Social Security benefits and services are under intense scrutiny for cuts by President Donald Trump and his DOGE chief Elon Musk.
Trump says his focus on entitlement cuts only relates to "fraud, waste, and abuse" and that he will protect the basic benefits program.
But Musk seems to have a wider view as Democrats complain Social Security remains on the GOP's chopping block.
Musk has called Social Security the "biggest Ponzi scheme of all time" and recently said in an interview that "most of the federal spending is entitlements," adding about Social Security, "So that's the big one to eliminate. That's the sort of half trillion, maybe six, 700 billion."
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Trump, during his recent remarks before Congress, said his administration was "identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors and that our seniors and people that we love rely on."
The Trump administration has already taken dramatic steps to reduce the delivery of Social Security benefits to recipients.
The Department of Government Efficiency plans to cut 47 Social Security field offices, many concentrated in the South and across the Southeast. The plan would include the firing of least 7,000 SSA workers.
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According to reports, DOGE is also considering dramatically curtailing the phone services that 73 million retired and disabled Americans rely on to apply for benefits or use for assistance.
The SSA this year will pay out about $1.6 trillion in programs to 72.5 million beneficiaries, including retirees and children who receive retirement and disability benefits.
Democrats and others have been quick to defend Social Security from Trump administration efforts.
Democrat members on the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee wrote a letter to acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek last week saying 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," the letter said.
Former SSA commissioner Martin O'Malley told Rolling Stone this week that Trump administration cuts will result in widespread failures.
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The AARP, the nation's largest senior advocacy organization, has been urging members to call Congress and demand Social Security be protected.
"We've been hearing from thousands of older Americans across the country who are concerned and confused about their Social Security — will their payments come on time? Can they get timely answers to their questions?" Nancy LeaMond, chief advocacy officer for AARP, said in a statement.
But Congressional Republicans are defending Musk's moves.
"Those efforts are epic, breaking more than a century of acquiescence to spending and government," Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., told FedScoop Wednesday. "The Trump team is courageously confronting the problem head on."
The White House said the focus in the Trump administration is to cut out waste and abuse, not reduce program spending in general.
Social Security is one of the largest and most popular social programs but faces a looming bankruptcy date if it is not addressed by Congress.
The May 2024 Social Security and Medicare trustees' report states that Social Security's trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. Then, Social Security would be able to pay only 83% of benefits.
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