Mike Rogers says GOP law eliminates Social Security taxes. It doesn’t.

Former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers says the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will eliminate Social Security taxes, but this is a mischaracterization of what the law actually does.

Rogers served in Congress from 1995 to 2015. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2024 and plans to run again next year.

“President Trump and Republicans just delivered a monumental victory for hard working families across the country–including eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security,” Rogers said in a July 3 statement celebrating the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s passage.

Rogers repeated this claim in a July 10 radio interview on the Justin Barclay Show.

“It took care of working people,” Rogers said of the law. “No tax on tips and no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. I mean, these are really important things that are going to impact Michiganders right around their kitchen table.”

Currently, Social Security benefits are taxed based on a person’s total income. The law doesn’t eliminate these taxes, but it does add new deductions for seniors: $6,000 for individuals and $12,000 for couples. The full deduction is available to those earning up to $75,000 or $150,000, and gradually phases out at higher income levels.

These deductions are temporary and set to expire at the end of 2028.

In a July 3 press statement, the Social Security Administration (SSA) echoed Rogers’ claim, saying the law would eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits for 90% of recipients. But Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told CNBC that this “is simply not correct.”

“The people who benefit the most, we estimate, are people who made between $50,000 and $200,000,” Gleckman said. He added that these individuals will see fewer taxes, not zero taxes.

The law also cuts payroll taxes, which are the primary funding mechanism for Social Security. Gleckman says these cuts could jeopardize the long-term solvency of the program.

Other programs that seniors depend on are also threatened by the law. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 11.8 million Americans will lose Medicaid under the legislation, and 3.2 million will lose SNAP benefits.

About 9.4 million seniors are enrolled in Medicaid, and 4.8 million receive SNAP.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, one of the Democrats running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, put out a statement that sounded markedly different from Rogers’.

“Here in Michigan, hundreds of thousands will lose health care,” McMorrow said. “Rural hospitals may close. Nursing homes may close. Farmers, grocery stores will be devastated by cuts to SNAP.”

The Cook Political Report, which evaluates the competitiveness of federal elections, currently ranks Michigan’s 2026 U.S. Senate race as a “toss-up.”