During Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) discussed the Biden Administration's record on Social Security related policy.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. Chairman, I move the committee report H. Res. 127 adversely the House of Representatives.
00:07The question is on the motion to report H. Res. 127 adversely to the House of Representatives.
00:13The clerk will call the roll.
00:15Mr. Buchanan. Yes.
00:17Mr. Buchanan. Yes.
00:19Mr. Smith of Nebraska. Yes.
00:22Mr. Smith of Nebraska. Yes.
00:24Mr. Kelly. Yes.
00:26Mr. Kelly. Yes.
00:28Mr. Schweikert. Yes.
00:30Mr. Schweikert. Yes.
00:32Mr. LaHood.
00:37Mr. Arrington.
00:42Mr. Estes. Yes.
00:44Mr. Estes. Yes.
00:46Mr. Smucker. Yes.
00:48Mr. Smucker. Yes.
00:50Mr. Hearn. Yes.
00:52Mr. Hearn. Yes.
00:54Mrs. Miller. Yes.
00:56Dr. Murphy.
00:58Dr. Murphy. Yes.
01:00Mr. Kustoff.
01:02Mr. Kustoff. Yes.
01:04Mr. Fitzpatrick.
01:06Mr. Fitzpatrick. Yes.
01:08Mr. Stubbe.
01:10Mr. Stubbe. Yes.
01:12Mrs. Tinney.
01:20Mrs. Tinney. Yes.
01:22Mrs. Fischbach.
01:24Mr. Fishbach, yes.
01:26Mr. Moore.
01:28Mr. Moore, yes.
01:30Ms. Van Dine.
01:32Ms. Van Dine, yes.
01:33Mr. Feenstra.
01:35Mr. Feenstra, yes.
01:37Ms. Malliotakis.
01:38Ms. Malliotakis, yes.
01:40Mr. Carey.
01:42Mr. Carey, yes.
01:44Mr. Yockham.
01:46Mr. Yockham, yes.
01:48Mr. Miller.
01:49Mr. Miller, yes.
01:51Mr. Bean.
01:53Mr. Bean, yes.
01:54Mr. Moran.
01:56Mr. Moran, yes.
01:58Mr. Neal.
01:59Mr. Neal, no.
02:01Mr. Doggett.
02:02Mr. Doggett, no.
02:04Mr. Thompson.
02:05Mr. Thompson, no.
02:07Mr. Larson.
02:08Mr. Larson, no.
02:10Mr. Davis.
02:12Mr. Davis, no.
02:14Ms. Sanchez.
02:15Ms. Sanchez, no.
02:17Ms. Sewell.
02:21Ms. Dobene.
02:23Ms. Dobene, no.
02:24Ms. Chu.
02:25Ms. Chu, no.
02:27Ms. Moore.
02:28Ms. Moore, no.
02:30Mr. Boyle.
02:35Mr. Byer.
02:37Mr. Byer, no.
02:38Mr. Evans.
02:40Mr. Evans, no.
02:41Mr. Schneider.
02:43Mr. Schneider, no.
02:45Mr. Panetta.
02:46Mr. Panetta, no.
02:48Mr. Gomez.
02:49Mr. Gomez, no.
02:51Mr. Horsford.
02:53Mr. Horsford, no.
02:55Ms. Plaskett.
02:56Ms. Plaskett, no.
02:58Mr. Suozzi.
03:00Mr. Suozzi, no.
03:05Mr. LaHood.
03:08Mr. LaHood, yes.
03:10Mr. Arrington.
03:17How is Ms. Sewell recorded?
03:20Ms. Sewell is not recorded.
03:24Ms. Sewell, no.
03:28Mr. Boyle.
03:35Chairman Smith.
03:36Yes.
03:37Chairman Smith, yes.
03:51Mr. Liddy.
03:52Yes.
03:52Mr. Liddy, no.
03:53Mr. Liddy, yes.
03:54Mr. Liddy, no.
03:56Mr. Liddy, no.
03:58Mr. Liddy, no.
04:00Mr. Liddy, no.
04:01Mr. Liddy, no.
04:03Mr. Liddy, no.
04:04Clerk will report the vote.
04:06The yeses are 25.
04:09The nos are 18.
04:10There being 25 yeses and 18 nos, the motion is agreed to,
04:14and H-Res 127 is ordered unfavorably
04:17reported to the House.
04:20Without objection, members have two additional days
04:22to file with the committee clerk
04:23supplemental additional dissenting or minority views.
