Commerce secretary: No one but 'fraudsters' would complain about missed Social Security check [View all]

Source: Yahoo! News/The Hill

Fri, March 21, 2025 at 4:33 PM EDT


Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick raised alarm over “fraudsters” receiving Social Security benefits, as Trump allies have ramped up rhetoric about potential waste in the program amid a major restructuring effort at the agency that oversees the program. During an appearance on the “All-In” podcast that was released on Thursday, Lutnick said the government doesn’t “have to take one penny from someone who deserves Social Security, not one penny for someone who deserves Medicaid, Medicare.”

“What we have to do is stop sending money to someone who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years,” he claimed. “It’s ridiculous, and they have another job.” At one point in the wide-ranging, nearly two-hour conversation, Lutnick also said that if Social Security “didn’t send out their checks this month,” his “mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain.”

“She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining,” the billionaire businessman said.

“Anybody who’s been in the payment system and the processes, who knows the easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen, because whoever screams is the one stealing,” he said. “Because my mother-in-law’s not calling, come on, your mother, 80-year-olds, 90-year-olds, they trust the government.”

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/commerce-secretary-no-one-fraudsters-203308435.html