 2026-10-26