Sarah Brainerd was a Democratic senator who was the ranking member on the Finance Committee. Toby Ziegler approached her about working with Republican Senator Steve Gaines about Social Security Reform.
She backed out after Grey Polk of the Wall Street Journal reported on Toby's backroom dealings and Gaines dropped out. Toby said he could get Gaines back onboard, but though Gaines was willing to scale back on private accounts, Brainerd refused to consider raising the minimum age of retirement because she thought it was unjust to physical laborers. She said they could fix Social Security when the Democrats controlled the Senate.