One doubts that new reports about making Americans showing up by the tens of thosands at their l;ocal Socila Security offices is REALLY gonna happen….
One doubts that there will be BIG job cuts for that agency are gonna happen either….
Social Security IS one thing that Americans DO tend to come out and vote FOR if someone messes with their money….
Senate Republicans want Elon Musk to stop talking about Social Security, and the Department of Government Efficiency to leave it alone.
Musk’s statement that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme,” and his plans to cut up to 12 percent of the Social Security Administration’s workforce, are giving GOP lawmakers heartburn.
They warn that Social Security reform is known as the “third rail” of politics for a reason: Any party that touches it is likely to get zapped come Election Day.
And Republicans fear that reductions in staff and field offices will boomerang on them, predicting constituents will grow frustrated if it becomes more difficult and time-consuming to address problems related to benefit claims.
“It doesn’t help the president when you have somebody who clearly is not worried about whether or not Social Security benefits are going to be there for him” leading the effort to shrink the Social Security Administration, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), referring to Musk, the world’s richest person.
“It worries Americans all over the country,” she said of people who rely on Social Security benefits to live day to day. “This is why Social Security has been kind of viewed as the untouchable from a political perspective, and why the president made very clear we’re not dealing with Social Security.”…
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Several other Republican senators said Musk should stop talking about Social Security and steer his budget-cutting team at DOGE in a different direction.
“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,” said a Republican senator who requested anonymity to voice frustration about Musk’s rhetoric on Social Security.
The senator said it would be OK to talk about cracking down on fraud in the system but warned “when you start making it sound like you’re questioning the foundation of the Social Security system, that’s not helpful.”..
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“The ironies of a person of such immense wealth targeting a program that provides a modest benefit to ordinary people as the worst possible aura about it,” he said….
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The latest belt-tightening move was announced Tuesday, when Leland Dudek, the Social Security Administration acting commissioner, announced the agency will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit field offices personally instead of calling in to resolve issues over the phone.
In addition, dozens of Social Security Administration field offices across the country are scheduled to close as part of a broader effort by DOGE to shrink the federal government’s footprint….
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A second Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on Musk’s focus on Social Security said DOGE should stay away from the programs, warning that cutting staff and field offices will likely impact beneficiaries, including thousands of seniors, across the country.
“This Congress — Republicans and Democrats — is not going to modify Social Security, it’s not going away. 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,” the lawmaker said. “It’s part of our country and society, here to stay.”….
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