Only a “fraudster” would care if they miss a Social Security check, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a new interview this week.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Commerce via email for comment.
Why It Matters
More than 71 million Americans rely on Social Security benefits, but the program has faced questions about whether it could become insolvent by the 2030s without significant reform. The benefits are a key piece of income for retirees, survivors of deceased claimants, and disabled people.
Upon returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump said he does not plan to end programs like Social Security and Medicare, but concerns that the program could be shut down or significantly altered persist.
What to Know
Lutnick discussed how he believes Americans would respond to going a month without a Social Security check during an interview on the podcast All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg.
During the appearance, Lutnick said the average American, using his mother-in-law as an example, would not complain about not receiving their checks for a month but that someone who was hacking the system would do so.
“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this months. My mother-in-law is 94, she wouldn’t call up and complain. She just wouldn’t. She would think something got messed up and she’d get it next month,” he said. “A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.”
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Lutnick said the “easiest way to find a fraudster is to stop payments and listen” for “whoever screams.” Most recipients trust the government and would understand if they didn’t receive the check, he said.
“So what happens is you need to get to, so the people who are getting that free money, stealing the money, inappropriately getting the money, have an inside person getting the money, they are going to yell and scream. But real America is going to be rewarded,” he said.
The Trump administration is closing several Social Security offices as part of its efforts to reduce the federal government’s size. At least 7,000 Social Security Administration (SSA) employees were terminated in February.
What People Are Saying
Market Watch Columnist Brett Arends, in an opinion article published Friday: “The comments, coming just as Musk and his DOGE team slash the number of people working at Social Security and close branch offices, are unlikely to win friends and influence people even among Republicans, let alone anyone else.”
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, on X (formerly Twitter): “Secretary Lutnick: You are a billionaire. Maybe your mother-in-law wouldn’t complain if she didn’t get her Social Security check, but tens of millions of seniors struggling to survive would. They’re not fraudsters. They earned it. How out of touch are you not to realize that?”
Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, on X: “Don’t call and complain when you don’t get your Social Security check? And if you do, you’re a ‘fraudster?’ This is the administration’s message to seniors who spent a lifetime earning these benefits. And by the way, Secretary Lutnick is a billionaire. He may not give a damn if you miss your check, but I sure do.”
What Happens Next
On Thursday, the SSA said it will immediately resume debt collection activities through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), which had been paused since 2020.