Elon Musk's plan to cut the Social Security Administration's staff by 50% would cause 37,000 more Americans to die each year waiting to receive their disability benefits while the average wait time to collect these benefits would jump to 412 days.
That is beyond unacceptable.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 8, 2025
Elon Musk sparked controversy during a Friday podcast interview with Joe Rogan, where he sharply criticized Social Security, calling the critical elder benefits program a “Ponzi scheme.” Musk, who is one of the world’s richest men and an influential advisor, also described the federal government as “one big pyramid scheme.”
Musk says millions of dead people get Social Security. That's a lie. Here's the truth: 30,000 people die a year waiting for an understaffed Social Security to approve disability benefits. Musk's plan to cut Social Security's staff by 50% will make this tragic reality even worse.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 7, 2025
Musk argued that the U.S. “better fix” its entitlement systems because birth rates have fallen and post-retirement life expectancy has increased. “There are fewer babies being born,” Musk said on the widely popular podcast, “and you have more people who are retired that live for a long time.”
Trump-Musk want to lay off Social Security Administration workers and shutter field offices. That will mean the disruption & denial of benefits, a backdoor cut!
Democrats have a plan to stop them. Our bills will prevent field office closures and block Musk's DOGE from your data. pic.twitter.com/MMtPlKt9UA
— Rep. John Larson (@RepJohnLarson) March 7, 2025
The billionaire’s remarks have sparked concern over whether he aims to dismantle key social safety net benefits, drawing immediate rebukes from Democratic lawmakers. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Musk’s comments show that Republicans are “coming after Social Security and Medicare.
And they aren’t even hiding it.”
“All government spending is taxation… your money is being wasted, and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that.”
Elon Musk
pic.twitter.com/mLcLlrD0Jz— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) March 8, 2025
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addressed the remarks on Sunday during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He argued that any efforts led by Musk to scrutinize Social Security would focus on “fraud, waste and abuse.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also speaking on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” argued that the financial issues surrounding Social Security could end if Congress repealed the tax cap, which currently means U.S. taxpayers only pay Social Security taxes on the first $176,100 of their annual wages. He noted that this allows the ultrawealthy, like Musk, to pay the same amount into the program as someone earning much less.
This discussion has ignited a broader debate over the future of Social Security and other key federal benefits as the nation grapples with demographic shifts and economic challenges. Senate Democratic leaders stood in support of Social Security benefits on Monday following the Social Security Administration’s announcement of plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of “significant workforce reductions.”
“Now we know that something we Senate Democrats have feared for a long time is coming true. Social Security is under attack and at risk,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a Capitol Hill news conference.
Schumer was joined by Senate Finance Committee’s Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
The leaders criticized both the workforce cuts and Elon Musk’s recent characterization of Social Security as a ‘Ponzi scheme.’ “Elon Musk says it’s a Ponzi scheme. The richest man in the world is telling Americans that earned benefits they depend on and have paid into are a scam.
Musk’s criticism of entitlements
They are not a scam. And Americans know it,” Schumer said. Murray responded to questions about the Biden-appointed former Social Security commissioner Martin O’Malley’s recent prediction that a system collapse and an interruption of benefits could occur within the next 30-90 days.
She stated that recent cuts to workforce and offices would be a “disaster.”
Addressing the potential for a government shutdown, Murray suggested that the only person advocating for it was Elon Musk and added that the best way forward would be through a short-term continuing resolution (CR). “In my opinion, the best way to do this is to do a short-term CR. Our committees are capable of getting this done with this short-term CR, and ready to go to work,” she said.
Schumer referenced former President George W. Bush’s proposed cuts to Social Security programs in 2005, likening current plans to work with House members to block any rollbacks to the efforts he led with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. “We got together.
We said we’re going to fight it, and we won. I will tell the American people, we’re getting together, House and Senate Democrats, we’re going to fight it, and guess what? We’re going to prevent the cuts,” Schumer said.
“But we need your help,” he added, urging every recipient or prospective recipient of Social Security to call their congressmen and senators with one simple message: ‘Hands off my Social Security.'”
Republicans, including President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, have insisted that they will not cut Social Security benefits or benefits from other entitlement programs. The debate over the future and sustainability of Social Security continues as lawmakers grapple with the program’s long-term financial challenges.
Photo by; Simon Hurry on Unsplash