During a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) questioned witnesses about Elon Musk and DOGE cuts, as well as attacks on Social Security.
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NewsTranscript
00:01Mr. Frost.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:05Hello.
00:06Thank you so much for being here today.
00:07You know, when I was back home in the district over the weekend, everywhere I went, the grocery
00:10store, walking around the park, doing anything, people were coming up to me asking about Social
00:15Security.
00:16And I think a lot of people are worried and scared right now.
00:20I think part of it has to do with a lot of the myths and disinformation that's going
00:24around.
00:26this constant lie from Elon Musk that tens of millions of dead people are getting Social
00:32Security paychecks.
00:35Claiming fraud on Social Security, I think, is one way that folks are going to justify
00:39cutting it, pocketing the benefits for billionaires, privatizing it.
00:44Ms. Koselec, Elon Musk is now calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme.
00:50How concerned are you that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme?
00:56I don't think we have seen indications in our work that that is the case.
01:02Musk is calling it a Ponzi scheme as an excuse to destroy it, in my opinion.
01:07Americans earned Social Security through years of hard work, and it's a good investment.
01:11It could be a better investment for black men, because we're pretty much donors, because
01:14we live less time.
01:16But that's another conversation for another time.
01:19It's one of the most popular government services, and most people support more funding for Social
01:23Security, not less.
01:25Ms. Wagner, people want shorter wait times, payments processed more quickly.
01:31But at the same time, the administration wants to cut 7,000 employees from the administration.
01:36Yesterday, somebody from my office called Social Security, 30 days to process something
01:41on retirement, 30 days on Medicaid, 230 days as it relates to disability.
01:47What would be the effects of these cuts to the Social Security administration right now?
01:53When staff shrinks, there are fewer people to take appointments, to answer phones, to
01:56process applications for different benefits, and that hurts people nationwide.
02:01In addition to their own staff, Social Security administration funds state disability determination
02:06service employees who decide whether applicants' disabilities are severe enough to qualify
02:10for benefits.
02:12Their processing time was already at a record high of seven months, and we expect cuts will
02:17have further impact.
02:18In addition, seven in 10 of Social Security staff do serve the public directly.
02:22So this will have a major impact on customer service.
02:26And it's not just, you know, billionaires like Elon Musk who are going around attacking
02:30it.
02:31My own Florida Senator Rick Scott, the richest person in Congress, which on the topic of
02:35fraud, you know, my senator made history.
02:38He's the man responsible for the largest Medicare fraud in the history of this country, $1.7
02:43billion.
02:44He says that Republicans are, quote, going to have to cut Social Security, end quote.
02:49Why are they doing this?
02:50Well, to take money from Social Security to use it for tax cuts for people who are too
02:54rich to need it.
02:56House Republicans plan to make $880 billion in cuts to health care.
03:00This means cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, too.
03:03Ms. Wagner, four in eight American children are Medicaid recipients, including over 60,000
03:08people in my district alone.
03:10For an Orlando family currently receiving Medicaid, what could be the financial fallout
03:15from losing access to Medicaid?
03:17Well, first, when states are forced to cut back on funding, they are going to cut back
03:22on who's eligible and the benefits they receive.
03:25But cuts will have broader impacts than just those who are no longer eligible.
03:29They will directly or indirectly affect the amount of funds available for state staff,
03:33for IT systems that support Medicaid, and they'll probably lead to more improper payments
03:37and reduced program integrity.
03:39And it will impact people who, even whose eligibility isn't cut.
03:43Longer call center wait times, more errors, uncertainty, stress, and possibly not be able
03:47to get approved for benefits or losing coverage at renewal, even though they remain eligible.
03:53You know, before coming to Congress, I worked in organizations, and one of the proudest
03:57things I did was work at March for Our Lives.
03:59It came after the shooting that happened in Parkland.
04:01I traveled this country speaking with people that disagreed with me on the issue of gun
04:07violence, but it made me a better person.
04:09And something I learned during my travels is, in order to speak about something in a
04:15bipartisan way, I think it's really important to make sure people are coming at this on
04:20the right foot in good faith.
04:22And I'm all for the modernization of our government.
04:25I think it's really important, and I say that as the youngest person in the United States
04:29Congress.
04:30I think it is very important.
04:32But when I see the people leading the effort, like Elon Musk, call something like Social
04:38Security a Ponzi scheme, and I hear crickets on the other side of the aisle, I have a really
04:44hard time taking any of this seriously when I go home and I have people coming up to me
04:49in the grocery store who are living paycheck to paycheck asking me, what are you going
04:54to do to protect Social Security?
04:57So thank you so much, and I yield back.