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The 13-term Connecticut Democrat on Wednesday, March 12, ripped into his colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee’s refusal to question Musk, despite the tech mogul’s claims of uncovering billions of dollars in fraud within Social Security and other federal aid programs.
“Where’s Elon Musk?” Larson demanded. “I’m sure he’s a genius and a very credible person because of the wealth he’s accumulated, but that does not put him above the law or the responsibility to come before this committee and this Congress.”
Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, and President Donald Trump have repeatedly claimed that programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse, which costs taxpayers billions each year. However, many economists argue their evidence is weak, and their claims are exaggerated, per ABC News.
Larson has long supported efforts to eliminate fraud and waste but insists that Musk’s real goal isn’t efficiency — it’s privatization. More than 73 million Americans rely on Social Security, and Larson warns that slashing the program would be catastrophic.
“If he’s so great — if these plans and all the fraud and abuse he’s found are so imminent — why isn’t he here explaining it?” Larson said.
Musk has publicly called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” and argued that deep cuts are necessary.
“You’ve got to actually take action,” Musk told Larry Kudlow on his Fox Business show. “So, I mean, the waste report in entitlement spending, which is most of the federal spending, is entitlements. So that’s, like, the big one to eliminate. That’s the sort of half-trillion, maybe $600, $700 billion a year.”
Despite Musk’s push for cuts, Trump and GOP leaders have repeatedly promised to preserve entitlement programs.
“The Trump Administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits,” the White House said in a press release. “President Trump himself has said it (over and over and over again).”
But Larson isn’t buying it. He accused GOP lawmakers of protecting Musk instead of American families and warned that their assurances are effectively worthless since they are unwilling to question the billionaire.
“(It’s) the nation’s number one anti-poverty program for the elderly and children,” he said. “Shame! Shame! Can't bring people in front of this body. If he's right, if they're so good, if they're so just, why aren't they here telling the American people about it? They're not because you know the truth. It’s about privatization.”
Click here to watch Rep. Larson's speech.
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