Could DOGE Really Gut Social Security?

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

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News, Daily News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

DOGE cuts have already hit Social Security, with offices closing and employees fired. With Elon Musk calling the program a “Ponzi scheme” and saying entitlements are “the big one to eliminate,” this may be just the beginning of the unraveling of the trusted safety net that millions of Americans rely on. Guest: Joe Perticone, political reporter at The Bulwark. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:05.9	Hi, this is Nancy, and I'm calling from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1:09.5	A few days back, we got a message here at the show
1:12.4	from a listener after my own heart, a listener who cannot help but talk to people about what's going
1:18.9	on in the world. Like she said, her name's Nancy. I am a 64-year-old retiree, and I recently filed for Social Security benefits.
1:30.2	We'd asked you to tell us stories about how you are seeing government funding cuts in your own lives.
1:36.7	Nancy's story is about Social Security. Her checks were not coming in until she got on the phone
1:42.6	with a guy named Larry, who realized Nancy's
1:45.5	caseworker was on medical leave, and then he took it upon himself to get her sorted out.
1:51.3	And when he was done, he completed the application for me. I've already got the benefits in my bank
	...

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