DOGE complicates Republican efforts to steer clear of Social Security

Democrats have campaigned for years on claims that Republicans would cut Social Security. Now the Trump administration’s push to downsize the Social Security Administration has handed them new ammunition, complicating the GOP’s efforts to steer clear of a politically popular program that some call the “third rail” of American politics.

Cost-cutting measures championed by Elon Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service are causing chaos with a surge in calls to an already struggling toll-free phone number, foot traffic at field offices that are rapidly losing staff and a website that keeps crashing. Republican lawmakers have scrambled to prevent Social Security offices from closing in their districts. And Democrats have redoubled their focus on Social Security as they search for an effective response to President Donald Trump.

“ (Republicans’) response has always been, ‘Oh, you’re fearmongering,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “And now our response to them is … you’re already reducing services.”

“I’m still a little flabbergasted at them walking into this political buzz saw,” Schatz said.

Trump has repeatedly said he will protect Social Security, and Republicans say they have been clear they do not want to touch its benefits. They have suggested that it’s far too early to predict how DOGE’s cuts to the bureaucracy will play out politically. GOP leaders have mostly rallied behind Musk’s crusade to shrink the federal government, defending layoffs and other changes as an effort to reduce fraud and waste.

But some GOP lawmakers have carefully pushed back. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said his staff raised concerns with DOGE workers about an office slated to close in his district.

“‘Look, the office you’re going to close is in a city of 100,000 … which means the whole area wouldn’t have a Social Security office,’” Cole said they explained, “and they were responsive to that.”

The office was kept open.

At a recent confirmation hearing for Frank Bisignano, Trump’s pick to run the Social Security Administration, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., played a recording of his staff’s struggles to get ahold of someone at the agency’s toll-free number and urged Bisignano to try dialing himself.

Bisignano responded that SSA estimates that it takes an average of 22 minutes to answer calls but acknowledged that there are also calls that aren’t getting through.

Other Republicans said they are monitoring Social Security issues closely and are prepared to give the administration feedback – “discreetly,” one senator said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk more candidly, “because we think that will yield more positive outcomes for our constituents.”

Republicans said they are open to changes at the SSA but wary of any disruptions to service. “I bet probably half of my constituent cases are Social Security-related,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “So that agency has long been a problem in terms of bad customer service. I want to see it get better, not worse.”

Lee Dudek, Trump’s acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement last week that his agency has “not permanently closed any local field offices this year,” and the agency said it works closely with local members of Congress before doing so. Officials said they identified “underutilized office space.”

“Any American receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive them,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “The sole mission of DOGE is to identify waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Democrats are still eager to use the Social Security fallout against Republicans and have suggested Trump officials want to privatize the system by breaking it down. Senate Democrats launched a Social Security “war room” this week meant to coordinate their messaging on the issue and plan events. Social Security also featured prominently in Tuesday’s unexpectedly competitive special election to fill a Florida congressional seat.

The most-aired ad of the Democratic candidate, Josh Weil, suggested that Republican candidate Randy Fine supports “the idea that Social Security is ‘the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,’” a reference to a comment Musk made on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Feb. 28, though Musk was not named in the ad.

Fine issued a statement last month dismissing the Social Security attacks: “It is my position that we can never negatively change Social Security to hurt these good people, one of whom is my own 76-year-old father,” he wrote.

Musk’s comments are likely to appear in future campaign ads, along with a recent podcast clip of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggesting that only “fraudsters” would complain about missing a monthly Social Security check.

“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain,” Lutnick said on the podcast. “She just wouldn’t. She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.”

A January AP-NORC poll found 67% of Americans thought the U.S. spent too little on Social Security, while 26% thought it spent about the right amount and 6% too much.

Social Security Works, a political advocacy group that calls for expansion of Social Security, campaigned for Weil and has plans to ramp up giving endorsements and hosting rallies. The group’s PAC sent billboard trucks to districts represented by Republican Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (Pennsylvania), Scott Perry (Pennsylvania), Derrick Van Orden (Wisconsin) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia).

“The problem in the past has been that some people would react ‘Oh that’s never going to happen,’ and it just made it harder for our efforts to try to stop it from happening,” SSW PAC founder Jon Bauman said. “For as long as I’ve been doing this since 2004, this is really the biggest series of threats to the program that we’ve ever encountered.”

Some Republicans say those who swear off changes to Social Security are ignoring the biggest threat of all: The fund that pays retirement and survivors benefits is on track to become insolvent within a decade, meaning that it will not have enough money to make all its payments.

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, has said he plans to introduce a bill proposing changes to Social Security in the coming months, warning that if lawmakers don’t raise the issue, they will “have worse decisions thrust upon us.” But others in the GOP are unenthused about touching Social Security after watching Democrats use the topic in campaigns.

Democrats in Congress have been angling for a fight over Social Security – although Republicans, who control both chambers, have not given them the chance to hold hearings.

Last month, Ways and Means committee member Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., asked chair Rep. Jason T. Smith, R-Mo., for a hearing where Musk could answer lawmakers’ questions about Social Security. Smith didn’t respond to Neal. Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security ranking Democrat Rep. John B. Larson (Connecticut) had a similar query for chair Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., that also went unanswered.

Republicans also voted down Larson’s effort to request more information about DOGE’s access to taxpayers’ information. In a now viral clip, Larson yelled at Republicans, turning red-faced as he questioned why they weren’t requesting Musk answer questions. Larson’s outburst drew national attention, and his office was flooded with more than 8,100 calls in recent weeks.

House Democrats also held a “shadow hearing” – unofficial meetings presided over by Democrats – about the issue Tuesday afternoon. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., gave a speech on the Senate floor for 25 hours and five minutes this week, focusing in part on reading stories from people concerned about losing access to Social Security services. And on Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a tele-town hall with former SSA administrator Martin O’Malley.

O’Malley said he’s getting requests from Democratic lawmakers to appear in more town halls, and he’s been stunned by the turnout. At one event in Florida, he spoke to a church “filled to the rafters.”

“Americans are waking up to it,” he said.

In interviews, many Republicans said they’re not panicking about political fallout from DOGE writ large. Paul Shumaker, a longtime adviser to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. – who will be a top Democratic target in 2026 – noted that polling has shown most Americans think the government is inefficient and said it’s way too early to predict DOGE’s political impact.

“I don’t see evidence yet it’s a major millstone,” echoed GOP consultant Mark Harris, who has worked on presidential and battleground races.

Longtime Republican strategist Mike DuHaime said he is paying more attention for potential changes to Medicaid, which provides health care to millions of low-income Americans. Republicans have been more willing to consider overhauls to that program, and some want to make cuts to pay for Trump’s agenda – though others say it’s a nonstarter.

“I think what happens with Medicaid is gonna be a huge deal,” DuHaime said.