Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill on December 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Emergency medical personnel were dispatched to the Washington home of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell last month to attend to an unconscious person who appeared to be in cardiac arrest, according to EMS dispatch audio reviewed by ABC News.
While the audio does not indicate who the person is, the incident occurred on the same day that McConnell was hospitalized on June 14.
At 8:36 a.m., a dispatcher directed an “ALS response” ambulance to McConnell’s residence for an “unconscious” person. “ALS” stands for Advanced Life Support.
At 8:42 a.m., the EMS responder, identified as “Medic 3,” responded to the dispatcher, saying “inform supervisor CPR in progress.”
At 8:43 a.m., the dispatcher said “EMS to respond, for cardiac arrest,” and once again repeated McConnell’s address.
McConnell is not named directly in any of the audio.
A spokesperson for McConnell declined to comment on the audio and did not provide any update on McConnell’s current condition.
On June 14, McConnell’s spokesperson confirmed he was admitted to the hospital, adding “he is receiving excellent care.” It’s unclear if McConnell remains in the hospital.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on June 15 he had spoken with McConnell following the Kentucky senator’s hospitalization. Thune told reporters McConnell was “dialed in” and “wants to be back.”
Republican Whip John Barrasso also spoke to McConnell that day, a spokesperson for Barrasso confirmed. Barrasso said McConnell was “engaged” and eager to return to the Hill.
On June 22, McConnell’s office indicated he was still working on Senate business, but would not be appearing on Capitol Hill for votes.
“Senator McConnell is still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery. However, he will not be voting this week,” a McConnell spokesperson said on June 22.
McConnell has not yet returned to the Senate and was last seen on the Hill on June 11.
This is the latest in a string of medical incidents that the seven-term senator and longtime Republican leader has faced in recent years. McConnell, 84, stepped down from leadership in 2024 and is set to retire at the end of his term in January.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents patrol Dulles International Airport on March 24, 2026 in Dulles, Virginia. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Immigration officials have quietly ramped up arrests in the recent days, taking 10,000 people who they say are illegally in the United States into custody within a five-day space, sources familiar with the figures said Thursday.
The source said the significant number of arrests have occurred around the United States since last week.
The new goal for immigration authorities is to arrest at least 2,000 per day going forward, according to sources. Last year, in a meeting with senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, White House and senior Department of Homeland Security officials urged a goal of 3,000 arrests per day, a source familiar told ABC News.
“Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
During the immigration crackdown, President Donald Trump has pledged to target the “worst of the worst” criminal offenders among the nation’s migrants. While the criminal histories of those arrested in this latest sweep is not yet clear, the DHS spokesperson said that “nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.”
The recent arrests have been carried out with little publicity, according to sources, after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin pledged during his confirmation hearing earlier this year to keep the agency out of the headlines and do the work quietly. That is in contrast to former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who wanted maximum publicity for ICE enforcement.
ICE has a new pick to lead the agency, Lance Schroyer, a top Mullin ally and former Oklahoma state trooper who has no federal immigration experience.
The New York Times first reported the details.
Mike Howell, who serves as the president of the Trump-aligned Oversight Project and a leader of the Mass Deportation Coalition, applauded the arrests numbers, but said there should “transparency and meaningful metrics on deportation-related statistics,” which are not publicly available.
“There have been so many numbers thrown around in press releases, estimates, extrapolations, and puffery that most people are just kind of immune to it and waiting to see the hard data that’s being withheld,” Howell said.
The cruise ship MV Hondius docks in the Port of Rotterdam to be disinfected following the recent hantavirus outbreak, on May 18, 2026 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)
(GENEVA) — The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship is over.
It came after the final contact of a person exposed to the virus on the cruise ship completed their quarantine period, according to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The recommended quarantine and monitoring period for hantavirus exposure is 42 days.
The individual tested negative and returned home. No further cases have been reported since May 25, Tedros said during a media briefing.
As of Thursday, there have been a total of 13 cases of hantavirus — 12 confirmed and one probable — and three deaths, of which at least two have been confirmed, according to the WHO. All cases have been passengers or crew members on the ship.
Tedros said more than 650 contacts were identified and followed up by health authorities in 33 countries and territories.
“Although the outbreak is over, WHO will continue working with governments and partners to advance our understanding of this outbreak and of hantavirus more generally,” Tedros said. “We are also coordinating a study involving 21 countries to understand how the disease develops, which will support the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for future outbreaks.”
Last week, quarantine ended for the 18 Americans who were cruise ship passengers on the MV Hondius and exposed to hantavirus.
