In fact, reliable folks have misplaced their advantages due to Musk and his DOGE bros’ actions. That features one very a lot alive man who was accused of being lifeless. To revive the advantages he earned by way of years of labor, the person was pressured to leap by way of hoops and navigate a system Musk has purposefully damaged.
Musk’s different adjustments to this system—together with slashing workers, closing places of work, and altering the method with which beneficiaries confirm their identities—is resulting in lengthy wait occasions for beneficiaries to get questions answered or resolve issues.
And on Friday, a brand new coverage goes into impact the place seniors who had been overpaid by the Social Safety Administration will now have their advantages fully withheld till they pay the cash again—a transfer that punishes Social Safety recipients for the federal government’s errors. Former President Joe Biden had modified the coverage to withhold solely 10% of a beneficiary’s advantages till their overpayments had been returned.
“If an overpayment is being made, that means the Social Security Administration is withholding 100% of their payment for however long it takes to repay the agency—and they are without money to pay for food,” Dan Adcock, director of presidency relations and coverage for the Nationwide Committee to Protect Social Safety and Medicare, instructed CBS MoneyWatch.
Allow us to not neglect.
“I think that most people, common-sense-wise, would say the fraud’s gotta end. But they’re concerned about the 94-year-old mother who skips a check or somehow doesn’t get what she’s supposed to get,” Baier mentioned.
Musk’s remark denigrating anybody who complains about not getting their Social Safety advantages is almost equivalent to the road Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, a fellow billionaire, utilized in a podcast interview final week.
“For instance Social Safety did not ship out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who’s 94, she would not name and complain. She simply would not. She thinks one thing received tousled and he or she’ll get it subsequent month. A fraudster at all times makes the loudest noise screaming, yelling, and complaining. And all the fellows who did PayPal, like Elon is aware of this by coronary heart, proper? Anyone who’s been within the cost system and the method system is aware of the simplest option to discover the fraudster is to cease funds and hear,” he mentioned.
Attacking Social Safety recipients wasn’t the one unhinged factor Musk did within the interview with Baier. Musk additionally lied about how DOGE is just not being reckless of their cuts to the federal authorities.
“I do agree that we actually want to be careful in the cuts,” Musk mentioned. “We want to measure twice, if not thrice, and cut once. That is our approach.”
However Musk has completely not been cautious. After he haphazardly fired hundreds of probationary federal workers, the federal government needed to scramble to rehire employees it had fired. These employees included stewards of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal, employees keeping off a chook flu pandemic, and people administering a program for folks sickened by their publicity to floor zero on 9/11.
And there are indicators that Musk’s actions are hurting Trump and the Republican Occasion.
For instance, on Tuesday, Democrats flipped a state Senate seat in Pennsylvania that Trump gained by 15 share factors in 2024—and which Democrats have by no means earlier than gained.
Not-U.N.-Ambassador Elise Stefanik, who will now languish in her New York congressional district
Trump additionally pulled New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to function ambassador to the United Nations due to fears that Republicans may lose her district, which Stefanik gained by greater than 20 factors final 12 months.
“With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat,” Trump wrote in a Fact Social publish on Thursday. “The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day. There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations. Therefore, Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People.”
In the meantime, Republican Senators are being urged to sing DOGE’s praises as they face indignant constituents at city corridor conferences who’re demanding that the GOP stand as much as Musk’s cuts. However as extra People really feel the ache of Trump and Musk’s cuts, telling voters to not imagine the ache they’re experiencing can be a tricky promote.
And definitely, televised interviews with Musk, a weirdo with the persona of a moist blanket, gained’t sort things, both.
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