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Floor Speech

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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?

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