Oligarchy Era Begins: Social Security Goes All-In on Musk’s X Platform!

The Trump administration came under renewed scrutiny on Friday following reports that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is slashing its communications team and transitioning to Elon Musk’s social media platform X for public communications.

Musk, recognized as the wealthiest individual globally, also serves as the acting head of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This department is at the forefront of the administration’s push to streamline federal operations. However, Musk is nearing the end of his allowable tenure of 130 days as a “special government employee,” as per federal regulations.

“Elon Musk is herding seniors to X for updates and information on Social Security,” stated Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, on X on Friday. “He is the only one who stands to gain from this. Welcome to the age of oligarchy.”

Martin O’Malley, former head of the SSA during the Biden administration, also voiced his concerns on X, stating, “This egregious conflict of interest favors Elon Musk while denying the American people fair access to THEIR Social Security Administration and the benefits they have rightfully earned.”

During a call with employees on Thursday, SSA Midwest-West Regional Commissioner Linda Kerr-Davis announced, “Instead of traditional press releases or ‘Dear Colleague’ letters, the agency will now use X to communicate with the press and the public—previously known as Twitter. This platform will be our primary method of communication.”

“For those accustomed to receiving press releases and ‘Dear Colleague’ letters, I encourage subscribing to the official SSA X account to keep abreast of agency developments,” Kerr-Davis advised employees. “This change might seem unfamiliar and challenging, but we are navigating through different times.”

According to Federal News Network, Kerr-Davis also discussed reshuffling staff to reduce the necessity for layoffs:

The restructuring will lead to significant reductions in staff across regional offices. Kerr-Davis noted, “Our MWW regional office currently employs about 550 staff members, but this number will be trimmed down to approximately 70 under our new streamlined regional office model.”

“Will this loss of specialized experts directly cause fraud, waste, and abuse? Absolutely,” she admitted to employees. “We anticipate issues arising quickly. We’re hopeful for support to manage these challenges.”

Kerr-Davis acknowledged that the reassignments would support under-resourced field offices, but many employees would be moved to lower-ranking roles.

“I understand the difficulty this transition may pose, particularly for those who have spent years mastering their roles. We are now asking them to embrace different responsibilities,” she explained. “For some, this means revisiting tasks they haven’t performed in years, which may now look quite different.”

Kerr-Davis’ remarks were also covered by Wired on Friday, which reported that she did not respond to their request for comment. However, White House spokesperson Liz Huston clarified, “The reports are misleading. The Social Security Administration continues to actively communicate with beneficiaries and stakeholders.”

“There has been no workforce reduction,” Huston explained to Wired. “Instead, by reallocating staff from regional to frontline services, we are enhancing service delivery, placing limited resources where they are most needed. President Trump remains committed to safeguarding Social Security.”

HuffPost noted on Friday that recent inquiries to the SSA press line were answered by White House spokespeople instead of Social Security representatives.

Although the SSA has not issued a press release on its website since March 27, it has been actively posting updates on its X account, @SocialSecurity. The latest post from Wednesday discussed the cancellation of a proposed identity verification measure and related reductions in telephone services.

Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, expressed on Friday that “retirees, individuals with disabilities, and the millions depending on Social Security shouldn’t be required to have an X account to receive updates about the program.”

“Shifting all Social Security communications to Elon Musk’s personal social media platform is a clear attempt to increase user numbers and boost X’s profits,” Saunders stated emphatically. “This should be a wake-up call for everyone. Social Security is funded by the diligent taxpayers, not by an unelected billionaire like Musk.”

“This administration’s intent to dismantle and then privatize Social Security is evident. Closing down regional offices and centralizing communications to a single, unaccountable, profit-driven social media entity is just the next phase in their plan to funnel taxpayer money to billionaires,” he continued. “We must prevent Musk and his DOGE allies from taking over the Social Security Administration, and we will not back down in this fight.”

The AFSCME, along with the American Federation of Teachers and the Alliance for Retired Americans, is challenging DOGE’s access to sensitive personal data at the SSA in federal court.