Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested this week that if Social Security recipients did not receive their checks, only those who are defrauding the system would complain.
“Let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who's 94, she wouldn't call and complain. She just wouldn't. She'd think something got messed up and she'll get it next month,” Lutnick told “All-In” podcast hosts and entrepreneurs Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg. “A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.”
Lutnick, a billionaire businessman who led a brokerage and investment firm before being picked by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce, said seniors “trust the government. … They're not going to call and scream at someone. But someone who's stealing always does.”
He went on to say that the federal government does not “have to take one penny from someone who deserves Social Security, not one penny from someone who deserves Medicaid and Medicare” if it stops sending money to “someone who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years.”
Lutnick’s comments come as the Social Security Administration said it would stay open, following a judge’s ruling that the Department of Government Efficiency was barred from accessing the agency’s systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans.
According to the agency’s own data, an average of nearly 69 million Americans per month will receive Social Security benefits in 2025. Around 10 percent of benefits were paid to disabled workers and their dependents in 2024, and it’s estimated that 1 in 4 young Americans today will become disabled and entitled to Social Security before age 67.
PBS NewsHour
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested this week that if Social Security recipients did not receive their checks, only those who are defrauding the system would complain.
“Let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who's 94, she wouldn't call and complain. She just wouldn't. She'd think something got messed up and she'll get it next month,” Lutnick told “All-In” podcast hosts and entrepreneurs Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg. “A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.”
Lutnick, a billionaire businessman who led a brokerage and investment firm before being picked by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce, said seniors “trust the government. … They're not going to call and scream at someone. But someone who's stealing always does.”
He went on to say that the federal government does not “have to take one penny from someone who deserves Social Security, not one penny from someone who deserves Medicaid and Medicare” if it stops sending money to “someone who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years.”
Lutnick’s comments come as the Social Security Administration said it would stay open, following a judge’s ruling that the Department of Government Efficiency was barred from accessing the agency’s systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans.
According to the agency’s own data, an average of nearly 69 million Americans per month will receive Social Security benefits in 2025. Around 10 percent of benefits were paid to disabled workers and their dependents in 2024, and it’s estimated that 1 in 4 young Americans today will become disabled and entitled to Social Security before age 67.
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