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Elon Musk has a dodgy plan to gut Social Security and please billionaires | Opinion
EJ Montini, Arizona Republic – March 27, 2025
America’s co-president Elon Musk has referred to Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
The leader of the Department of Government Efficiency told Fox Business, “Most of the federal spending is entitlements. That’s the big one to eliminate.”
Musk and his helper Donald Trump want to gut the system. After all, billionaires have no need for Social Security.
However, they know that if they tried a direct approach and simply slashed Social Security benefits, even their most ardent sycophants in Congress would balk, knowing they’d be booted from office in the next election.
DOGE cuts make it tough to access Social Security benefits
Instead of drastically cutting benefits, the plan seemingly is to make it more and more difficult for people who have earned those benefits to get them.Advertisement
That’s why Musk and his DOGE bros want to cut thousands of jobs from Social Security’s workforce, close regional offices and limit phone service by “requiring recipients to show up in person to verify certain changes to their accounts,” according to The Washington Post.
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As a result, The Post reported, “the Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days this month because the servers were overloaded, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts.”
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., succinctly outlined the plot to gut Social Security at a hearing in Washington, D.C.
Not just retirees rely on Social Security
She said, “DOGE is considering slashing up to 50% of the Social Security Administration’s workforce. That means longer lines, more errors, and for everyone who gives up or who dies before they get their benefits sorted out, those delays and errors also turn into benefit cuts.”
Warren added, “The law is to deliver the benefits that people are legally entitled to. If you don’t have the staff. If you don’t answer the phones. If you don’t fix the mistakes. People don’t get what they’re legally entitled to.”
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The list of people who will be most at risk includes retirees, of course. But also individuals with disabilities, patients in hospitals, people who live in remote areas, even children, many living in foster homes.
It goes on.
Long lines, confusion and delay hurt us all
Already, legitimate Social Security recipients are feeling it. Very long wait times for callers. Confusion. Uncertainty.Advertisement
Delays in receiving Social Security benefits can be catastrophic for some recipients. Many people rely on the money to help take care of their most basic needs.
A survey published in January found that, without their benefits, 42% of Americans 65 and older reported, “I would not be able to afford the basics, such as food, clothing, or housing.”
Former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley said recently at a briefing, “I can tell you that democracy is waking up to this very, very real threat that they are coming for Social Security.”
Coming?
I believe they’re already here.