As Elon Musk continues to slash the budgets of government agencies at the behest of President Donald Trump, Social Security appears to be in the billionaire’s crosshairs. During an appearance on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast last week, Musk criticized Social Security benefits, which are received by an estimated 72.5 million Americans.
“Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” Musk said.
When pressed by Rogan to explain what he meant, Musk went on to claim that the future obligations for Social Security benefits “far exceeds” tax revenues that fund the program.
“Basically, people are living way longer than expected and there are fewer babies being born,” Musk said.
Although Musk failed to provide data to support his claims, the future funding for Social Security has been a much debated topic for several years. A Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report released in May indicated that Social Security’s trust funds will be unable to pay full benefits starting 2035. After that time, the agency will be able to pay about 83% of benefits.
Musk’s comments come as he continues to implement Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) agenda. While he is technically not the head of DOGE, Musk has been the public face for the agency. Musk has conducted various interviews about DOGE’s efforts and spoke during a Cabinet meeting last week even though he is not a cabinet member.
DOGE was created in January through an executive order signed by Trump. The agency is tasked with modernizing “Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity” according to the order.
The same day Musk appeared on Rogan’s podcast, the Social Security Administration announced it plans to reduce the workforce from 57,000 to 50,000 in the coming weeks.