[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S1725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Social Security

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday, it was reported that Elon Musk 
and DOGE have been pressuring the Social Security Administration to cut 
phone services--phone services--that millions of Americans rely on to 
help get their benefits from Social Security.
  DOGE knows that all their claims of massive fraud within Social 
Security are nonsense. So what do they do? They are trying to cut 
telephone services that help the elderly and disabled people get their 
benefits. How cruel. How mean. Why? So some billionaires can get 
another tax break. That is appalling.
  What DOGE is doing to Social Security is not government efficiency; 
it is cruelty--cruelty. It is a direct attack on some of our most 
vulnerable people--seniors and the disabled.
  Social Security support lines are vital for seniors who struggle to 
get out of the house. Many seniors don't have the ability to drive 
themselves to an in-person local office, many of which are closing. If 
they can visit an office in person, guess what. DOGE is working on 
closing the local offices too. It is almost as if cruelty is the point 
for DOGE.
  Elon Musk and DOGE are trying to drive Social Security into the 
ground, to make it so dysfunctional, so they can scream about fraud and 
justify cutting benefits. And for what? Giving billionaires another tax 
break.
  Remember what Elon Musk said a few days ago:

       Most of the federal [government's] spending is 
     entitlements. So that's the big one to eliminate.

  Imagine the cruelty of the richest man in the world--he is trying to 
sell his Teslas on the White House lawn--telling tens of millions of 
seniors that he wants to eliminate their benefits, that their checks 
are part of one big scam.
  Elon Musk is utterly clueless--clueless--about what it means to rely 
on that $1,100 check that seniors need for their food or their 
medicines. He has no empathy, and that lack of empathy will create 
immense suffering for people who aren't as fortunate as he has been.
  That is why DOGE has already pushed to close Social Security offices. 
They are getting ready to fire 7,000 Social Security employees, and 
this is just the beginning. If DOGE keeps going, people could see their 
benefits disappear.
  Are my Republican colleagues fine with these attacks against Social 
Security? Do they support closing Social Security offices? Do they 
agree with Elon Musk that Social Security is a scam? Why are they 
silent as Elon Musk and DOGE try to take Social Security apart?
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Republican whip.