Sen. Mike Lee tees up assault on Social Security

When he first ran for office in 2010, Sen. Mike Lee was caught on video saying it was his goal to "phase out Social Security, to pull it up from the roots and get rid of it."

When that video resurfaced during his 2022 re-election bid against independent candidate Evan McMullin, Lee claimed his comments were taken out of context.

It now appears Lee's comments did not lack context, and that he's ready to make good on his promise to gut Social Security.

In a long social media thread this week, Lee labeled the Social Security program as a "classic bait and switch," and "an outdated, mismanaged system."

Less than half an hour after Lee posted his thread, it was amplified by Elon Musk, who commented, "interesting thread."

Musk, along with business executive Vivek Ramaswamy, has been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to head up the Department of Government Efficiency, which has been tasked with finding and eliminating government waste. The Project 2025 blueprint that will be used as a roadmap for the incoming Trump administration advocates for Draconian cuts to social safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Lee makes several arguments that point to the longtime conservative goal of privatization. President George W. Bush pushed this idea after he was elected to a second term, but it never went anywhere.

According to Lee:

• Social Security is a "tax" which he claims the government can use for whatever reason it wants.
• The money that people pay into Social Security is not put into individual accounts, but goes into the "Social Security Trust Fund." He also claims "the government routinely raids this fund."
• Lee claims the government "mismanages" the money in the fund, and Americans would get a much better return on investment if they decided where to invest the funds.
  
  "If you had put the same amount into literally ANYTHING else—a mutual fund, real estate, even a savings account—you’d be better off by the time you reached retirement age, even if the government kept some of it!" Lee argued.

It's worth noting that a 2024 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concluded that Social Security has reduced poverty in every state, and lifted "more people above the poverty line than any other program in the United States."

The government spends just over 20% of the federal budget, or $1.4 trillion, on Social Security.

Lee's attack on Social Security was condemned by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, who said Lee was attempting to "undermine public faith in Social Security so conservatives can cut or privatize it."

Lee's long-held desire to gut Social Security will likely gain some traction in Congress next year. House Speaker Mike Johnson has promised to slash government spending, including big cuts to Social Security.