In Michigan's 7th District, 171,835 people collect Social Security, and the program behind their checks grows $168.6 billion more expensive through 2034 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, by its chief actuary's estimate, with the retirement fund's shortfall arriving in late 2032. Tom Barrett voted for that law on July 3, 2025.
Barrett's April 2025 vote, the deciding one for the final budget resolution, made room for the tax cut on benefits that drives the added cost. The price of the retirement fund's insolvency for Michigan, in CRFB's model of a 24% cut: an average loss of $523 a month for 2.0 million beneficiaries.
Tom Barrett's Votes That Raised Social Security's Costs
- Michigan Retirees Face an Earlier Shortfall in Social Security's Retirement Fund Under the Law Barrett Voted For, in 2025. The final One Big Beautiful Bill Act won the House 218 to 214 on July 3, 2025 with Tom Barrett's vote, after his yes in May had been one of the 215 that the House version required. Shrinking the income tax on benefits drains revenue that is booked to the trust funds, so Social Security's chief actuary found that "the total net increase in OASDI program cost is estimated to be $168.6 billion" between 2025 and 2034. The retirement fund now looks set to fall short in the "fourth quarter of 2032, three months earlier than previously expected."
- Michigan Retirees Move Closer to an Automatic Benefit Cut After Barrett's Deciding April 2025 Budget Vote. Barrett's yes on April 10, 2025 was one the final budget resolution, H.Con.Res. 14, could not lose: it passed 216 to 214, and his switch alone would have tied it, which defeats a resolution. Under it, the tax-writing committee could pass changes that "increase the deficit by not more than $4,500,000,000,000", the space the law used to cut the tax on benefits. Once that fund runs dry, "all retirees are projected to be subject to an immediate 24% benefit cut upon trust fund exhaustion," the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warns, unless Congress acts first.
What Tom Barrett's Votes Mean for Michigan's Social Security Beneficiaries
- An average Michigan beneficiary would lose $523 a month once the retirement fund is exhausted. Should a 24% cut hit retirement-program checks across the board at insolvency, 2.0 million Michigan beneficiaries, 19.8% of the state's people, would lose $523 a month on average and $12.1 billion a year in all, CRFB's state-by-state model shows, money that covers rent, groceries and prescriptions for retirees across the state.
- Michigan's 1.74 million retired workers on Social Security draw on the fund the law drains sooner. The Social Security Administration counted 2,339,826 beneficiaries in Michigan in December 2024, among them 1,736,413 retired workers, and retirees' checks come from the retirement trust fund whose shortfall the law brings closer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Tom Barrett on Social Security
What is Tom Barrett's record on Social Security under Trump?
Tom Barrett's Social Security record under Trump includes his vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; Social Security's chief actuary finds its tax changes cost the program an added $168.6 billion, and the same changes pull the retirement fund's shortfall forward to the end of 2032. His April 2025 vote for the budget resolution that allowed those tax cuts was decisive. In Michigan, 2,339,826 people were receiving Social Security in December 2024.
How many people in the Lansing-area 7th District rely on Social Security, the program Tom Barrett's vote made costlier?
Tom Barrett's district, Michigan's 7th, was home to 171,835 people drawing Social Security in December 2024 by the agency's own count, among them 132,761 retirees and 17,656 people on disability benefits as former workers. Every one of those checks is paid from trust funds whose costs rise $168.6 billion under the law Barrett voted for.
What does Tom Barrett's vote mean for Michiganders on Social Security disability?
Across Michigan, 285,308 disabled workers were on Social Security at the close of 2024, and the law Tom Barrett voted for loads $168.6 billion in added costs onto the program over 2025 to 2034. Counting the retirement and disability trust funds together, the chief actuary found that the law moves their projected depletion up to the first quarter of 2034, from the third quarter.
Last updated: 2026-10-27