Summary
Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek threatened to shut down the agency after a court barred Elon Musk’s DOGE team from accessing sensitive databases.
Dudek said he would cut off IT access for all employees, raising fears of halted benefits for 70 million Americans.
The court later clarified that not all SSA employees were DOGE affiliates, leading Dudek to backtrack.
Critics, including advocacy groups, accuse Dudek of undermining the agency and pursuing Musk and Trump’s anti-fraud agenda, which falsely alleges widespread improper payments.
“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. She just wouldn’t. She’d think something got messed up and she’ll get it next month,” Lutnick said on the “All-In” podcast. “A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.”)
Yes, of course. Fraudsters are the ones who will want to bring attention to themselves when the checks stop coming, and not poor people who rely on that money to survive.
I know these people are stupid, crazy and sadistic, but it’s like they have some kind of competition going to see who can be the stupidest and most repugnant.
The shit will hit the fan if social security gets cut. This will push the public over the edge.
Hate to say it, but good. We need to hit the tipping point and soon.
I’m hoping they continue with the extremism. Worst case scenario was Trumps admin continuing business as usual. A slow and calculated takeover would make the warnings of fascism appear to be a lie. Our only hope now is that the fascists are as stupid as they appear —as stupid as the electorate — stupid enough to push too hard, too fast, and turn the majority of the domestic and international population against them before they achieve their goals. They’re well on their way!
At this point the only thing that could snap Republicans out of their mental illness is extreme pain and distress. I’m talking recession, extreme poverty, homelessness, starvation… millions of previously comfortable people becoming unemployed and destitute. These ignorant know-nothing bottom-feeders need metaphorical blunt force trauma to bring them back to their dumb as fuck reality. If that fails, they’re gonna end up causing literal blunt force trauma, and fascists aren’t ever gonna win this fight. We’re talking about anti-intellectuals who think critical thought is something you attain from quacks on youtube. They’re all gonna end up dead, but millions of innocent people will die before their loss is final.
Here’s the problem
Under anything resembling normal circumstances, I agree with you. Because senior citizens vote. Politicians had something to fear because senior citizens are the largest voting bloc by far.
But what happens when Trump and the GOP feel their vote is no longer needed? The GOP have traditionally coddled senior citizens because they tend to vote and tend to skew Republican. But lately, they’ve instead been responding to their town halls by telling voters to suck it up and deal with it. If the politicians feel that the fix is in and the senior vote is no longer a priority, it has the side effect of basically relegating seniors from an influential voting bloc to a whole bunch of old people sitting in a room screaming. Granted, that line of thinking might backfire spectacularly in the 2026 midterms if seniors actually vote accordingly instead of just continuing to blame Democrats, but if Trump throws a monkey wrench into the works (or just suspends elections, or is successful in getting seniors to believe that it’s all the Dems’ fault, or whatever), then they basically win. They’re going all in and are definitely overbetting the pot, but at the same time, they also overbetting with a very winnable hand given the current situation.
There’s also considerable overlap between the remaining supporters and seniors dependent on these systems.
Krasnov
This is all playing into their hands. Hundreds of thousands of seniors with mental issues, anxiety, Alzheimer’s, etc. are calling Social Security everyday freaked out about their benefits. This has already overwhelmed their meager resources.
The administration has already changed the rules so everyone now has to go to a local Social Security Office to verify their identity because of fraud and at the same time shutting as many offices as they can get away with
Also let’s threaten to fire and layoff the remaining staff. This is deliberate sabotage against tens of millions of our most vulnerable Americans. After the shit hits the fan they will call for an end of Social Security pointing out the shit show they have created.
