Social Security faces a funding shortfall, meaning the program is projected to pay out more than it takes in, and former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says everyone running for office this November must keep every option on the table as they prepare for the work ahead. The next U.S. president and this year's Senate candidates will be the ones tasked with addressing that shortfall when they take office.
In plain terms, a funding shortfall is the gap between what a program collects and what it owes. For Social Security, that gap is the central question, and the coming elections will determine who has to answer it.
Lew's call was for flexibility. Keeping options open, as he framed it, means arriving at any negotiation without having already closed off categories of solutions. He did not prescribe a specific fix.
Both the presidency and Senate seats are on the ballot this November. The president sets the legislative agenda. The Senate determines what can pass. Whoever voters choose for those positions will carry direct authority over how the shortfall gets handled.
Lew was speaking to candidates who are still campaigning, and his message was framed as a warning against arriving in office with options already narrowed before the real work begins.