Mar 05, 2025
By Shauneen Miranda – States Newsroom D.C. Bureau
WASHINGTON D.C. — Democrats on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee pushed back Wednesday over what they see as attacks by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on Social Security benefits.
Under the Trump administration, the Social Security Administration has already witnessed major restructuring, significant staffing cuts and office reductions, which have sparked concerns from Democrats, as more than 73 million Americans rely on those monthly payments.
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump spent a portion of his Tuesday address to a joint session of Congress alleging “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud” within the Social Security program.
He suggested that “government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old.”
“Money is being paid to many of them, and we’re searching right now,” Trump added, later noting that someone in the system is listed at age 360.
But these claims have been debunked, and Lee Dudek, Trump’s own acting commissioner for the Social Security Administration, clarified in February that “the reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record” and “these individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits.”
Office closures
At a Wednesday press conference at the Capitol, Rep. John Larson, ranking member of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, unveiled three measures he and colleagues introduced in the House in response to actions by Trump and Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service.
One bill aims to prevent the closure of the Social Security Administration’s field and hearing offices and resident stations.
Another measure surrounds attempts by the DOGE Service to access Social Security data, and would amend Title XI of the Social Security Act so that “political appointees and special governments may not access beneficiary data systems.”
Larson, of Connecticut, is also leading Democrats on the House Ways and Means panel in a resolution of inquiry that asks Trump to provide certain information regarding the Social Security Administration’s operations and DOGE’s access.
Musk calls Social Security a ‘Ponzi scheme’
Musk has also described Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” The Securities and Exchange Commission defines a Ponzi scheme as “an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new investors.”
“There’s something really cruel about the richest man in the world calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme,” said Rep. Richard Neal, ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, at the press conference.
“Social Security, in terms of efficiency — 99.8% of the benefits are paid on time to the correct people,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.
“For the president last night to imply that somebody 300 years old was getting a Social Security benefit, that’s reckless — it also subtracts from the credibility the American people depend upon with Social Security,” he said.
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