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The Social Security Trust Fund is the single largest holder of U.S. debt. In the past, when more payroll taxes were received than required to pay benefits, the surplus was by law, used for other purposes. The federal government accounted for borrowing the funds by issuing I.O.Us from the U.S. Treasury to Social Security or Medicare Trust Funds. In recent years, the program's financing reversed and now both Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds are paying out more in benefits than money coming in. Both now rely on drawing down the interest and then the I.O.Us. But when the rest of the federal budget is in deficit, the government must borrow to pay Social Security and Medicare benefits. And according to a growing number of economists, those borrowing days are numbered..In a controversial political maneuver, Members of the House passed a bill on Friday that would keep federal agencies funded through December 15th, but withdraw spending for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The bill is now in the hands of the Senate, where leaders will likely attempt to strip it of the language that defunds the health care law. When asked how he plans to move forward with the House bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said: "Any bill that defunds Obamacare is dead. It's a waste of time." The bill has also received numerous veto threats from the White House..Another major hurdle was about how to classify .5 billion in veterans' health spending through the VA Mission Act - legislation that Trump himself has championed. The chairmen/women of the Congressional committees that deal with government funding originally agreed to classify that money as "emergency spending" because then it would not violate the overall spending limits Congress has previously agreed to..In the coming weeks and months, TSCL will continue to advocate against this balanced budget amendment to the constitution, and we will ask lawmakers to protect the earned benefits of older Americans by supporting legislation like H.R. 5466 from Congressman Ted Deutch. For more information or updates from Capitol Hill, visit our website..The record low COLAs in recent years that haven't stopped politicians in Washington from proposing more reductions by using the more slowly- growing "chained" CPI, to calculate COLAs. According to TSCL's online "Chained COLA" calculator, over the first 10 years alone a ,000 per month benefit would lose about ,555 in growth under the proposal..The Senate advanced its own bi-partisan prescription drug bill, that would establish a new out-of-pocket spending cap at about ,100. While the Senate Finance Committee advanced the package to the floor, it remains on hold. Nevertheless, these bills continue to be among TSCL's highest priorities for passage this year..This bill would enable retired school teachers, university employees and thousands of civil servants to receive all of the Social Security pensions for which they are entitled. A Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision have long limited the full aid that these beneficiaries merit..He said it is still possible that legislation regarding those issues could be passed, but not very likely. He said he was afraid they would be caught up in the elections and be used as campaign issues rather than being seriously considered for passage. That means that if any action is taken it will probably not be until later in November or even December, depending on how late in the year Congress works..The Senior Citizens League appreciates the hard work and leadership of Chairman Collins on this important issue, and we hope to see the BOLD Act signed into law before the end of this year. For more information, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website.