04:27Last November, the American people
04:29overwhelmingly rejected the Biden administration's efforts
04:33to put Washington and its bureaucrats
04:36ahead of everyday Americans,
04:39from canceling appointments for more than 7,500 Americans
04:44to give Social Security Administration employees
04:47an afternoon off to signing a midnight agreement
04:51to lock in telework with SSA's largest union.
04:55Biden's Social Security Commissioner
04:57did everything he could to boost bureaucrats
05:02at the expense of the American people,
05:04all in the midst of a customer service crisis
05:08that saw the highest initial disability backlog
05:12and some of the highest customer service wait times
05:16in the SSA's almost 90-year history.
05:21That was before Doge.
05:23This was the Biden administration.
05:25In contrast, President Trump promised
05:29to increase the efficiency and accountability
05:31of Washington's entrenched bureaucracy.
05:35The president made no secret
05:37about how he was going to accomplish that,
05:40by tasking the Department of Government Efficiency
05:42to aggressively seek out inefficiencies in agencies
05:48and places where services could be better
05:50streamlined for the American public
05:52in order to get a faster,
05:55more responsive government for their needs.
05:58It is a fact that waste and fraud exist at the SSA.
06:04And in the end, that hurts the Americans
06:07seeking help from that agency.
06:11In August of 2024,
06:13the SSA's Office of the Inspector General
06:16found $72 billion in improper payments
06:21by the agency between 2015 and 2022.
06:28President Trump knows that protecting Social Security
06:32includes rooting out fraud and waste
06:34to ensure that the right benefit
06:37is paid to the right person at the right time.
06:42This should be something everyone supports.
06:45However, some Democrats would prefer to obstruct these efforts
06:49to score political points.
06:52Fortunately, not only has the SSA been transparent,
06:57with both Congress and the public
07:00with its service delivery data
07:03and the changes being made to shift the SSA
07:06from an agency that uses decades-old business practices
07:10to one that can provide modern, quality service to the public,
07:15but one of the first public statements
07:19of President Trump's new acting commissioner
07:22was to confirm that DOJ personnel
07:25cannot make changes to agency systems,
07:31to commit to abide by court rulings
07:34related to DOJ's access,
07:37and to refer DOJ personnel for prosecution
07:42if they violate the law,
07:45the same laws that protect the American people's data
07:48from misuse by the SSA's
07:50tens of thousands of other employees.
07:53Seniors are already seeing the benefit
07:55of doing things differently.
07:57Beneficiaries affected by WEP and GPO
08:01are getting the back payments mandated
08:04by the Social Security Fairness Act faster than expected.
08:09Originally, the Social Security Administration
08:11estimated it would take 1,000 work hours
08:17to send out back payments.
08:20In a letter to Social Security,
08:21Chairman Ron Estes and myself wrote to SSA,
08:27and I quote,
08:28We estimate that it will take about 1,000 work hours
08:32to process the actions required under the new law
08:36for the approximate 3.2 million affected beneficiaries.
08:41Our initial analysis indicates that much of the work
08:45will need to be done manually on a case-by-case basis.
08:51Since that letter from SSA was sent in January,
08:56the Trump administration's embrace of automation
08:59and technology has made a night-and-day difference
09:03for those affected seniors.
09:06Under President Trump, the SSA has already sent
09:10more than 71% of all back payments
09:15to the 3.2 million affected beneficiaries.
09:21This is how the agency should work,
09:24not wait 1,000 man-hours to do 3.2 million cases hand-by-hand,
09:31but automation to deliver for the American people,
09:34and President Trump, in fact,
09:35has delivered that in seven weeks.
09:40Seven weeks.
09:41The agency quickly implements the laws
09:44to get benefits in the hands of Americans as soon as possible.
09:49We shouldn't be holding out.
09:51While Democrats may want to use scaremongering
09:56to score political points, the facts are not on their side.
10:01They simply aren't.
10:02President Trump did not touch Social Security benefits
10:07during his first term.
10:09He campaigned on protecting and preserving
10:13his Social Security benefits in his second,
10:17in his first re-elect, in his second re-elect.
10:21In all those campaigns, he has been consistent.
10:25And for any member of this body to say otherwise
10:29is just saying unfactual representation
10:34of President Trump.
10:35I now recognize the ranking member from Massachusetts,
10:37Mr. Neal, for his opening statement.
10:38Thanks, Mr. Chairman.