Congress is back from Monday’s break and promises this week a hearing on hot topics such as aviation safety and social security.
Ayesha Rascoe, host:
Congress will return to Capitol Hill this week for a schedule filled with hearings on hot button issues, including air safety, consumer protection, speeches on university campuses, and social security. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram has just joined us. Hello, Deepa.
Deepa Shivaram, byline: Good morning.
Rascoe: There will be a confirmation hearing for Financial Tech businessman Frank Bisignano on Tuesday. He has been appointed to the Social Security Committee. You had a surprising comment from the Secretary of Commerce now on Elon Musk, who once called it the Ponzi Project, right?
Shivaram: That’s right, yeah. The interview with Secretary Ratnick is really doing rounds. It was an “All-in” podcast.
(Podcast Soundbite, “All-in”)
Howard Lutnick: Let’s say Social Security didn’t send a check this month. My stepmother at 94 years old – she never called and complained. She wouldn’t. She’s going to think something’s messed up and she’ll get it next month.
The person with UNIDENTIFIED: Yes.
Lutnick: The con man is constantly screaming, screaming, screaming, complaining.
Shivaram: As you can imagine, Democrats jumped at those comments and said it was a reason to believe the Trump administration would try to roll back social security benefits, but Trump said he would protect Social Security. But at the same time, recent actions and comments from people like Lutnick are truly concerned about those who rely on and advocate for Social Security benefits.
Just a few days ago, Social Security Representative Committee Leland Dudek said the agency would be shutting down after a judge determined that Doge (the government’s Ministry of Efficiency) could not access sensitive data from the administration. But then on Friday, Dudek said he would retreat and not close Social Security.
And this is all coming as they are announcing plans to close some Social Security offices and enact more stringent identity checks for benefits that may require in-person visits. So much is happening ahead of Tuesday’s hearing.
Rascoe: So, in general, changes in social security – whether to reduce it, increase the ages and privatize it – it has not been proven to be a political winner in the past.
Shivaram: No. So Social Security is extremely popular. A Pew survey last year showed that 79% of Americans said they would never cut Social Security benefits. And think about it. This is a program that supports millions of retired people, people with disabilities since the 1930s, and helps them make changes to it.
I mentioned earlier how Democrats have responded to comments from Secretary Rutnick. They also quickly focused Elon Musk’s comments on social security, for example. For example, as you mentioned, I inflated how many scams happen with Social Security benefits and made a comment recently called the Ponzi scheme. But Social Security is such a popular program that there are Republicans, like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has spoken out and criticized Musk’s comments.
Lascaux: The Trump administration has ended programs for the people of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Whether you flee the Cuban and Venezuelan administrations or resonate with Republicans, what did the program do?
Shivaram: So, this news came out on Friday. The Department of Homeland Security said it would remove legal protections for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. And these are people who have come to the United States since October 2022. The order applies especially to around half a million people from countries that have arrived in the United States with permission to live and work here under the Biden administration. So, the CHNV program is designed to create a more legal pathway for immigration, so there was a legal pathway for them to be here.
But in about a month, the DHS says these people will lose their legal status and face deportation or say the White House can self-abolize. The order hopes that Trump will crack down on humanitarian parole programs and maintain the promises of these massive deportation campaigns. But I would say that the court could be involved in eliminating CHNV.
Rascoe: That’s Deepa Shivaram from NPR. Deepa, thank you very much.
Shivalam: Thank you.
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