The WHO said it received notification on May 2 of a cluster of “severe acute respiratory illness” aboard the MV Hondius, including two deaths and one critically ill passenger
The working hypothesis behind the cluster is that the first case was infected with hantavirus while on land, before boarding the cruise ship, according to the WHO.
At least 11 confirmed cases tested positive for Andes virus, a rare strain of hantavirus, and the only one that is known to transmit between people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus who got to the top of the Empire State Building climb down the tower’s spire in New York City, July 1, 2026. (WABC)
(NEW YORK) — A daredevil couple who climbed to the top of the Empire State Building on Wednesday appeared to have broken through a door to get to the antenna, investigators revealed Thursday before the pair was given a supervised release.
Officers could not go up to the couple during their stunt, which ended with one of the climbers proposing to the other, because they had to power the antenna down for safety, investigators said.
Angelina Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, both Russians with a current address in East Orange, New Jersey, were charged with multiple felonies in Manhattan Criminal Court including reckless endangerment, burglary and other charges. They did not enter a plea.
“We will do supervised release. We will do it at a low level,” a judge said Thursday.
Still despite the serious charges and dangerous aspects of their stunt, the two were all smiles and kissed for cameras on Thursday as the newly engaged pair left court.
“We love New York,” Kuznetsov said after the court appearance.
Kuznetsov told detectives he had to “do something special for his engagement,” according to the complaint.
Jason Krinsky, an attorney who is representing the couple, said the district attorney’s office “overcharged” the case.
“They are trying to send a message,” Krinsky said after the court appearance about the prosecutors’ charges.
“As far as what I’ve seen, and I’m sure you have all seen, It was a message of love. You know, that’s a nice thing.”
The couple appeared in court wearing the same black outfits they had during their stunt. Their next court appearance is August 24.
They held hands and smiled after they left court and barely spoke to reporters who asked questions about the stunt and their wedding plans.
Just before the couple entered a subway, they posed for cameras with a long kiss.
The DA’s criminal complaint provided more details on how the couple allegedly climbed their way to the 1,454 foot peak of the building.
The complaint alleges that a lock on the security door to the Empire State Building’s 104th floor, which provides access to the building’s broadcast antenna, was broken.
An officer told prosecutors that there was an additional safety risk for the couple and first responders as the antenna “emits high-frequency radio signals that are powerful enough to cause harm to the human body,” the criminal complaint said.
“As a result, the antenna was powered down before members of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit could approach the two individuals on and around the broadcast antenna,” the criminal complaint said.
First responders had to wait 30 minutes while the antenna powered down before they could approach the couple, according to the complaint.
Nikolau and Kuznetsov, who have gained an online following for their death-defying skyscraper climbs around the world, stayed on top of the structure for several minutes as cameras rolled on the action before they came down the spire, the New York Police Department said.
They unfurled a black banner with an apparent reference to a Jimi Hendrix quote and said in white letters, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
Kuznetsov, who is also known as Ivan Beerkus, appeared to propose to his longtime girlfriend before they were taken into custody.
They posted close up photos of the proposal and the ring on social media before they were taken into custody.
Security was supposed to have been strengthened following previous attempts by trespassers to take selfies near the spire.
Officials said they believe the two may have observed building employees and used a worker entrance to get around the screening.
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus who got to the top of the Empire State Building climb down the tower’s spire in New York City, July 1, 2026. (WABC)
(NEW YORK) –A daredevil couple who climbed to the top of the Empire State Building on Wednesday were given supervised release following a brief court appearance Thursday as investigators revealed new details on how they ascended to the top of the spire.
Angelina Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, both Russians with a current address in East Orange, New Jersey, were held overnight at 100 Centre Street, where Manhattan Criminal Court is located.
The couple was charged with reckless endangerment, burglary and other charges. They did not enter a plea.
“We will do supervised release. We will do it at a low level,” the judge said.
Jason Krinsky, an attorney who is representing the couple, said the district attorney’s office “overcharged” the case.
The couple appeared in court wearing the same black outfits they had during their stunt. Their next court appearance is August 24.
The DA’s criminal complaint provided more details on how the couple allegedly climbed their way to the 1,454 foot peak of the building.
The complaint alleges that a lock on the security door to the Empire State Building’s 104th floor, which provides access to the building’s broadcast antenna, was broken.
An officer told prosecutors that there was an additional safety risk for the couple and first responders as the antenna “emits high-frequency radio signals that are powerful enough to cause harm to the human body,” the criminal complaint said.
“As a result, the antenna was powered down before members of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit could approach the two individuals on and around the broadcast antenna,” the criminal complaint said.
