Phelan M. Ebenhack via AP
A view of Social Security Administration offices in Orlando, Florida. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is the lone Democrat so far to join a congressional DOGE caucus.
The leading advocacy group for protecting Americans’ Social Security benefits has drawn a red line for Democrats, anticipating a fight over the landmark social insurance program not unlike George W. Bush’s attempts to privatize the system in 2005.
Social Security Works, led by veterans of those fights, is warning about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the quasi-advisory organization co-chaired by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, which has the goal of cutting as much as $2 trillion from federal budgets. The organization sees DOGE as a Trojan horse to cutting Social Security and the two biggest public health insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid.
In a preemptive strike, Social Security Works has told Democrats that it will publicly target anyone who joins the congressional DOGE caucuses, which were established by House and Senate Republicans to assist Musk and Ramaswamy. The lone Democrat who has joined the caucus, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), will be seeing Social Security Works–funded billboard trucks that say “Jared Moskowitz is helping the richest man in the world cut YOUR Social Security” in his district.
There are hundreds of informal caucuses on Capitol Hill, but given DOGE’s need for Congress to authorize most of its spending reduction proposals, and the fact that Social Security and health programs are among the only areas of the federal budget large enough to meet Musk and Ramaswamy’s goals, social insurance advocates believe these caucuses to be ground zero for any plots to roll back benefits, raise the retirement age, or other cuts.
“We’re calling for a boycott of joining the caucus,” said Alex Lawson of Social Security Works. Democrats should engage and talk about real deficit solutions, Lawson said, but signing up to a process that could cut Social Security without a commitment taking that off the table was unacceptable. “We need Democrats to come on board and put a stop to this.”
Seeking cross-party buy-in for these efforts, to diffuse the ultimate blame from voters, has long been a goal of those looking to cut Social Security.
Republicans have already begun to discuss Social Security as a target for deficit reduction. Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) told Fox Business last week that “there’s hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved … We’ve gotta bring the Democrats in and talk about Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.” Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) suggested “looking long term at the front end of some programs like Social Security and Medicare” and that “we can move the retirement age back a little bit.” (Raising the retirement age by one year is a net benefit cut of 7 percent for new retirees.)
And Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who has joined the Senate DOGE Caucus, released a dubious thread on social media last week calling Social Security a “classic bait and switch” and “a Ponzi scheme that’s running out of new investors,” while calling for “genuine reform” along the lines of the Bush privatization plan of 2005. Privatization failed, but was followed just a few years later by a historic stock crash that would have wiped out retiree assets if they were allowed to be placed in the stock market. Musk retweeted the Lee thread just 23 minutes after it was posted.
Seeking cross-party buy-in for these efforts, to diffuse the ultimate blame from voters, has long been a goal of those looking to cut Social Security. Presenting a united Democratic front in opposition denies this bipartisan imprimatur. It was a key strategy of the 2005 fight, and Social Security Works wants to recreate it.
EVERY HOUSE DEMOCRAT HAS RECEIVED communications from Social Security Works informing them of the group’s opposition to DOGE caucus membership. “Historically, commissions that claim they are going to slash trillions in federal spending have one major goal: Slash Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” reads the text of an email sent by Social Security Works to member offices. “Without ironclad assurances that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are off the table, we can only assume they are being targeted.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) received the communication as well.
In follow-ups to specific members who have made overtures toward the DOGE caucus, Social Security Works vowed to call them out in their home districts. They have even shown members specific graphics to be used in those districts if they participate in a process that would cut Social Security.
This tactic has a history. In 2020, 30 House Democrats endorsed a bill called the TRUST Act, which would have established “rescue committees” for federal trust funds, like the ones for Social Security and Medicare. The recommendations to make those trust funds solvent and reduce the deficit would have received an expedited vote in both houses, though it still would have required 60 votes in the Senate. Social Security Works retaliated with billboards in the district of then-Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL). “Don’t side with Republicans to cut our Social Security 20%,” the billboards read. Other Democrats recanted their position on the TRUST Act.
This time, the strategy has mostly worked on the front end. Reporting initially indicated that Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) would join the caucus, quoting him saying, “If you want to affect change and have an impact, you want to be in the room.” But after Social Security Works reached out, Landsman said the reporting was incorrect and he would not join.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) had also made some noises in the direction of DOGE, suggesting areas of bipartisan collaboration, like on the military budget. But in an interview with the Prospect, Khanna said firmly that he wouldn’t be joining the caucus. “I’ve been very clear that I don’t think there could be any cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or the CFPB, and made that very clear publicly and privately,” Khanna said. Khanna reiterated this on ABC’s This Week.
That leaves Moskowitz as the only Democrat who’s part of the DOGE caucus in the House or Senate. Moskowitz has said that “when it comes to the budget, I think fiscal conservatism is a good thing,” and he downplayed the caucus as merely a place for conversations on deficit reduction, which “shouldn’t be a partisan issue.” When asked for examples of government efficiency that he favors, Moskowitz has cited moving the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Secret Service out of the Department of Homeland Security. The Florida congressman was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to Florida’s emergency management agency in 2019.
Though Moskowitz has criticized the boycott as a way to stay in “safe spaces” and “pretend the conversations aren’t happening,” Social Security Works has said specifically that Democrats should engage in whatever methods possible on legitimate savings in the budget, including eliminating documented overpayments in private Medicare Advantage plans and cutting the Pentagon budget.
Even on Social Security, the organization has outlined solutions. “If billionaires like Elon Musk paid into Social Security at the same rate as the rest of us on all of their income, we could expand benefits for everyone and pay them in full forever,” Social Security Works said in a statement last week.
Social Security Works would only accept joining the caucus if members got a signed pledge from Elon Musk that he would take benefit cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid off the table. Without that, the trucks will roll through Moskowitz’s district, telling constituents that he’s working to cut earned benefits.
“The money is ours, Mike Lee, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump.” Social Security Works said in its statement last week. “You’re not going to get a penny of it.”
