Former President Joe Biden. Photo: Lisa Ferdinando/DoD
Former President Joe Biden returned to the national spotlight last night, accusing President Trump and Elon Musk, who is head of the Department of Government Efficiency, of “taking a hatchet” to the Social Security Administration, which he called a “sacred promise” that more than 70 million Americans rely on every month.
“In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction,” Biden said, addressing the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago in a paid speech. “It’s kind of breathtaking that it could happen that soon.
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“In the 90 years since Franklin Roosevelt created the social security system, people have always gotten their social security checks,” said Biden. “They’ve gotten them during wartime, during recessions, during a pandemic. No matter what, they got them. But now for the first time ever, that might change. It’d be a calamity for millions of families.”
While there have been deep staff reductions to the labor force of the SSA, as well as other federal agencies, in an effort to identify waste and abuse in the government, “President Trump will always protect Social Security,” according to an official White House statement last month. In addition, the SSA “has not missed payments in its 89 years of existence,” according to Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano, President Trump’s pick to lead the Social Security Administration, said at his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing a few weeks ago, “I’ve been told by the president to ensure that we preserve and protect Social Security.”
If confirmed by the full Senate, Bisignano testified he would “ensure that every beneficiary receives their payments on time, that disability claims are processed in the manner they should be.”
Related: Trump’s pick to lead Social Security advances to full Senate for confirmation vote
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, also said Tuesday morning, ahead of Biden’s speech, that Trump will protect Social Security benefits for “law-abiding, taxpaying American citizens and seniors who paid into the program … He protected it in his first term and he’s back again to continue protecting it.”
On Tuesday, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum titled Preventing Illegal Aliens from Obtaining Social Security Act Benefits, which directed the SSA to ensure undocumented people are not receiving funds from the Social Security Act programs, as well as scrutinize earnings reports for “persons age 100 or older.” During his speech, Biden scoffed at that idea, saying he “would like to meet some of these individuals to learn from them about longevity.”
The former president also faulted the tech industry adage of “move fast and break things,” saying such an approach was poorly suited to a program like Social Security.
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Lynn Cavanaugh
Lynn Varacalli Cavanaugh is Senior Editor, Retirement at BenefitsPRO. Prior, she was editor-in-chief of the What's New in Benefits & Compensation newsletter. She has worked for major firms in the employee benefits space, Vanguard and Willis Towers Watson, as well as top media companies, including Condé Nast and American Media.
