Whitehouse joined by former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration for second Virtual Assembly
Washington, DC – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse held his second Virtual Assembly with Rhode Islanders. Whitehouse was joined by Governor Martin O’Malley, former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, to discuss the Trump administration’s hostility toward Social Security. Constituents can watch the Virtual Assembly on the Senator’s YouTube page.
“The Trump administration is behaving recklessly, putting critical programs like Social Security at risk,” said Whitehouse, a founding member of the Expand Social Security Caucus. “Social Security is a sacred trust that hardworking Rhode Islanders have paid into their whole careers, and I’m committed to doing everything in my power to protect the program from wasteful and destructive Republican policies.”
“As we speak, Republicans are dismantling this agency. They are gutting its staff and they are breaking it from the inside to make it incapable of serving the American people who paid for it and who paid for the customer service,” said Governor Martin O’Malley, former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
The Trump administration has signaled that Republicans are endangering Social Security. The administration has offered buyouts and early retirement to the entire staff of 57,000, and has announced plans to terminate 7,000 employees who help administer the program and to close field offices. Elon Musk has falsely called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” and said that alleged fraud in entitlement programs is “the big one to eliminate.” President used his joint address to Congress last week to spread bizarre lies about rampant fraud.
Last week, Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek warning that President Trump and Elon Musk’s scheme to purge the Social Security workforce will threaten the ability of millions of Americans to get their earned benefits. On average, 120,000 Americans visit and 233,000 call the agency’s field offices every day. .
Whitehouse is committed to safeguarding and defending Social Security for the seniors who rely on it. Whitehouse’s Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would protect the solvency of Social Security and Medicare for the long term by requiring the nation’s highest earners to contribute a fairer share of their income into the system.
Whitehouse cosponsored the Social Security Fairness Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in January. The legislation eliminated two policies that reduced Social Security benefits for public service employees.
Over 230,000 Rhode Islanders receive Social Security benefits.
