Horsford: ‘Members Shouldn’t Have To Kiss Elon Musk’s A--’ To Keep Our Social Security Offices Open

2 days ago

During Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) discussed the closure of Social Security field offices.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Horsford. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I request to strike the last word.

00:07As lawmakers, we have a solemn duty to protect our constituents, those beneficiaries on Social

00:15Security from external threats and also from bad actors within. That's why I am calling on

00:25my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution. The people who elected us did so with the trust

00:34that we would safeguard their privacy, ensuring their personal data is never politicized,

00:42sold to the highest bidder, or used to jeopardize their benefits. My constituents

00:50should believe and be able to trust that government will work on their behalf regardless

00:58of who they choose to represent them on Capitol Hill as well. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to ask

01:04unanimous consent to enter into the record an article from CNN. Republicans succeed in persuading

01:12Musk, but Democrats hit dead ends. Without objection. Earlier this week, President Trump

01:19and Elon Musk went about cherry-picking which Social Security field and hearing offices

01:27would stay open. In the article, Mr. Cole from Oklahoma was able to convince DOJ to keep his

01:36local offices open while they didn't even have the decency to notify my office of their intent

01:44to close one of the critical offices in Las Vegas. Let me be clear. Members of Congress shouldn't

01:53have to kiss Elon Musk's ass to get our offices for our constituents on Social Security open

02:02or to have them remain open. I am offended by the fact that members on the other side

02:11are using their access to Elon Musk and jeopardizing the well-being of everyone else.

02:20My constituents deserve the same treatment that Representative Coles are receiving.

02:26And this is not about politics. It's not about voting Republican or Democrat or whether you

02:32belong to a party or not. And I also want to lift up this article that just came out because it

02:39speaks to the hypocrisy. While we are having this hearing today, and while the other side is

02:47objecting to even getting basic information about what Elon Musk is doing to Social Security,

02:56they literally announced ending the phone program that helps with claims processing

03:03and is used by millions of elderly and disabled Americans. Without objection.

03:10This data shows that the agency received 81.2 million calls to its national toll-free number

03:19in 2023, although not all were for claims. Staff within Social Security are currently

03:26gaming out scenarios for how to handle an abrupt reduction of telephone service.

03:32One of the persons briefed on the matter said,

03:35So to my colleagues, do you think this is cutting Social Security? It is. Do you think this is hurting

03:43constituents' ability to get their rightful questions asked about their earned benefit?

03:52This is not an entitlement. Do you think this is helping make government more efficient?

04:00And why wouldn't we have the person, the mastermind, the genius

04:05Elon Musk, who's come up with this proposal, to come before this committee? Or at least respond

04:12based on the list of questions that are called for in this query? I have 140,000 individuals in

04:19my district who depend on Social Security. The majority of them, it's their sole source of income.

04:28108,000 are retirees. 16,500 are disabled workers who count on these benefits.

04:37And yeah, I'll bang on the damn dais because I'm here to defend my constituents from Elon Musk,

04:44Donald Trump, or House Republicans who will try to take away what they have invested

04:51into their own Social Security. This is money they earned.

04:56Take your hands off of the people's Social Security. It's not yours. And Elon Musk

05:03wasn't elected to do a damn thing. I yield back.

Horsford: ‘Members Shouldn’t Have To Kiss Elon Musk’s A--’ To Keep Our Social Security Offices Open

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