April 14 (UPI) — Former U.S. President Joe Biden is slated to make his first public speech since leaving the White House to rally bipartisan support for Social Security amid GOP attacks to the long-existing social-safety net.
Biden will headline Tuesday’s event in Chicago at the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representative for the Disables (ARCD), according to a release.
ARCD President Rachel Buck said the organization was “deeply honored” the former president chose to make his first public appearance at its sold-out conference.
“As bipartisan leaders have long agreed, Americans who retire after paying into social security their whole lives deserve the vital support and caring services they receive,” she said. “As a result, we are thrilled the president will be joining us to discuss how we can work together for a stable and successful future for Social Security.”
It will be Biden’s, 82, first official address since he left the White House in January to his own predecessor President Donald Trump, 78, and who is approaching his 79th birthday in June.
In attendance will be Social Security experts and other leaders such as former Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
“Our focus is on enabling the Social Security Administration to meet claimants’ needs by reducing red tape, strengthening claims processing, and ensuring unnecessary spending is eliminated,” Blunt, 75, wrote in a release.
On his way out of office in early January, Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act to boost benefits for firefighters, teachers, police officers and others in public sector jobs.
ARCD officials noted how ex-presidents traditionally “take time away from the public eye before re-engaging on major policy issues,” but added how in light of “unprecedented” threats facing the the 89-year-old program, Biden chose this “pivotal moment” to re-enter the fray.
“Such progress is of profound importance to these vital programs and the millions of Americans who depend on them,” Blunt, the House Republican Majority leader from 2005-2006, continued.
It comes as Democrats have assailed Trump’s gutting of the federal bureaucracy and spending cuts lawmakers and experts say cannot be done without hitting Social Security programs.
Martin O’Malley, the former Biden-appointed Social Security commissioner from 2023-2024 and now ARCD adviser, echoed Buck, saying they were “honored” that Biden selected ARCD’s 2025 conference to speak to the nation.
“Social Security is an earned benefit — not an entitlement — and it is a core element of America’s promise and purpose to lift people out of poverty,” the former Maryland governor, 62, said in a statement.
In 2023, roughly 67 million Americans, most of whom 65 or older, received Social Security benefits.
Meanwhile, experts say Social Security could be depleted by 2035 with its running cash-flow deficit since 2010.
“As a result, there is widespread concern the progress recently made for Social Security will be tragically reversed,” O’Malley stated.
