Former Social Security Chief Warns Musk’s Meddling Could Lead to ‘System Collapse’
Former Maryland Gov. and Social Security chief Martin O’Malley is warning that Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s attacks on the agency could result in a “system collapse and an interruption of benefits” for Social Security recipients.
In a weekend interview with CNBC, O’Malley, who headed the Social Security Administration (SSA) between until Trump took power, sounded the alarm over the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cuts to the agency.
In recent weeks, Musk has called the core social safety net program “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” falsely claiming it is riddled with fraud, waste, and abuse.
Since Trump took office and empowered Musk at DOGE, the administration has shuttered at least 10 Social Security field offices, eliminated the SSA’s Office of Transformation (tasked with improving the application process for recipients) and the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, and attempted to force its way into payment systems containing highly sensitive data about American citizens. The Trump administration is also seeking to eliminate more than 7,000 jobs within the agency,
It’s not going to end well, according to the former SSA commissioner. “Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley told CNBC, advising people to receive payments through the program to “start saving.”
“I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days,” he predicted.
Last month, Acting Social Security Commissioner Michelle King resigned from her post following a dispute between the SSA and DOGE over access to private records on Social Security recipients.
Musk claimed that if he “wanted to rummage through random personal shit, I could have done that at PAYPAL. Hello???”
The billionaire has accused the SSA of paying out checks to “tens of millions” of people “marked in Social Security as ‘ALIVE’ when they are definitely dead.”
As it turns out, Musk was lying, and misconstruing a common data management practice for dates of birth as fraud in order to justify his cuts to the agency.
In a Friday interview with pro-Trump podcaster Joe Rogan, Musk openly demonstrated both his lack of understanding of how Social Security works, and what a Ponzi scheme is.
Like many Republicans before him, Musk claimed that Social Security is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” When asked by Rogan to clarify what exactly he meant by that, Musk attempted to argue that because individuals pay into Social Security before they retire, and don’t receive their benefits until later, the whole thing is actually a massive scam.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) responded to the claim in a statement today. “Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, it is an effective lifeline that helps seniors avoid destitution. It is a sound insurance program that works for wage earners who pay into the system while they are working, and when they reach retirement age they get benefits. For nearly ninety years, it has effectively helped keep generations of seniors, survivors, and disabled Americans out of poverty,” he wrote. “By comparing Social Security to a criminal enterprise, Musk is signaling Trump should prioritize tax breaks for billionaires and special interests over working people’s retirement.”
In an interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said it must have been a “hell of a Ponzi scheme when for the last 80 years, Social Security has paid out every nickel owed to every eligible American.”
But Sanders conceded that there are things about the system that should be fixed — particularly loopholes allowing the ultra wealthy to contribute the same amount as someone making millions or even billions less than them.
“Right now, Musk, worth $400 billion, contributes the same amount into the Social Security trust fund as somebody making $170 million,” Sanders said.
“You lift that cap. We extend the solvency of Social Security 75 years, and you can raise benefits,” he said, adding: “We’ve got to raise Social Security benefits.”
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