First responders had to wait 30 minutes while the antenna powered down before they could approach the couple, according to the complaint.
Nikolau and Kuznetsov, who have gained an online following for their death-defying skyscraper climbs around the world, stayed on top of the structure for several minutes as cameras rolled on the action before they came down the spire, the New York Police Department said.
Kuznetsov, who is also known as Ivan Beerkus, appeared to propose to his longtime girlfriend before they were taken into custody.
Both face multiple charges — including burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, violation of a local law, criminal tampering, disorderly conduct and possession of burglar’s tools — according to police.
Security was supposed to have been strengthened following previous attempts by trespassers to take selfies near the spire.
Officials said they believe the two may have observed building employees and used a worker entrance to get around the screening.
The sun rises behind the skyline of midtown Manhattan, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building on a day with an extreme heat warning in New York City, July 2, 2026. (Gary Hershorn/ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — A dangerous heat wave is bringing prolonged extreme heat to more than two dozen states across the Midwest, the South and the East Coast.
The heat wave began in the Midwest on Monday and has since spread east, where it’s set to last into the Fourth of July weekend.
With holiday travel in full effect, Amtrak canceled over a dozen trains in the Northeast Thursday due to the heat.
On Thursday, the heat index — what temperature it feels like with humidity — is expected to hit a scorching 111 degrees in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., 106 in Boston, 102 in Chicago, 108 in Detroit, and 110 in Nashville, Tennessee.
New York City’s heat index is forecast to reach 110 degrees, which has only happened three times in the last 80 years.
The city has activated its heat emergency plan and is opening hundreds of cooling centers.
“I’m also asking every employer to plan ahead with their teams, build in flexibility, and make sure that no one is put at risk during their jobs this week,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
On Friday, the heat index is forecast to hit 108 degrees in New York, 105 in Boston, 112 in Washington, D.C., and 111 in Memphis, Tennessee.
There will be minimal relief overnight, which makes the heat even more dangerous.
On the Fourth of July on Saturday, the heat will improve slightly for the Northeast, but will still feel like the triple digits, with the heat index expected to reach 103 degrees in New York and 107 in D.C.
By Sunday and Monday, the strongest heat and humidity will settle over the Southeast. Raleigh, North Carolina, is expected to feel like 107 degrees and Savannah, Georgia, will feel like 105 degrees.
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S. At least 13,000 Americans have died from the heat since 2018, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HR recruitment manager holding resume in hands while having an interview in a modern office. (Xavier Lorenzo/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Hiring slowed markedly in June, falling short of economists’ expectations and displaying a wobbly labor market amid elevated inflation set off by the Iran war.
The U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June, according to the federal government’s monthly jobs report, which marked a decline from 172,000 jobs added in May.
The sluggish pace recorded in June departs from strong performance for the labor market so far in 2026. Employers added a robust average of about 114,000 jobs each month from January to May, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data showed.
The unemployment rate fell slightly from 4.3% in May to 4.2% in June, the BLS said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
The professional and business services sector led job gains, adding 36,000 positions in June. Significant job gains also came in healthcare, though the pace of job growth slowed in that sector.
Hiring had proven unexpectedly resilient, despite a rise in costs borne by businesses and shoppers.
The Middle East conflict, which began on Feb. 28, prompted the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply. The standoff triggered one of the largest oil shocks ever recorded.
The pace of annual inflation stands at 4.2%, clocking in at more than twice the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.
The combination of elevated inflation and a resilient labor market has raised the chances of an interest rate hike, futures markets show, posing a risk for corporations eager to keep borrowing costs relatively low.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh briefly sent stocks tumbling this month during his first press conference atop the central bank. Warsh voiced a commitment to bringing inflation down to the Fed’s desired level.
“Persistently high prices are a burden for the American people,” Warsh told reporters in Washington, D.C. “This committee will deliver price stability.”
Futures markets peg the odds of an interest rate hike in September at about 64%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, a measure of investor sentiment.
To be sure, the path forward for interest rates remains highly uncertain. Oil and gasoline prices have eased in recent weeks in response to negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, offering hope of a cooldown of inflation in the absence of rate increases.
On Wednesday, Warsh weighed in on the bullish side of an ongoing debate among policymakers, investors and the general public about the potential impact of AI on the labor market and wider economy.
The technology could create jobs and boost productivity, strengthening the economy of the U.S. and other nations, according to Warsh.
“This is a big paradigm shift both for the conduct of our policy and for our economies,” Warsh said. “I think the jobs will be greater. Prosperity will be stronger.”
