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Social Security, Medicare: Where GOP candidates stand on retirement benefits

Social Security recipients shouldn’t expect 2024’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to be as significant as 2023’s, analysts with the Senior Citizens League predict. (Getty Images)

(NewsNation) —  While President Joe Biden vowed to strengthen Medicare and called for “protecting and strengthening” Social Security, the future of retirement benefits has exposed a rift in opinion and policy among the 2024 Republican presidential candidates.

The candidates are split on whether to call for changes to the programs; reducing the benefits afforded to retired Americans is very unpopular, but so are tax hikes on high earners proposed to keep the programs afloat.


Ahead of the 2024 election, NewsNation is committed to covering the issues that matter most to voters so they can make the most informed choices possible at the polls. To that end, we have broken down the political views of each candidate in our voter guide.

Here’s a comparative look at the candidates’ policy positions on the future of retirement benefits for Americans:

Donald Trump

Ron DeSantis

Nikki Haley

Vivek Ramaswamy

Chris Christie

Asa Hutchinson

NewsNation’s Tyler Wornell, Damita Menezes, Caitlyn Shelton, Katie Smith and Liz Jassin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.