Press Releases

Following Elon Musk’s targeting of Social Security, Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA), along with every Ways and Means Democrat, warned Acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Dudek that the American people are watching their earned benefits and won’t stand for cuts in any form, whether they be actual cuts to benefits or backdoor cuts through staffing reductions and office closures.

“Social Security has been the bedrock of financial security ever since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law nearly 90 years ago,” Ways and Means Democrats emphasized. “Today, almost all workers contribute to Social Security and earn its benefits, and nearly one in 3 households include at least one person who receives Social Security.

The lawmakers continued: “Yet for years, Republicans have been gunning for Social Security to weaken its brand, slash benefits, and move toward privatizing. Now, President Trump is spreading widely discredited lies about the program and its integrity; Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is calling Social Security a 'Ponzi scheme'; and on your watch, the Trump Administration is taking a wrecking ball to SSA. Undermining SSA’s ability to serve the public is the next step in a calculated effort to dismantle trust in Social Security and open the door to privatization — an outcome that benefits Wall Street, not working families.

“Make no mistake: if unchecked, the Trump Administration’s actions will devastate the ability of an already-overstretched SSA to serve the public and deliver Social Security payments, resulting in a de facto back-door benefit cut to the American people. House Democrats are fighting to keep SSA offices open and to block Elon Musk and his cronies from accessing SSA’s databases.” In conclusion, the members wrote: “We urge you to resist Elon Musk’s ongoing attacks on Social Security, and to halt any plans to lay off SSA employees and shutter field or hearing offices.”

Read the full letter HERE.