Smoke is seen as two major fires burn after a drone and missile attack by Russian forces on July 2, 2026 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
(LVIV, LONDON and NEW YORK) — At least 20 people were killed and dozens of others were injured after Kyiv came under attack from a “massive” barrage of Russian ballistic missiles and drones overnight, Ukrainian officials said, describing multiple explosions across the capital.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv City Military Administration, published an updated death toll on his Telegram channel. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said the attack’s main target was Kyiv. More than 90 people had been injured across the country.
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the attack as “massive.” President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said first responders in the capital were “clearing the rubble, searching for people, and providing assistance.”
“Damage has been reported at more than 20 sites across the city, most of them ordinary residential buildings,” Zelenskyy said. “There was also damage to an ambulance station, a research institute, a hotel, and businesses.”
Moscow targeted Ukraine with more than 70 missiles, nearly half of which were ballistic, along with almost 500 drones in the overnight attack, Zelenskyy said.
Damage has been reported in every district in Kyiv. The worst hit was the Darnytskyi district, where part of a nine-floor apartment building collapsed, leaving people trapped inside, Klitschko. Search and rescue teams are still looking for those thought to be under the rubble, including a 15-year-old girl and her family.
Another air raid alert has been issued in Kyiv right now due to Russian drones.
In Holosiivskyi district, the roof of a multi-story residential building was on fire, Klitschko said. In the Shevchenkivskyi district, in the center of the capital, there was a fire on the roof of a hotel.
During the strikes, the mayor urged residents to stay in shelters. Klitschko said earlier that of the 34 people initially recorded as injured in the strikes, 32 were taken to the hospital; two others were treated on the spot.
The strikes targeting Kyiv came hours after the Ukrainian military struck a large Russian oil refinery in Ufa, and a military complex in the Penza region, Zelenskyy said. The night before, Ukraine also struck a satellite communications center in the Moscow region, Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine’s strikes on Russia came amid a mounting pressure campaign by Kyiv seeking to push Russia to end the war, which in February entered its fifth year.
An analysis from a U.S. think tank published on Wednesday said troop casualties in the war — missing, killed and wounded — had surpassed 2 million, including as many as 600,000 deaths.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in that report that the figures heavily skewed toward Russian losses, with roughly three Russians killed or wounded to every one Ukrainian killed or wounded.
Russian casualties amounted to 1.4 million people, according to the data, including 450,000 who had been killed in the war, the report said. Ukrainian forces have suffered 525,000 to 625,000 casualties, including 125,000 to 150,000 deaths, the study said.
Neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian military releases data detailing their own battlefield casualties.
The report’s authors, drawing on information collected from Western governments, including the U.S., and on open source information, said Russia also lost territory in April and May. Overall, the report’s authors said, 2026 has been counterproductive for the Russian military, and that Moscow may be losing the war.
Offering historical perspective, the report says Russian fatalities in Ukraine are more than four times greater than all U.S. fatalities in all wars combined since World War II, and more than nine times greater than all Soviet and Russian fatalities in all wars combined since World War II.
Russia’s advances in key Ukrainian areas “are among the slowest rates of advance in any war over the last century,” the report stated.
In Kyiv on Thursday, Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chair of Ukraine’s parliament, accused Moscow of using missiles and drones to deliberately target civilians, which turned “an ordinary night in the capital of a European state into a struggle for survival.”
“This crime, like every one before it, must be met not only with condemnation, but with a resolute response: stronger air defence for Ukraine, tougher sanctions against Russia, and inevitable accountability for everyone responsible,” he said on social media.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus who got to the top of the Empire State Building climb down the tower’s spire in New York City, July 1, 2026. (WABC)
(NEW YORK) — A daredevil couple who climbed to the top of the Empire State Building on Wendesday are expected to appear in court Thursday after spending the first night of their purported engagement in separate holding cells.
Angelina Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, Russians with a current address in East Orange, New jersey, were held overnight at at 100 Centre Street, where the Manhattan Criminal Court is located.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was still reviewing the charges and writing the criminal complaint overnight.
Police and Empire State Building security personnel are reviewing surveillance video to determine how the two entered and evaded screening at the observation deck.
Nikolau and Kuznetsov, who have gained an online following for their death-defying skyscraper climbs around the world, stayed on top of the skyscraper for several minutes as cameras rolled on the action before coming down on the spire, the New York Police Department said.
Kuznetsov, who is also known as Ivan Beerkus, appeared to propose to his longtime girlfriend before they were taken into custody.
Both face multiple charges — including burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, violation of a local law, criminal tampering, disorderly conduct and possession of burglar’s tools — according to police.
