As Elon Musk prepares for his first unofficial role in President-elect Donald Trump's administration, his position on Social Security benefits is under scrutiny.
As the nation's largest entitlement program, Social Security provides benefits to more than 70 million retirees, survivors, and people with disabilities each month. However, with a change of government on the horizon, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its programs may change.
Under the incoming Trump administration, the Tesla and X owners have been named co-heads of a new advisory body, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). An unofficial government department would be tasked with advising on streamlining costs and cutting regulations, and President Trump could implement changes through executive action.
Musk has not personally advocated reforming or cutting Social Security, but other Republicans have done so, contrary to President Trump's campaign promise not to reduce entitlements. Social Security is the single largest mandated expenditure for the U.S. government, totaling $1.4 trillion in 2023, but could factor into Musk's $2 trillion cost-cutting plan in 2025. There is sex.
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What did Mr. Musk say about Social Security?
Musk has not commented directly on Social Security, but he has hinted recently that he is interested in Republican ideas on government programs.
Last week, Musk reposted an X thread written by Utah Sen. Mike Lee. According to Lee, the 24-post thread details how Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme starved of new investors” and “government dependence at its worst.” .
Mr. Lee advocated reform of the system, saying it does not give Americans an adequate return on the “investments” paid in the form of taxes deposited into the Social Security Trust Fund.
“Social Security shows pitiful profits compared to the market average. This is not even an investment, it's a tax,'' he wrote, calling for “real, genuine reform.''
“In Social Security, Americans should be able to invest in their future and not be tied down to the worst parts of this outdated and mismanaged system.”
“Interesting thread,” Musk wrote in the post, which has received more than 5,500 responses and more than 36 million views.
His comments, which expanded on Lee's views, angered Social Security advocates.
“This is a declaration of war on seniors, people with disabilities, and the American people,” Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, said in a statement. “We've seen this play out over and over again. When Republicans gutted defined benefit pension plans, they argued that the market could generate incredible profits for everyone. In the end, workers get pennies and Wall Street executives get billions of dollars. It's business as usual.''
“We will defeat Republican efforts to steal our gains. The money belongs to us, to Mike Leigh, to Elon Musk, to Donald Trump. You don't get a penny.”
Max Lichtman, president and CEO of the National Committee for the Maintenance of Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), said Lee's post was “propaganda” for cutting Social Security, calling it “historical and It was a “misrepresentation'' of the “mechanism.''
“This is an indication of where President Trump's MAGA allies in Congress are headed, toward privatization and benefit cuts, but this is bipartisan,” he told Common Dreams. “This is something that the majority of Americans do not want.”
In a new interview with Axios, Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will co-lead DOGE, said the new department would look for opportunities to reduce waste and fraud within Social Security and Medicare, but that “policy “Therefore, large-scale, widespread reductions are difficult to imagine.” A decision that belongs to the voters and their representatives in parliament.
“His comments reflect a reality that some in the new administration who seek to cut the federal budget in the name of efficiency must accept,” said Alex Bean, a financial literacy lecturer at the University of Tennessee at Martin. I think so.'' said newsweek.
“Programs such as Social Security and Medicare are extremely popular with Americans, and maintaining a sense of confidence among those who have paid into these funds for years with the promise of retirement security requires It is critical that we continue to adequately fund those programs.”
