Don't Be Fooled: Trump and Musk’s War on Social Security Continues

Despite pushback from Democrats in Congress and advocates for seniors, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have sustained their attack on the Social Security Administration (SSA), the agency that administers earned benefits for some 73 million Americans. Trump and Musk claim to be unearthing “fraud.” But don’t be fooled. Their real agenda isn’t about efficiency. It’s about dismantling one of America’s most popular federal programs, piece by piece.

What started as a campaign of misinformation has grown into a reckless operation aimed at destabilizing the SSA. Musk, with an assist from Trump, has spread outlandish lies, claiming massive fraud in Social Security with zero evidence. Take Trump’s ridiculous implication that 360 year-olds might be collecting benefits, or Musk’s claim on X that fraud in federal programs surpasses all private scams combined. These allegations have been thoroughly debunked. In fact, federal audits show improper Social Security payments are below 1% of total benefits paid—hardly “massive.”

Undaunted by thorough fact-checking in the media, Musk declared this week that there is “$700 billion in waste and fraud” within Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. “The waste and fraud in entitlement spending... that’s the big one to eliminate,” Musk said, suggesting cuts of up to $700 billion a year.

Trump and Musk don’t want to improve Social Security; they want to starve and privatize it...

The real danger lies, not only in the rhetoric, but in the actions of Trump, Musk, and their DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). Under DOGE’s influence, SSA leadership has unveiled plans to radically reduce the agency’s workforce (which already is at a 50-year low), is bullying career employees into early retirement, shuttering field offices, and tried to make it more difficult for parents to obtain Social Security numbers for their newborns.

Just this week, according to the Washington Post, the Trump administration is considering “dramatically curtailing” customer service on the agency’s 1-800 phone line. Under this new policy, elderly and disabled people would be re-directed to the internet and a shrinking number of SSA field offices for “claims processing and direct-deposit bank transactions.” This is another sign of the administration’s callous disregard for beneficiaries, especially those who rely on telephone assistance and may not be able to access services online or in person.

The Trump administration’s latest policy reversal perfectly encapsulates the cruelty of their approach. While former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley worked to mitigate the financial pain inflicted on beneficiaries who receive overpayment notices, Trump’s SSA has reverted to withholding 100% of beneficiaries’ monthly benefits as a default until overpayments are fully repaid. We have called this policy petty and cruel, especially because overpayments are usually due to errors on the agency’s part.

Trump and Musk’s actions are undermining customer service for Social Security beneficiaries. Wait times on the agency’s 1-800 phone line are increasing, while the availability of appointments at SSA field offices are becoming sparser. More people will die awaiting adjudication of disability claims. Basic services that seniors, disabled individuals, and families rely on could grind to a halt. This is a deliberate effort to undermine public confidence and make Social Security a scapegoat for some imagined inefficiency.

As part of their takeover at SSA, Musk and his DOGE team have been given unprecedented access to Americans’ sensitive personal data, including Social Security numbers, financial information, and medical records. Former SSA officials have sounded the alarm. Tiffany Flick, a long-serving SSA leader, resigned in protest after DOGE demanded access to secure databases without following proper protocols. Her warning in a court affidavit says it all: “This isn’t about reform or fraud prevention. It’s about dismantling the SSA’s ability to fulfill its mission.”

Anyone who shares our grave concern for Social Security should contact their elected representatives and the White House. Tell them Musk, Trump, and DOGE must stop interfering in the Social Security Administration.

And why? Musk himself tipped his hand, blasting Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” and emphasizing the “need to rethink entitlements altogether.” Trump has been equally dismissive, calling Social Security a “scam” and proposing changes that would expedite the depletion of the Social Security trust fund.

Trump and Musk don’t want to improve Social Security; they want to starve and privatize it, despite Trump’s hollow promises “not to touch” the program. His and Musk’s fingerprints are all over it now. Even the hand-picked acting commissioner, Leland Dudek, seems to question the wisdom of the administration’s intervention. Pro Publica reports that Dudek said in a meeting with advocates, “I’ve had to make some tough choices, choices I didn’t agree with, but the president wanted it and I did it.”

The American people will not stand for this. Social Security is not just a government program. It’s a promise made to every hardworking American who has paid into the system so they can retire with dignity or receive benefits if faced with disability or the death of a family breadwinner. The program should not be a political target for billionaires like Elon Musk—who have no understanding or respect for its role in our society, nearly 90 years strong.

Anyone who shares our grave concern for Social Security should contact their elected representatives and the White House. Tell them Musk, Trump, and DOGE must stop interfering in the Social Security Administration. Make phone calls. Send emails. Attend town halls. Demand that they defend the right of every American to access these benefits. If there ever was a time to raise our voices, it’s now.