Republicans are dancing around the third rail of American politics and at least one GOP lawmaker has had enough.
During a stop by NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, accused his own party of playing dumb around potential cuts to Social Security. Curtis said he wouldn’t go as far as Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk, who raised eyebrows by calling the program a “Ponzi scheme” earlier this month. However, he did think the Republican Party needed to be truthful about their plans for Social Security.
“We’re not being honest when we look people in the eye and say we’re not going to touch it,” Curtis said. “We can’t be afraid of this conversation.”
Curtis said that the question of Social Security’s long-term solvency is very much up in the air and advocated for addressing the problem sooner rather than later.
“The sooner we do it, the less dramatic it has to be,” he said. “If we don’t do it, we have worse decisions thrust upon us.”
Curtis’ plea for transparency comes after weeks of attacks on Social Security from the Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and Trump have shared baseless accusations that the program is rife with fraud, in what can only be seen as the groundwork for the eventual shrinking, privatizing or outright axing of the safety net for retirees.
Musk, in particular, hasn’t been shy in his disdain for the benefits. His willingness to call for a shrinking of the workforce that administers the payments, as well as proposed closings of regional offices, has caused no end of agita among Republican politicians.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told The Hill that Musk’s prattling “doesn’t help” advance GOP goals.
“It worries Americans all over the country,” she said. “This is why Social Security has been kind of viewed as the untouchable from a political perspective, and why the president made very clear we’re not dealing with Social Security.”
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