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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Donald Trump and Republicans have wanted to take away Americans' hard-earned entitlement benefits for a very long time.

This week, Elon Musk said the quiet part out loud, and every single American should be alarmed. He said:

Most of the Federal spending is entitlements. So that is the big one to eliminate.

Of course, he is referring to Social Security.

Elon Musk is saying it plainly: Republicans' big goal is to eliminate--his words--Social Security and Medicare benefits.

The American people deserve to know where Senators stand on protecting Social Security. The American people deserve to know that. Are Senate Republicans fine with the terrible things Elon Musk and DOGE are doing to Social Security? Do they agree with Mr. Musk that it is one giant scam? We have seen the Social Security offices slashed so that people get less services. Is that the first step to eliminate Social Security? It seems to be.

Donald Trump ridiculed Social Security by just lying about people who have been on the books 200 years and making people think they got benefits, which, of course, they didn't. It seems he is in on the plan. It is not just Musk; it is Trump, too.

Well, all of these are simple questions, and Americans deserve to know the truth. If Republicans truly support Social Security, they need to break their silence and condemn Musk's attacks. DOGE has already-- already--taken over the Social Security Administration and accessed the private data and benefits of tens of millions of Americans. Why are they after that? Why are they after that data? My guess is so they can hurt the program, close the program, eliminate the program.

Republicans and Trump and DOGE are gutting the Agency. They are firing thousands of staff, leading to office closures, longer wait times, and deteriorating service. In my State, they have already announced a few offices being closed. I am sure that is true in every other State.

If Mr. Musk and DOGE are allowed to keep going, at the moment, seniors will have to wait longer for their benefits, but in the future, they may not get them. People with disabilities will wait longer times for their claims to be processed, but they may not get them. Americans will spend more time waiting to talk to someone on the phone to get help with their benefits. But it seems, where they are headed, there will be no one on the phone to talk to and no benefits to be received.

Social Security is one of the most popular programs. Why the heck would any President--any erstwhile Vice President--Musk--maybe he is President--why would any party want to eliminate Social Security? Why would they want to cut Social Security, one of the most popular Federal programs we have? I will tell you why. They are frenetic on tax breaks for the billionaires, and they are taking away things from Americans. This is not what the American people want. This is not efficiency.

For Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, to not understand how a senior citizen depends on the $1,100 a month to buy food, to purchase vitally needed medicines--what arrogance. What arrogance to not even deign to understand it.

We will cut the government.

Social Security is not the government; it is people. It is the money they put in. It is the money they now get back. It helps them live a decent life.

If Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans continue to go after benefits like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid--I have no reason to think they won't--Democrats will fight it, but most importantly, the American people will not stand for it.

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