Elon Musk Has Some People Worried About The Status Of Social Security In 2025
Elon Musk was a key figure in the successful 2024 re-election campaign of Donald Trump. However, now that Trump has definitively secured the White House, Musk has been tasked, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, with running the "Department of Government Efficiency," otherwise known as D.O.G.E. — a clever play on his favorite meme-coin, Dogecoin. This unofficial government agency has been tasked with airing out the federal government's excessive, ineficient spending. The ultimate goal is to bring transparency to the American public about what exactly their tax dollars are being used for, as well as hopefully save them some money in the process.
While D.O.G.E. has largely gathered a positive response from the American public, even receiving praise from Democrats like Bernie Sanders, some have raised concerns about how this newfound agency may handle things like Social Security. With that being said, let's take a look at the facts to find out what exactly Elon Musk plans to do about the status of Social Security in 2025 and beyond.
What is the Department of Government Efficiency?
Before we get into the details as to why people are worried about the fate of Social Security under D.O.G.E., let's first lay down the groundwork for what The Department of Government Efficiency actually is. For starters, The Department of Government Efficiency will not actually be an official government agency. Instead it will act as an advisory party of sorts to help the Trump Administration handle things regarding budgeting and rooting out wasteful government spending.
This being the case, the scope of what D.O.G.E. can actually do is somewhat limited. As of what we know right now, D.O.G.E will be working with the White House Office of Management and Budget to assemble Trump's budget request which will then have to go through Congress for approval. However, while Republicans won control of the Senate in the 2024 election, their slim majority in the House may cause some issues with getting this budget approved. This is because if even a single House Republican doesn't vote to approve said budget, then it is unlikely to pass due to their slim majority. As to whether or not this will be the case, we will have to wait until some time in early 2025 to find out.
Does D.O.G.E. pose a threat to Social Security?
On December 2nd, 2024, Mike Lee, the Republican Senator from Utah, posted a thread on X in which he criticized the Social Security Act passed under president Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935. In this thread he negatively spoke about various aspects regarding the efficiency of Social Security programs and continued on about how he has introduced a number of measures to Congress that he believed would fix it over the years, but to no avail. This thread was then "quote" retweeted by Elon Musk shortly after in which he referred to the Senator's post as an "interesting thread."
This interaction on X led many people to speculate as to whether or not Republicans and D.O.G.E. plan to get rid of Social Security all together once Donald Trump takes the White House in 2025. As to whether or not there is any inherent truth to this, well, it's rather hard to say currently. Trump himself recently stated in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that he isn't going to cut any funding to Social Security, but that he plans to make the program more efficient instead. However, it is worth noting that during his first term as president Trump promised voters the same thing, yet ended up attempting to cut significant funding towards Social Security in a 2020 budget plan that did not pass. As for D.O.G.E.'s plans for Social Security, both Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have stated that cuts to the program will be considered.
The future of Social Security under Trump and D.O.G.E.
Seeing as president Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy have all in some way stated in the past that they'd consider cutting funding to Social Security, the future of the program doesn't look too bright. According to a poll done by AP in 2023, as many as 79% of Americans are against cutting funding to Social Security. This being the case, if the new Trump Administration does decide to take action in that regard it would be widely unpopular amongst American citizens.
However, as of right now, none of this is official. Currently the parties involved have only undergone discussions as to whether or not they will reduce the size of Social Security programs for American retirees. It is also worth noting that even if they do decide to make budget cuts towards these programs, those proposed budget cuts will still have to make their way through Congress for approval. Therefore, it is not inherently likely that the incoming Trump Administration and D.O.G.E. will completely get rid of your Social Security benefits all together. Instead, it is more likely that we will see budget cuts coming to the program instead, but only in the case that they are approved by Congress.