Click bait title aside, while many Republican congressmen and Donald Trump insist they will not touch Social Security, their actual rhetoric, and move on Medicaid, make it clear that they will. The cost savings they are looking for in their proposed budget would require cuts to not only Medicaid, but also Medicare and Social Security.
They are going directly after Medicaid but appear to have a strategy through Elon Musk’s Doge to undermine the other two, so they collapse on their own, allowing them some form of deniability. Musk himself is making that difficult, since in an interview March 11, he directly stated that the biggest problem in cutting the cost of government is entitlements, and that Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid must be eliminated.
For decades, Social Security has stood as a cornerstone of American economic security, providing a crucial safety net for retirees, disabled individuals, and the most vulnerable among us. It is a promise made to every worker who contributes to the system through payroll taxes, a promise that they will have financial support in their later years. Yet, despite its importance, Social Security now finds itself in the crosshairs of a movement that is actively working to dismantle it.
The Trump administration, with Elon Musk’s growing influence as an advisor, is pursuing a clear and deliberate roadmap to undermine and eliminate Social Security. Their goal is not simply to reduce inefficiencies or prevent fraud, but to weaken the program to such an extent that Americans lose faith in it, paving the way for its replacement with privatized, market-based alternatives. This is no idle threat; they are serious about destroying Social Security, and the ultimate beneficiaries of this scheme will be the wealthiest Americans who stand to gain from tax cuts and investment opportunities that come from gutting this essential program.
The first step in this roadmap is to cripple Social Security from within. By cutting SSA’s budget, slashing its workforce, and closing field offices, Trump and Musk are ensuring that access to benefits becomes increasingly difficult.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the guise of “efficiency,” has already overseen mass layoffs within the SSA, which will result in unprecedented delays in claims processing. Seniors who rely on in-person visits to navigate their benefits will now potentially face months-long waits, with some dying before their claims are even approved. The closure of SSA offices in rural and underserved communities will further exacerbate the problem, disproportionately impacting lower-income individuals who lack access to online services.
These moves are not merely cost-cutting measures; they are designed to manufacture a crisis. By making Social Security appear inefficient and unreliable, Trump and Musk can justify the next phase of their plan: privatization.
A key strategy in dismantling Social Security is to convince the public that the system is beyond repair. To that end, Trump and Musk have aggressively pushed the narrative that Social Security is rife with fraud, citing dubious statistics such as payments to beneficiaries listed as over 150 years old.
Independent watchdogs and former SSA officials have debunked these claims, explaining that such figures stem from outdated administrative records rather than widespread fraud. The goal of these exaggerated claims is not to fix inefficiencies but to erode trust in the program. If enough Americans believe Social Security is fundamentally broken, they may be more willing to accept a private, market-based alternative.
Deliberate inefficiencies and delays in processing claims further fuel this perception. By defunding the SSA and cutting staff, Musk and Trump ensure that Social Security functions poorly, reinforcing the narrative that it is failing. This self-fulfilling prophecy is designed to soften public resistance to eliminating the program altogether.
Once public trust in Social Security has been sufficiently eroded, the next step is to introduce private alternatives as the “solution.” The Trump administration has already floated proposals to allow younger workers to opt out of Social Security in favor of private retirement accounts. While this may sound like an attractive choice on the surface, it is a trap that would ultimately destroy the program.
Social Security operates on a pay-as-you-go system, meaning today’s workers fund the benefits of current retirees. If younger workers opt out, the program loses its primary source of funding, accelerating its collapse. This would leave millions of seniors and disabled individuals without the benefits they depend on, while Wall Street firms profit from managing private accounts filled with unpredictable, high-risk investments.
History has already shown the dangers of privatized retirement plans. During the 2008 financial crisis, millions of Americans lost their 401(k) savings overnight, while Social Security remained a lifeline. Handing retirement security over to the volatility of the stock market would be catastrophic for working Americans, but it would be a windfall for the financial elite.
With a weakened Social Security system and rising public skepticism, Trump and Musk will push for legislative changes that further erode the program’s foundation. This could include rolling back payroll taxes, which are the primary source of funding for Social Security. Under the guise of “tax relief,” such a move would drain the program’s reserves and make future benefit payments unsustainable.
Additionally, efforts to introduce means testing, where only low-income individuals qualify for Social Security, would shift the program from a universal benefit to a stigmatized form of welfare. This tactic has been used before to dismantle popular government programs. Once benefits are framed as a “handout” rather than an earned right, it becomes easier for politicians to cut them altogether.
A stacked conservative judiciary could also play a role in undermining Social Security. With the right legal challenge, conservative judges could rule against the program’s constitutionality, further paving the way for its dismantling.
So why are Trump and Musk so intent on destroying Social Security? The answer lies in the financial windfall it creates for the ultra-rich. By dismantling Social Security, the government can justify massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, under the pretense that entitlement spending is being reduced.
Republican lawmakers have long sought to eliminate Social Security as part of a broader agenda to shift wealth upward. By freeing up trillions of dollars that would have gone to Social Security benefits, they can funnel more money into tax breaks for billionaires and corporations. This is not about reducing inefficiencies or protecting future generations; it is about redistributing wealth from working Americans to the elite class.
This is not speculation. This is happening right now. Trump and Musk appear to have already set this roadmap in motion, and if they succeed, Social Security as we know it will be gone. Millions of Americans who have paid into the system their entire lives will be left with nothing, while Wall Street bankers and billionaires’ profit from the wreckage.
We must act now. Contact your representatives. Demand transparency. Call out the lies about Social Security’s sustainability and fight back against efforts to privatize it. Support candidates who are committed to strengthening, not dismantling, the program.Our government is fragile. Once it is broken, it will be almost impossible to put back together again. And once Social Security is gone, it will not come back.
Musk is the richest man in the world. It seems his biggest thrill comes from destroying things, which is fine when he is destroying Twitter and Tesla. But while he is destroying his own businesses, he is also undermining, aided by Trump, a Republican controlled Congress and a corrupt Supreme Court, our 237-year-old Democracy. The threat is real and immediate. The calvary isn’t coming to save us. It’s up to us.
Disclaimer: I write opinion pieces. The views expressed in this editorial are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Polk County Publishing or its affiliates. In the interest of transparency, I am politically Left Libertarian.
