House Republicans Silent as Elon Musk and DOGE Reveal Phase One of their Plan to Gut Social Security

Days after Elon Musk declared that Social Security is a “big one to eliminate,” new reporting from the Washington Post reveals his starting point: By turning off the phones so no one can get help.

This attack on Social Security is just the latest of Musk’s actions to steal from everyday Americans while leveraging the federal government as a means to enrich himself. As this massive theft against American taxpayers is happening, House Republicans are cheerleading DOGE every step of the way.

DCCC Spokesperson Viet Shelton:
“Everyone has seen time and time again that House Republicans always bend the knee to President Trump Musk. It’s now crystal clear that DOGE’s next order of business is the dismantling of Social Security. The other thing that’s crystal clear: House Republicans will all fall in line to help them do it, just like they always do.”

Read more from the Washington Post below.

Washington Post: Social Security, facing pressure from DOGE, weighs big cuts to phone service

• Under pressure from the U.S. DOGE Service team…the Social Security Administration is considering dramatically curtailing the phone services that 73 million retired and disabled Americans rely on to apply for and access their earned government benefits, according to two people briefed on internal deliberations and records obtained by The Washington Post.

• Social Security leadership is now considering a proposal to end telephone service for claims processing and direct-deposit bank account transactions…. 

• The change would disrupt Social Security’s internal operations and threaten its ability to serve the public, current and former officials warned, just as DOGE is targeting the agency for across-the-board staff cuts of more than 12 percent. They also noted that the agency’s toll-free number is a mainstay for older customers who do not have online access or who have trouble navigating the internet.

• Social Security handles about 9.5 million claims a year for retirement, survivor and disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income, paying $1.5 trillion in benefits last year.

• Phone claims make up about 40 percent of claims, which can also be filed online or in person at a field office, according to Social Security employees.

• Claims processing is just one of myriad tasks performed by often overburdened employees who answer the toll-free Social Security phone number. They also field questions about benefits, retirement, death benefit forms and other issues, meeting the needs of disabled and elderly populations who sometimes struggle to navigate websites and phone applications.

• Federal data shows the agency received 81.2 million calls to its national toll-free number in 2023, although not all were for claims.

• “It is a 180-degree policy shift,” the employee said. “It would be the single largest service disruption in agency history ever.”

• “I mean, Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” Musk said.

• […]DOGE “wasn’t interested in hearing solutions” and “weren’t interested in anything else but defending the decision that they already made,” the person said.

• The DOGE-driven proposal to shift all claims processing online and to in-person offices has spurred pushback internally, employees said, and from outside experts for the same reasons: that it will likely imperil millions of Americans’ ability to receive their earned benefits. The field office staff is already facing DOGE-directed depletions as the Trump administration moves to cut 7,000 jobs at the Social Security Administration and eliminate numerous field offices.

• “A huge number of Americans do not have access to computers,” said Nancy Altman, who leads the advocacy group Social Security Works. “They have a smartphone or they have low levels of education or English proficiency. You’re talking about people with disabilities. The whole idea of serving the people is to give people a choice.”

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