Sen. Cassidy on Sovereign Wealth Fund: “Let’s use it to save Social Security!” - Sen. Cassidy; Reuter's
Reacting to President Trump’s executive order creating a sovereign wealth fund within the next year, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) yesterday suggested tying the concept to Social Security reform. Cassidy’s interest in the sovereign wealth fund approach dates back to 2023, when he launched a “Big Idea” to save the financially troubled program from insolvency, a state currently forecasted to be reached in less than eight years. By creating a fund completely separate from Social Security’s trust funds and using investment earnings sufficient to fund the projected revenue shortfall, Cassidy suggests that the revenue and expense equation could be balanced to avert benefit reductions anticipated to occur as early as 2032. The background of his proposal was covered in a website post in 2023, which can be viewed in full here.
As explained in a Reuter’s post by Trevor Hunnicutt and Pete Schroeder, Trump’s order directed the Treasury and Commerce Departments to produce a plan for the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, along with recommendations on “funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure, and a governance model.” The direction is to have the plan submitted within 90 days.
Sen. Cassidy’s statement yesterday described the sovereign wealth fund concept as the creation of a “…new fund—separate from the Social Security Trust Fund—that invests in the growth of the American economy.” Read Cassidy’s full statement here…