Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, took over the seat of former Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and showed Sunday he can take over the mantle of being critical within the party.
Curtis called Republicans and Trump "dishonest" for suggesting Social Security would not be touched as Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) audits seek to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of massive government spending, including with entitlements.
"We're not being honest when we look people in the eye and say we're not going to touch it," Curtis told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
"If we don't touch it, it touches itself: You know that, right?"
That latter point picks up on a long-time fiscal conservative warning that Social Security is headed for inevitable insolvency, something DOGE chief Elon Musk rebuked as "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time."
"I wouldn't use those words, but we're not being honest either with people," Curtis admitted to host Kristen Welker, noting he plans "in a couple months introduce a change to Social Security."
If Social Security is not reformed, it will ultimately prove it cannot stand as is, Curtis said, despite Trump and other GOP leaders saying "we're not touching Social Security."
"That's not being honest with the American people, and I think that's one of the things that makes them not trust us, when we say something that they just know is not true," Curtis added.
Curtis said his reforms for Social Security would not take away benefits from those currently entitled but will have to adjust who is entitled down the road.
"Let me look them all in the eye symbolically right now: We don't need to impact the people that are in Social Security, but if we don't have a conversation about my kids, our 20-year-olds, our 30-year-olds, that's where the problem is," Curtis said. "And so we can't be afraid of this conversation simply because people think we're going to take it away from them.
"We all need to say, those in retirement and those near retirement, we're not going to touch it: You're safe.
"But let's have that conversation, because my kids don't think they're going to get it. So why can't we have a conversation with them about moving some of the variables around, and the sooner we do it, the less dramatic it has to be.
"If we don't do it, we have worse decisions thrust upon us."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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