AL.com reports that Alabama, a deep-red state, is among the poorer states that could be hit hard by the White House inaction that followed the last election.

“Barring action from Congress, millions of Americans who depend on Social Security could see their benefits cut by as much as 24 percent in 2032,” AL.com reported. “The deep cuts would average about $500 a month.”

According to AL.com, one in five Americans — 63 million people in total — would lose monthly income if Social Security’s retirement program were cut by 24 percent today. In Alabama, the average cut would be $486. Those numbers reflect the program’s central role in retirement budgets: the average Social Security retirement benefit is roughly $2,000 a month, and the program provides the majority of income for a large share of older Americans, so a 24 percent reduction against a benefit of that size lands near the $500 mark.

AL.com also reported that total benefit cuts would exceed 1 percent of gross domestic product in 40 states, with the largest economic impact concentrated in red states including Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, South Carolina and West Virginia, among others.

“The latest projections from the Social Security Board of Trustees show that the reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund are set to run out in the fourth quarter of 2032. After that point, Social Security would only be able to pay 76 percent of promised benefits,” AL.com reported.

That 76 percent figure reflects how the program is financed: once reserves are exhausted, Social Security can pay out only what incoming payroll tax revenue supports. The trustees update their projections each year, and Congress has closed comparable gaps before. When the trust fund faced depletion in the early 1980s, the bipartisan 1983 amendments — developed after a commission review — raised payroll taxes, subjected a portion of benefits to income tax and gradually lifted the retirement age. The 2032 date leaves several congressional terms before any reductions would begin.

Separately, the Christian Science Monitor reported that the Big Beautiful Bill passed by Trump and Republicans could produce more immediate consequences from a different direction. The measure, formally the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was signed into law on July 4, 2025.

“At the time of the OBBBA’s passage, it faced widespread criticism from Democrats. A July 2025 Quinnipiac poll found that 44 percent of Americans thought the bill would hurt rather than help them personally. The same month, longtime GOP strategist Karl Rove predicted on Fox News that the bill could pose problems for his party in the next round of elections,” the outlet reported.

“I think it'll have a huge impact on 2026, because, remember, as these changes, particularly the Medicaid changes, come into effect, they’re going to have, people are going to be losing their coverage,” Rove said.

The Christian Science Monitor also reported that voters have not embraced the tax-cut argument Republicans and Trump promoted during the bill’s passage.

“In a separate survey by Winning the Issues, part of the GOP-aligned Winston Group, almost half of U.S. voters did not think the bill prevented a tax increase on them and their families. That was a key part of Republican messaging as they campaigned to pass the bill last year,” the outlet reported.

“We’ve seen some Republicans run ads calling this essentially a tax cut, but that’s not how people feel,” said Julie Alderman Boudreau, director of research at left-leaning Navigator Research. “This [bill] is a huge liability ... for any Republican on the ballot in 2026.”