Musk’s Campaign Against Social Security

      Elon Musk, who has been granted sweeping powers by President Trump, has been making extravagant claims about the existence of massive fraud at the Social Security Administration. Supposedly millions of people are being paid benefits improperly. Trillions of dollars are being stolen. I could go through the various allegations he is making and show why they’re false but it’s pointless. The readers of this blog  already know there is no substance to any of this. None. Besides, by tomorrow there will be new tall tales.

     I can’t figure out what Musk’s game is. Does he really believe this nonsense? Is he spreading lies because he wants to destabilize Social Security? Is he trying to prepare the political landscape for some massive change in Social Security? What happens when Musk’s DOGE minions are unable to find any fraud beyond one man who buried his mother in his backyard so he could continue to receive her Social Security benefits?

     Whatever Musk’s game may be, he’s causing lasting damage. Credulous people will continue to believe his fairy tales for decades to come. It’s depressing.

Rally Against Musk Cuts

      From The Hill:

Democrats rallied against billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk,who also heads up President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), outside the Social Security Administration’s headquarters in Baltimore.

Democrats from both chambers gathered to sound alarm after a judge temporarily blocked Musk and DOGE personnel from gaining access to the Treasury Department’s sensitive payment system. …

Among those in attendance at the demonstration included Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Democratic Maryland Reps. Kweisi Mfume (D), Johnny Olszewski and Sarah Elfreth. Martin O’Malley, the former Baltimore mayor, Maryland governor and Social Security commissioner, also spoke at the event. …

Bisignano Interview

     CNBC has posted a recent interview with Social Security Commissioner nominee Frank Bisignano. It sounds to me as if he's having trouble shifting gears mentally to the idea of working in the public sector. Fiserv handles humongous quantities of extremely simple financial transactions. Social Security handles huge quantities of complicated transactions. It's a different ballgame. Fiserv  has the money it needs to hire the staff it needs and the technology it needs. Social Security works in an arena where its administrative budget is controlled by people who are often indifferent to the proper functioning of the agency and in some cases eager to see it fail.

Does DOGE Care?

      From some television station in Cleveland:

AVON LAKE, Ohio — An Avon Lake couple tried to change their address but faced issues after dealing with the Social Security Administration (SSA) systems for hours.

Gloria and Walton Britton moved to Avon Lake last month and began changing their address so that credit cards and other bills, including social security, were sent to the right location. They spent days on the phone trying to reach someone to make the address change, but nobody ever answered.

"Hurt, frustrated, disrespected," Gloria said. 

She tried to reach someone at the Social Security administration’s office but said it was impossible.

"I gave up one day after three hours of sitting on hold and didn't even get a call back option," Gloria explained.

The couple even tried to log in through the SSA’s website but could not reach the page where they could change their address or set up an appointment. …

DOGE Coming To SSA

      From Semafor:

… The Social Security Administration is an upcoming focus of the Department of Government Efficiency, a source with knowledge of its work told Semafor, and one person involved in DOGE is currently preparing to work with the agency that provides benefits to the elderly and disabled. … 

DOGE’s basic plan, already in progress at certain agencies, includes asking government managers to help create a plan for workforce reductions, reorganization of divisions — and, if necessary, shutdown of certain areas, one of the three people said.

The shutdown targets are likely to include regional offices seen by DOGE as archaic and wasteful, as well as the sale or other elimination of some properties the government owns. …

Delay On Delay

      From WFTV in Orlando:

Sarah Grimes and her husband waited more than five years for Social Security disability payments and when they didn’t come, he took his own life. She blames the government. …

Social Security always wanted more documents and never approved his benefits while he was alive.

After his death, she appealed to federal court to get his benefits and last November a judge ruled she would get his Social Security benefits. …

When WFTV last spoke with Grimes, the government was trying to figure out what she is owed from December 2020 to February 2024, but now in 2025, Grimes told Eyewitness News that the SSA has told her she will have to wait longer for her money because they are backlogged, and her case is complicated.

It’s been so long that she said she will not be able to pay her rent next month. That could mean losing her apartment and ending up living in her car. …

Americans Support Maintaining Social Security Even If It Means Increased Taxes And Oppose Cutting Benefits

     From a report on opinion polling performed by Greenwald Research for the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI):

... This survey’s primary finding is that Americans overwhelmingly want to see Social Security’s financing gap closed by bringing in more revenues—and are willing to contribute more to strengthen the program’s finances. When asked which statement comes closest to their view, 85 percent of respondents selected either that we should ensure benefits are not reduced, or that we should increase benefits, even if it means raising taxes on some or all Americans. Only 15 percent of respondents selected the response that we shouldn’t raise taxes on any American even if it means benefits are reduced. This broad preference for raising revenues versus reducing benefits cuts across political, income, education, and generational lines; among Republicans, more than 3 in 4 prefer increasing revenues to benefit reductions, with more than 9 in 10 Democrats and more than 8 in 10 Independents sharing this preference.

Of all the policies tested, respondents most strongly preferred lifting the payroll tax cap. Respondents also strongly supported increasing the payroll tax rate from 6.2 percent to 7.2 percent for both employers and employees, to ensure solvency and maintain current benefits. Changes that would result in lower benefits, such as raising the retirement age or adopting cost-of-living adjustments, had little support. ...

Trump Administration Won’t Abide By Union Contracts On Telework; AFGE Plans To Fight Back

      From Federal News Network:

A memo Monday, signed by OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell, directed agencies not to implement any provisions of collective bargaining agreements that “purport to restrict the agency’s right to determine overall levels of telework.”

The memo also called any telework provisions in union contracts that limit an agency’s ability to set telework policy “likely unlawful and unenforceable,” and stated that setting telework eligibility is a “management right.”

“Provisions of collective bargaining agreements that conflict with management rights are unlawful and cannot be enforced,” the memo states. …

“Union contracts are enforceable by law, and the president does not have the authority to make unilateral changes to those agreements,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “AFGE will not let the lawless actions of this administration or any agency go unchallenged, and we will use every option available to us to defend our contracts and support the hardworking civil servants who serve our country with honor and distinction.” …