In Their Words: Republicans Want To Gut Your Social Security

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT): "It Will Be My Objective To Phase Out Social Security"

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI): "Social Security Is A Legal Ponzi Scheme"

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL): "The Social Security Program Is The Single Largest Program We're Wasting Our Tax Dollars On"

For 91 years, Social Security has been a bedrock of the American retirement system. Each month, it provides a lifeline to 75 million older Americans, their children, and disabled workers, but Republicans are trying to take it away. Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump already gutted families' health care to give tax cuts to billionaires in their "Big, Ugly Bill," and now they are going after Americans' hard-earned Social Security benefits. In just his first year, Trump pushed out more than 8,000 Social Security Administration workers, making it harder for Americans to access their benefits: field offices are struggling to operate, in-person services have been cut, survivors are having difficulty accessing benefits, and phone services are worse. Republicans are all too eager to go even further.

"Billionaires get tax cuts. Social Security gets the chopping block. That's the Republican way," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). "Millions of Americans have paid into Social Security their whole lives, and now Republicans want to pull the rug out from under them. Senate Democrats will not let it happen. Republicans can yell until they are blue in the face: Social Security isn't going anywhere."

Here are what Republicans have said about cutting Social Security, which you can also watch here:

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL): "The Social Security program is the single largest program we're wasting our tax dollars on." … "Stop this Social Security scam." [Senate Floor Remarks, 7/29/26]

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI): "Another thing we ought to grapple with is Social Security is a legal Ponzi scheme. I get criticized for saying but that's exactly what it is." [Senate Finance Committee Hearing, 8/5/26]

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI): "I just laid out the reality of Social Security, it's a legal Ponzi scheme." [The Jay Weber Show, 2/9/23]

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA): "And then we're going to lead up to what we have to do and address the largest spending items. The thing the reason we're in trouble is because over 74% of federal spending is on autopilot mandatory spending. That's your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and then things like Social Security. They have to be adjusted and fixed. We have a plan to do that next year and it's critical." [Moon Griffon Show, 6/8/26]

Senator John Curtis (R-UT): "We're not being honest either with people, and that's why you'll actually see me in a couple of months introduce a change to Social Security. We're not being honest when we look people in the eye and say we're not going to touch it. If we don't touch it, it touches itself." [NBC Meet the Press, 3/23/25]

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT): "And let's talk about how this system is set up to fail. The demographic shift? More retirees, fewer workers. It's almost fair to compare it to a Ponzi scheme that's running out of new investors." [Twitter, 12/2/24]

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT): "'I'm here right now to tell you one thing you probably have never heard from a politician: It will be my objective to phase out Social Security, to pull it up from the roots and get rid of it." [Newsweek, 11/3/22]

Leader John Thune (R-SD): "You may have to gradually increase the retirement for these programs or make some of those types of changes to make them more sustainable." [WNAX, 4/17/18]

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