Elon Musk says he’s ‘increasingly optimistic’ about the future of Social Security — but cuts aren’t off the table as Musk claims 'legitimate people' are paying for the misdeeds of fraudsters

In a recent interview with Fox, Musk said DOGE's efforts will shore up the program against fraud, and that the main beneficiaries will be "legitimate people" who collect monthly checks.

"What we're doing will help their benefits, he said, adding that "the fraud prevention measures we're putting in place will ensure that somebody can't take your Social Security."

President Donald Trump and Musk say they’re targeting all entitlement programs — including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — for cuts, claiming waste.

That may leave people wondering about the long-term future of their Social Security benefits.

The reality of waste and fraud in the Social Security program

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has already identified waste — and did so last August under the former Biden administration, when the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General reported $71.8 billion in improper Social Security payments from fiscal years 2015 through 2022. These were mostly overpayments.

At the time, the inspector general made recommendations to address the overpayments and noted that while $71.8 billion is a sizable figure, it amounts to less than 1% of benefits paid over the seven-year period — meaning 99% of the SSA’s payments were issued correctly.

Now Trump appointee Leland Dudek, the SSA’s acting commissioner, is cracking down on overpayments to save about $7 billion over the course of the next decade.

The SSA will withhold all benefits from beneficiaries who were overpaid (accidentally or otherwise) until the beneficiaries pay back their ‘debt.’

As for fraud, Musk’s characterization of Social Security as a Ponzi scheme is inaccurate.

A Ponzi scheme is a scam where a con artist recruits investors for a fake company and pays them with cash collected from later investors to create the illusion of profit. Meanwhile, the con artist steals cash from all investors until the number of new investors dwindles and the scam collapses.

In contrast, Social Security benefits are a legitimate and transparent government program funded through payroll taxes. Employers and employees each pay 6.2% of the tax, for a total of 12.4%, while self-employed workers pay the full 12.4%.

It is true that there are fewer people ‘paying in’ to the Social Security program as the youngest of the baby boomers retire and a low birth rate means fewer working Americans are supporting more retirees.

But the benefits are real and yearly increases guaranteed through cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA, to ensure recipients’ purchasing power keeps up with inflation.