Beth Van Duyne Accuses Dems Of Pushing ‘Unsubstantiated’ Arguments About Musk And DOGE

15 hours ago

During Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) discussed the attacks on Elon Musk's management of DOGE.

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Transcript

00:00Ms. Van Dyne. Thank you. Five minutes to strike the last word. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:05You know, when President Trump got elected, he promised to change the status quo and bring

00:09accountability to D.C., and that starts with an in-depth review of the agencies,

00:14including Social Security, that pay trillions of dollars a year out. Those employees are subject

00:20to the same legal penalties, and I want to make sure that we are understanding that because we've

00:24seen a lot of unsubstantiated charges tonight, today, but they are subject to the same legal

00:30penalties and fines for improper disclosure of sensitive information as every other

00:36Social Security administrator employee. In fact, the acting commissioner of Social Security

00:40affirmatively stated that DOJ personnel cannot make changes to agency systems,

00:45benefit payments, or other information. They only have read access. DOJ personnel must follow the

00:52law, and if they violate the law, they will be deferred to the Department of Justice for possible

00:57persecution. The status quo is no longer acceptable, and Americans voted for change,

01:02and President Trump is delivering. In fact, we've heard some complaints today about the level of

01:07quality of customer service. I would have them know that I've got great news for my colleagues

01:12who requested information about the service provided by Social Security's National 800 number.

01:17Not only does the Social Security administration already publicly post up-to-date information

01:22on the performance of that 1-800 number, but including information asked in the ROI,

01:27but that information is showing significant improvement since the service delivery

01:32lows under the Biden administration. I ask for unanimous consent to submit for the record a

01:37chart from the SSA's website showing that the 800 number's average speed of an answer for this

01:41fiscal year is 21.6 minutes. This is down, by the way, from 35.8 minutes during the Biden

01:50administration. So I would hope that all of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would be

01:54thanking President Trump. But I also want to talk about some of the most egregious and easily

01:59provable lie that we've heard on this side that President Trump wants to get rid of or

02:05deduct from Social Security, wants to reduce Social Security. President Trump has promised

02:10to increase the efficiency and accountability of Washington's bureaucracy. It is a fact that

02:18waste, fraud, and abuse exist at the Social Security administration. Fact. The Social

02:24Security administration made an estimate of $72 billion in improper payments between 2015 and 2022.

02:31It exists. We know that it exists. The Social Security's office and the inspector general found

02:36that. President Trump has repeatedly stated that he will fight for Social Security. President Trump

02:42has repeatedly stated that he will protect Social Security. And President Trump has repeatedly stated

02:47that he will not cut Social Security. House Republicans stand with President Trump's

02:52commitment to preserving and strengthening Social Security benefits for seniors that they count on.

02:58But in addition to that, I don't want to just talk for the president because we have all heard him

03:02say it numerous times, but let the president's words speak for themselves.

03:06So I don't know how many times the man has to say it. He has repeated it publicly

03:34a number of times. If you go to the White House website, they have it published a number of times.

03:40I keep hearing this lie over and over again. They know it's wrong. I would really hope that we could

03:46all work and want to have it be more effective, a more efficient program. And that's what we're

03:52here to do. And I would hope that I can get my other colleagues on the other side of the aisle

03:56to agree with that. And with that, I yield.

Beth Van Duyne Accuses Dems Of Pushing ‘Unsubstantiated’ Arguments About Musk And DOGE

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