Overview

• ‘Trump Accounts’ are part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and would create federally funded retirement savings accounts seeded with $1,000 for newborns.
• Bessent argued those private accounts could spur public pressure to replace guaranteed Social Security benefits with market-based investments.
• The White House swiftly rejected any intent to privatize Social Security following Bessent’s characterization.
• Recent mass layoffs at the Social Security Administration, overseen by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have raised fears of benefit delays and reduced service capacity.
• Observers trace the move to a decades-long GOP push to reshape Social Security, from Reagan’s 1964 critiques to President Bush’s 2005 privatization proposal.