Asiye Latife Yilmaz
04 March 2025•Update: 04 March 2025
ISTANBUL
US Senate Democratic leaders have criticized a plan for a major restructuring of the Social Security Administration which includes significant staff 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 told a Monday news conference.
Sen. Ron Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, also criticized Elon Musk and his unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, a controversial team which has ordered mass layoffs and shutting down entire agencies, suggesting their actions against Social Security are a "first step on the path to privatizing Social Security."
Other senators also condemned Musk’s recent remark, calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” with Schumer responding: “Elon Musk says it's a Ponzi scheme. The richest man in the world is telling Americans that the earned benefits they depend on and paid into are a scam. They are not a scam.”
Asked if Democrats would block the cuts in exchange for supporting a temporary funding bill to keep the government open, as it is due to run out of money this Friday, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray said they “are looking at a number of different" things for a funding deal.
She also called the workforce and office cuts a "disaster," warning that firing many workers and closing offices would disrupt essential tasks like issuing payments. Many government workers have also called the cuts reckless and damaging to critical government services.
Additionally, acting Social Security chief Lee Dudek announced a $800 million budget cut Monday for the current fiscal year.
Elon Musk and his cost-cutting team, alongside President Donald Trump’s administration, are pushing to reduce "wasteful spending" in the federal government, with Trump pushing for mass firings of thousands of federal workers to cut costs.