Security was supposed to have been hardened following previous attempts by trespassers to take selfies near the spire.
Officials said they believe the two may have observed building employees and may have used a worker entrance to get around the screening.
ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
Ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivers an opening statement during the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chair of the Federal Reserve, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Social Security fund will run out of money in as little as six years, a shorter time frame than previously estimated, according to a report released earlier this month by the programs’ trustees.
News of the funding cliff prompted a pair of lawmakers to reach across the aisle and propose a rescue plan in an opinion piece last week for the New York Times.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called for lifting a cap on the amount of annual income subject to the payroll tax that funds Social Security. Currently, the cap stands at $184,500.
In other words, the plan would require individuals making more than $184,500 per year to pay taxes on the entirety of their income, potentially generating trillions in additional funds for the program over the next 10 years.
The proposal could, in theory, help administrators avoid painful solutions for recipients, such as a reduction of Social Security payments.
Legislation reflecting the proposal has not been introduced. In the New York Times, Moreno and Warren said they are “working on legislation.” Spokespeople for Moreno and Warren declined to comment on the status of the measure.
Here’s what to know about a new bipartisan proposal for safeguarding Social Security:
Is Social Security in financial trouble?
Yes, the program faces an ever-tightening budget squeeze over the next handful of years, according to a report this month from the Social Security fund’s trustees.
The Social Security trust fund will run dry in 2032, unless Congress combines the program’s old-age and disability funds, in which case insolvency would arrive in 2034, the report found. A finding last year from the program’s trustees predicted Social Security would become insolvent in 2033 or 2034.
The program generates revenue through a payroll tax paid by employees and employers, setting the income apart from the overall federal budget. Since the early 2010s, however, Social Security has paid more in benefits than it takes in through taxes, shrinking the program’s available funds, according to a study issued by the Urban Institute earlier this year.
The budget shortfall has been exacerbated by a decline in births and a reduction of immigration, resulting in fewer taxpayers at the same time that many Baby Boomers have begun receiving benefits. The One Big Beautiful Bill also removed a tax on Social Security benefits, depleting another source of the program’s revenue.
What is the Social Security reform proposal from Warren and Moreno?
The bipartisan reform proposal would tweak the payroll tax that funds Social Security.
The program is funded by a 12.4% payroll tax, which is evenly split between employers and workers. The tax, however, applies only to a maximum of $184,500 in annual income, meaning any income beyond that amount remains tax free.
The proposal put forward by Warren and Moreno would lift the cap on taxable income, allowing the tax to apply to the entirety of a person’s income even if they make more than $184,500 per year.
“Since the vast majority of Americans make less than that, most people are paying Social Security taxes on 100 percent of their earnings while the highest earners are paying on only part of theirs,” Warren and Moreno said in a co-authored opinion piece in the New York Times.
The elimination of the cap on taxable income would generate about $3.4 trillion in added revenue over the next decade, according to an analysis from the non-partisan Peterson Institute. The policy change would close more than half of the program’s funding gap, the group said.
“With rising prices and artificial intelligence causing economic uncertainty for the future, Social Security must remain a stable foundation to help retirees afford life’s basic necessities,” Warren and Moreno said.
The proposal drew opposition from at least one conservative lawmaker. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, faulted the plan for what he described as a “giant tax increase.”
“We need to secure social security, we need to protect it, we need to make it stronger,” Husted told “The Guy Benson Show” last week. “But I’m not on board with the approach that they’ve outlined.”
What are some alternative reforms for funding Social Security?
As the program’s budget woes have deepened in recent years, elected officials and researchers have proposed a range of solutions. As with any financial shortfall, the fixes either increase revenue or slash expenses.
An alternate means of increasing tax revenue for the program involves ratcheting up the payroll tax by one percentage point from 12.4% to 13.4%, the Peterson Institute said. That move would generate $601 billion in additional revenue over 10 years, closing about a quarter of the program’s funding gap, the group added.
If Congress fails to address the projected budget shortfalls, automatic cuts will dial back Social Security benefits by about 25% in 2032, the Social Security fund’s trustees said earlier this month.
Earlier this month, a bipartisan bill introduced in the House proposed establishing an independent commission composed of 13 members appointed by leaders in Congress and the president. The commission would seek out fixes for the long-term sustainability of the program. The bill, which counts three cosponsors, has been appointed to two House committees for consideration.
As the years pass, the task of reforming Social Security becomes a greater and greater challenge, the Urban Institute said.
“Waiting only makes the changes larger and more difficult,” the group added.
