Republican advisers, consultants and lawmakers are “unnerved” by Elon Musk’s public calls to cut Social Security, NBC News reports.
Musk last month called Social Security “ a Ponzi scheme” and "one big pyramid scheme” in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.
As NBC reports, “a Republican lawmaker … said Musk’s disparagement of Social Security has unnerved people.”
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“It does need to be reformed,” the anonymous lawmaker told NBC News. “Without reforming Social Security and Medicare, both programs will collapse and take the government down with it. But the last thing we need to talk about is disparaging the system. It’s not a Ponzi scheme, it’s just an entitlement program that needs to be reformed.”
The lawmaker also told NBC they believe “the entire 2026 campaign will be a referendum on Musk.” According to an NBC News national poll, voters see “red flags” in the billionaire’s effort to reshape the federal government under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),
“You will see ad after ad with the chainsaw,” the lawmaker said.
NBC News reports:
A Trump adviser acknowledged that they were aware of “outside concern” around Musk’s comments. Trump allies — including some on Wall Street, in corporate America and Congress — have conveyed to the White House and even the president directly that Musk either has to be taken off air or needs to be more scripted.
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According to the report, an anonymous White House official “said they were sympathetic to the views of some Republicans who see Musk’s comments on Social Security as potentially problematic and worrying to some senior citizens.”
“Of course they don’t want their Social Security cut,” the person told NBC News. “So if they hear something on the news that Elon Musk is saying, that we should do something with Social Security — of course there might be some concerns. But the only concern they have to worry about is what the president of the United States is saying and what he’s doing. We haven’t touched Social Security. We’re not going to touch Social Security.”
Still, the official affirmed Trump “has full trust in Elon Musk’s decisions."
“The reality is everything that Elon is doing when it comes to Social Security is just to improve it,” the official said.
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Indeed, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement to NBC News, championed DOGE’s work — while promising “any American receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive them.”
“The sole mission of DOGE is to identify waste, fraud, and abuse only … DOGE has already identified billions of dollars in savings for American taxpayers, and President Trump will continue to direct this effort until our government is truly for the people, and by the people.”
“Even beyond the president, the White House itself has made crystal clear that they’re not touching Social Security,” a former Trump White House official told NBC News.
But the dialogue isn’t going over well in some districts, as “the one-two punch of office closures and new limits on phone service” prompt bipartisan “concerns,” NBC News reports.
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“On Thursday, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., described the choice to close a Social Security hearing office in his district as ‘a slap in the face to thousands of my constituents who rely on these services,’” the report adds.
Lawler, who represents a swing district, called the impact on his constituents “completely unacceptable.”
Read the full report at NBC News.
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