EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Barrasso: Democrats want to bring back taxes on Social Security

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is hammering Democrats over their opposition to Republican tax cuts that effectively ended federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for nearly nine in 10 seniors.

“Democrats continue to think that they know how to spend your money better than you do. It’s been a lifelong obsession with them. It’s part of their DNA,” Barrasso told the Washington Reporter.

“Tax rates fell significantly this past year because Republicans cut taxes. Every single Democrat voted against it,” Barrasso said. “Democrats want seniors on Social Security to pay higher taxes and have less money in their wallets. Republicans want seniors to keep more of what they need, and we know they’re the best to judge how to spend it.”

Republicans passed the Working Families Tax Cuts last year without a single Democratic vote in the Senate.

A Senate Republican source told the Reporter that “Sen. Barrasso is a leader and is showing why he was elected unanimously by his peers to be the Senate Majority Whip. Barrasso had as much of a role as any Senator in getting the tax cut passed and now he’s showing how to effectively message our win.” 

The law created a new $6,000 deduction for Americans age 65 and older, on top of the standard deduction and existing senior deduction. Married couples can receive up to $12,000 if both spouses qualify.

The result according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers is that 88 percent of seniors now pay no federal income tax on their Social Security benefits, according to the Senate Finance Committee.

More than 34 million seniors benefited from the new deduction during this year’s tax filing season, with an average household deduction of more than $7,500, according to the Finance Committee.

The tax relief is particularly targeted toward low- and middle-income seniors. It was part of a broader Republican tax package that also permanently lowered individual tax rates and included new deductions for tips and overtime.

Barrasso has increasingly highlighted the contrast as Republicans make affordability and taxes a central part of their midterm message.

Earlier this month, Barrasso said on the Senate floor that Democrats had opposed tax relief for seniors, tipped workers and Americans who work overtime.

“Every single Democrat in this chamber voted against these things,” Barrasso said. “Democrats wanted people on Social Security to pay more in taxes.”

Barrasso said the difference goes beyond taxes. Republicans believe Americans should decide how to spend the money they earn, he argued, while Democrats favor sending more of it to the government.

“Families kept more of what they earned, and then they can make their own decisions about what to save, what to spend, what to invest,” Barrasso said in his Senate floor remarks.

The benefits are already showing up in tax returns.

More than 60 million Americans claimed at least one of the new Republican tax benefits this year, Barrasso said during a June Senate Finance Committee hearing.

“Refunds were up. Paychecks are bigger,” Barrasso said.

“They wanted people on Social Security to pay more in taxes,” Barrasso said. “And that’s a defining difference.”