DNC bashes Donald Trump ‘plans to screw over’ Florida seniors by ‘gutting’ Social Security, Medicare

After his second inauguration, Trump's flurry of executive orders  faces immediate legal challenges. Image via AP.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is going on the offense against President Donald Trump just two days into his second term, blasting the 45th and 47th President over what they say is a plan to follow through on the controversial Project 2025 agenda, including by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

A press release from the group points to several executive actions Trump took on Day 1 of his presidency, including rescinding an executive order from former President Joe Biden providing longer enrollment periods under the Affordable Care Act, additional funding to help people enroll and prescription drug cost-saving initiatives for patients on Medicare and Medicaid. The DNC cited a roundup of executive actions from KFF Health News.

“Trump has a long and shameful history of threatening hard-earned benefits like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare — and with help from Project 2025 architect Russ Vought, he’ll do it again,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said in a statement.

“Trump has already started screwing over Floridians, and he’ll cut Social Security if he gets the chance — threatening Florida seniors’ pocketbooks while he continues to protect billionaires’ bottom lines.”

Florida has nearly 5 million Social Security beneficiaries and more than 5 million Medicare enrollees, according to the DNC.

The DNC points to Trump’s first term as evidence that the social safety net programs may be in peril, referencing reports from several news outlets about proposed budgets.

“Trump said he wouldn’t cut Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. His 2020 budget cuts all 3,” a headline from Vox in 2019 reads.

The DNC rundown includes citations from PBS in 2017 about Trump’s then-proposed 2018 budget, which included cuts to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Social Security, while boosting defense and border security spending; and from Vox in 2018 about Trump’s 2019 budget proposal, which included deep cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income for disabled people.

The DNC also includes a New York Times article outlining “$1.9 trillion in cost savings from mandatory safety-net programs, like Medicaid and Medicare, the federal health care programs for the elderly and poor” in his proposed 2020 budget.

Likewise, the rundown includes a Newsweek analysis of Trump’s proposed 2021 budget, outlining “Trump’s proposed budget (that) slashes entitlements,” including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

The DNC also points out that Trump once referred to Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” and called for privatizing the program, citing a CNN article from 2023.

Vought, one of the architects of Project 2025, is Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget. The DNC blasted Vought for “repeatedly (pushing) cuts to Social Security in Trump’s first term,” referencing an analysis from Common Dreams in November.

“President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Russell Vought, a Project 2025 architect, to lead the White House budget office was seen as further evidence of the threat the incoming administration poses to Social Security, Medicare, and other critical government programs,” the piece reads.

The threats to social security and other social safety net programs are being broadcast elsewhere, too.

Business Insider on Tuesday published a piece cautioning that “Trump’s mass deportation plan could drain more than $20 billion a year from Social Security.”

Nasdaq, on its website, outlines Trump’s pledge to eliminate taxes on Social Security income for seniors, which it acknowledges that “at first glance sounds like a good thing for folks who are already living on limited incomes.” But it also notes “there are complexities,” including reducing the amount of funds going into the program and speeding up the already anticipated insolvency of the program around 2034.

The DNC, meanwhile, says these efforts are part of his efforts to enrich “himself on the backs of his supporters.”

“While Trump tries to scam Americans out of their hard-earned benefits, Democrats won’t stop fighting to protect access to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and every critical program hardworking Floridians rely on,” Rahman said.