A Trump Cabinet member has caused a ruckus with his remarks about Social Security, using one of his own family members in his narrative. As the GOP tries to assuage Americans' fears that benefits paid out by the Social Security Administration are on the chopping block, Commerce Secretary Howard Ludnick popped up Thursday on the All-In podcast to make an unexpected observation about SS beneficiaries. "Let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month," Lutnick said, per Axios. "My mother-in-law, who's 94, she wouldn't call and complain."
"She just wouldn't," Lutnick continued. "She'd think something got messed up, and she'll get it next month." In fact, the billionaire ex-Wall Street CEO insists that most elderly people wouldn't call, because "they trust the government" and would good-naturedly overlook such a snafu. Lutnick has definite opinions, however, about the type of person who would call to gripe if their Social Security payment, often the only income for many of the 70 million Americans who receive the monthly benefit, was skipped. "A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling, and complaining," he noted in the podcast, adding, per the Hill: "The easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen, because whoever screams is the one stealing."
A Commerce Department spokesperson tells Axios that Lutnick "is committed to protecting Social Security for all eligible Americans." The Social Security Administration says it's been working to cut down on fraud in general, including by requiring recipients and applicants go in person to agency field offices or head online to complete verification processes, cutting off phone service for that purpose—a move that the AP notes will especially put up roadblocks for people in rural communities with spotty internet and unreliable transportation.
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As for whispers that the agency itself will be closing, Leland Dudek, the SSA's acting commissioner, now says he's not going that route, after suggesting earlier this week that that option was on the table, reports ABC News. Dudek said Friday that he'd received "clarifying guidance" on a judge's restraining order, which had restricted access to sensitive data at the agency by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. "Therefore, I am not shutting down the agency," Dudek said. (More Howard Lutnick stories.)
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