Elon Musk Criticized for Entitlement Remarks Amid Social Security Overhaul

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, has gone to work on Social Security, and Democrats are not happy.

As DOGE has started the process of finding “waste, fraud, and abuse,” within the Social Security system, Democrats are calling out Musk’s comments on entitlements and warning that the American public won’t tolerate benefit cuts from this Administration. 

Here’s what DOGE is doing, what Musk has said, and why there’s so much backlash if the team truly is just fighting “fraud and abuse,” as they claim. 

What is DOGE doing with Social Security?

ProPublica recently took a close look at the reforms going on in the Social Security Administration.

As ProPublica pointed out, DOGE has been far more cautious in making changes to Social Security in large part because President Trump has very clearly promised there will be no cuts to benefits. In fact, at a recent press conference, when asked if there were any programs or agencies that were untouchable by DOGE, Trump said “Social Security will not be touched.”

Musk and his team are making some changes, though. Specifically, they initially closed 10 local offices, eliminated 41 jobs, and brought in their own people to take top positions within the agency. They also elevated a DOGE-supporting low-level official named Leland Dudek to serve as Acting Commissioner of the agency, and Dudek has spoken of a plan to outsource Social Security’s customer service work.

Some Social Security workers also fear being ordered back to in-person work at the same time as their local office closes, which could force them to leave their positions even without being laid off. They believe Musk and his crew may be trying to coerce them to quit so it doesn’t look like they fired a bunch of Social Security workers. 

Finally, DOGE claims to be eliminating “dead people” from the list of beneficiaries who receive a check, and they’ve cited records showing benefits being paid to people who would be over 100 years old — if they were actually still living. However, some argue these are not dead people but rather computer errors in which birthdays were not entered properly. 

Why is Musk being criticized for his Social Security comments?

Many lawmakers on the left have expressed outrage at the “reforms” happening within the agency. Democratic leaders have also complained that Musk is making negative and unfair comments about the nature of the Social Security benefits program. 

Specifically, Musk has been called out for calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme, as well as for claiming Social Security is participating in entitlement fraud by enticing immigrants to come to the U.S. to collect benefits — and to vote for Democrats when they do. 

“Entitlements fraud for illegal aliens is what is serving as a gigantic magnetic force to pull people in from all around the world and keep them here,” Musk said to Joe Rogan on his Podcast, although experts have pushed back and said the reverse is actually true and immigrants have paid in millions into Social Security when working in the U.S., despite not being able to actually collect benefits they paid in for when they reach retirement age. 

Democrats criticize Musk for  Social Security comments and actions

Democrats have had a lot to say about Musk’s comments and actions, including Democratic Representative John Larson who said at a House Ways and Means Hearing about Musk that “He’s been on television the last couple of days talking exactly about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and what he intends to do privatizing.” Larson  was furious Musk did not show up to the hearing. 

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer also spoke forcefully against Musk’s allegations of fraud and abuse, saying, “The richest man on earth repeated again a bevy of lies that entitlement programs, [which] tens of millions of people rely on, are riddled with fraud and abuse. That’s a pretext to slashing them. But it’s false.”

It remains up for debate whether Musk’s actions and criticisms are indeed a warning shot that  Social Security could be on the chopping block. If Musk and DOGE do move forward with attempts at a benefit cuts, though, it would be a violation of one of Trump’s most fundamental and often-repeated campaign promises, so it seems unlikely that President Trump would get on board with nefarious plans to slash the benefits he vowed to protect. 

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