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Billionaire Elon Musk’s repeated attacks on Social Security are reportedly causing disquiet among Republicans, who fear any cuts to the welfare service by his Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, will lead to disruption and inspire an angry backlash from their constituents.
DOGE is working to streamline the federal bureaucracy on behalf of President Donald Trump, and Musk has pledged to cut the Social Security Administration’s workforce by 12 percent as part of that mission, also assigning at least 10 staffers to comb through a huge database of citizens’ personal information in pursuit of fraudulent claimants.
“Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” he declared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast earlier this month, insisting that scam claims are rife and that checks are routinely sent out to millions of long-dead Americans.
This week, during another guest spot on Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s podcast, Musk claimed, without evidence, that entitlement fraud is common among undocumented immigrants in particular and is being encouraged by Democrats to secure their votes, a pronouncement that followed his suggestion to Larry Kudlow on Fox Business that slashing waste from such programs could save taxpayers as much as $500bn to $700bn a year.
Now, according to The Hill, Republican senators are expressing unease over his rhetoric, warning that Social Security reform is considered a “third rail” on Capitol Hill, meaning an issue that is sure to zap the party that tampers with it once Election Day rolls around.
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Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, for one, has blasted Musk for targeting a service he clearly has no experience of using, given his vast personal wealth.
“It worries Americans all over the country,” she said of the prospect of cuts being made to benefits that millions of Americans rely on.
“This is why Social Security has been kind of viewed as the untouchable from a political perspective and why the president made it very clear we’re not dealing with Social Security.”
Murkowski added that Musk’s “Ponzi scheme” sneer “doesn’t do anything to calm the anxiety of people who are already anxious about what’s going on with some of the safety-net programs.”
A second Republican senator quoted by The Hill said of the DOGE leader: “He should zip it on that. It’s not helpful.
“It plays right into Democrats’ hands; they want to talk about Social Security cuts, Medicare cuts, Medicaid cuts. We don’t.
“The president does not want to talk about that. He’s against all those things.”
A third added: “I guess Elon Musk is talking for Elon Musk, because he’s not talking for people in the Congress who have something to do with the future of Social Security.
“It’s part of our country and society, here to stay.”
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Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has already capitalized on Musk’s brash comments.
“Elon Musk is saying it plainly: Republicans’ big goal is to ‘eliminate,’ his words, Social Security and Medicare benefits,” Schumer said on the Senate floor last week.
“Are Senate Republicans fine with the terrible things Elon Musk and DOGE are doing to Social Security? Do they agree with Mr Musk that it’s one giant scam?”
The White House has been forced to respond by downplaying Musk’s statements, saying emphatically: “The Trump administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits.”
In a further undermining of his ambitions, the tech boss has been forced to U-turn on his plans to eradicate a phone line used by millions of people to make claims, which DOGE insisted was being exploited by fraudsters, after it was met with a public outcry.
Had the line been removed, it would have forced elderly Americans and those with disabilities to rely only on the internet and in-person appointments.
“Going after 90-year-old grandmas who can’t drive and don’t have a computer? That’s just low,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded on Musk’s own X platform.
The tycoon’s decision to throw in with Trump in the middle of last year’s presidential campaign has caused upheaval ever since, with the billionaire’s Tesla electric car brand increasingly being targeted by vandals and arsonists and its stock price sinking as his personal popularity wanes in reaction to DOGE’s actions, which many have complained has meant federal jobs and vital programs being scrapped in a chaotic, reckless and callous fashion.
The president’s decision to outsource such power to an unelected official is also causing Republicans to face angry scenes at community town halls, with voters making their unhappiness abundantly clear.
