SEN ELIZABETH WARREN: Social Security is under attack. Gutting it is a broken promise

Gutting Social Security isn’t "efficient" — it’s a breached promise. Democrats and Republicans should basal up and combat backmost to support it.

Social Security is not charity. Americans wage in, paycheck aft paycheck, implicit a beingness of hard work. When they get older, they get that wealth backmost to assistance them retire. That’s the iron-clad, take-it-to-the-bank committedness that America makes to workers.

But close now, Social Security is nether onslaught similar it has ne'er been before. Billionaire Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said seniors won’t kick if they miss a Social Security check. Elon Musk called Social Security the "world’s biggest Ponzi scheme." Musk past sent his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to gut the bureau by indiscriminately firing workers, closing down offices, and trying to chopped telephone services.

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What does it mean to slash unit and services with nary rhyme oregon reason? Two things: much mistakes successful delivering checks to Americans, and less workers to hole those mistakes. And erstwhile radical don’t get their checks, that’s a chopped to the benefits they person earned.

Mistakes are already showing up. After DOGE got its hands connected Social Security, Ned, a retiree from Washington state, was marked "dead" successful the Social Security strategy — contempt being precise overmuch alive. He had $5,000 successful benefits snatched close retired of his slope relationship (paid portion helium was "dead") and his monthly checks ceased. Ned spent weeks trying to hole the mistake and inactive hasn’t gotten paid backmost for 2 months of missing checks.

Or instrumentality Tom and Chris from Westborough, Massachusetts, whose lad has autism. For years, disablement benefits done Social Security person helped wage for his care. And for years, those benefits person travel done connected time, without fail. But erstwhile they checked their son’s Social Security relationship recently, his benefits had been terminated. No mentation — conscionable stopped. The wealth yet came through, but it led to panic implicit however they would wage the bills.

And portion radical aren’t getting their checks, determination are less Social Security workers to assistance hole problems. Slashing unit and shutting down determination offices means Americans are forced to thrust hours to get assistance with their applications oregon missing benefits. Once they get to an office, the lines tin beryllium retired the door. They hold hours earlier they tin get assistance — if they get assistance astatine all.

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Elon Musk and DOGE assertion the crushed they’re hacking distant astatine people’s Social Security is to chopped down connected "extreme levels of fraud," saying tens of millions of dormant radical implicit the property of 100 are getting payments. But adjacent existent Social Security Acting Administrator Leland Dudek — enactment successful spot by Donald Trump successful February — contradicts that claim.

Here’s the thing: if Elon Musk and DOGE genuinely privation to chopped waste, fraud, and maltreatment successful the national government, determination are casual ways to bash it. I gave them 30 suggestions that would chopped $2 trillion successful authorities waste. Gutting the Social Security Administration truthful that it works worse for our seniors, veterans, and Americans with disabilities is not 1 of those ways.

Social Security shouldn’t beryllium a partisan issue. It was archetypal created by a astir unanimous ballot by members of Congress from some parties. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)

But don’t conscionable instrumentality it from me. President George W. Bush’s Social Security Administration Commissioner said that if Elon Musk and DOGE wanted to marque changes to summation ratio astatine the agency, they could, "but we're doing it the mode that 22-year-old frat boys that person ne'er seen the strategy deliberation is simply a bully idea, and that's a mistake."

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Musk himself said he’ll marque mistakes, and it’s wide that coming for Social Security is simply a elephantine one. If he’s truly honorable capable to admit his ain mistakes, wherefore doesn’t helium reverse course? Instead of recognizing that DOGE’s Social Security takeover is lone hurting Americans, he’s doubling down, adjacent encouraging President Trump to marque the aforesaid mendacious claims. President George W. Bush’s Social Security Commissioner called it "a existent disservice to President Trump." More importantly, it’s a heavy disservice to the American people.

Musk himself said he’ll marque mistakes, and it’s wide that coming for Social Security is simply a elephantine one. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

We shouldn’t beryllium cutting Social Security services and threatening Americans’ benefits — we should beryllium making the programme stronger. People are struggling with sky-high prices portion their status savings are evaporating. We request a impermanent summation successful benefits close present to springiness radical immoderate relief. We should besides support the semipermanent information of the strategy by lifting the headdress connected the magnitude millionaires and billionaires wage into Social Security, which would besides output capable wealth to permanently grow benefits.

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Social Security shouldn’t beryllium a partisan issue. It was archetypal created by a astir unanimous ballot by members of Congress from some parties. Even now, arsenic gutting the bureau has go a cardinal portion of the administration’s agenda, Republicans cognize that DOGE’s "efficiency" ngo isn’t working. They’re seeing reports of agelong lines astatine offices, agelong waits connected the phone, and website crashes from their ain constituents successful places similar Arizona, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. So wherever are they? Why are Democrats the lone ones acrophobic astir what happens with Social Security?

Social Security isn’t thing we springiness distant retired of the goodness of our hearts. It’s thing Americans earned implicit a beingness of hard enactment — an ironclad declaration that they tin number on. Now, Donald Trump, Musk, and DOGE are trying to skip retired connected that declaration and calling it "efficient." But it isn’t ratio — it’s a breached committedness to the American people, and Democrats and Republicans alike should basal up and combat back.

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