March 31, 2025

Scoop: Senate Dems to launch Social Security war room

Senate Democrats will launch a war room Tuesday dedicated to fighting back against the Department of Government Efficiency's cuts to Social Security, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The White House is planning service cuts to Social Security that current and former officials warn would break an already strained system.

  • The war room will serve as a central hub for Senate Democrats to plan messaging, create content, provide oversight, make field visits and host town halls to pummel the GOP on the issue.
  • The Trump administration is planning to cut some identity verification phone services at the Social Security Administration next month, after postponing the move last week.
  • Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) organized the war room, we are told.

The big picture: DOGE continues to slash agencies and programs across the federal government. Social Security is where Democrats are digging in the hardest.

  • DOGE's targeting of Social Security is a powerful political tool for Democrats, who know that cuts to the agency are deeply unpopular with voters.
  • The war room will mean a more intensive Democratic offensive on the issue, including holding more town halls in GOP congressional districts and visiting Social Security offices around the country.
  • Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) last week privately met with Democrats to discuss how to target GOP moderates on issues like Social Security and Medicaid.

Zoom out: The Democrats will announce the war room after the Senate Finance Committee will likely advance the nomination of President Trump's pick to be Social Security commissioner on Tuesday.

  • Schumer will join the lawmakers who organized the war room at the event announcing the initiative.
  • Democrats have sounded the alarm on the nominee, Frank Bisignano. He said at a Senate hearing last week that he would "run the agency in the right fashion."

Go deeper: Schumer targets GOP moderates on Medicaid, Social Security


Source: Axios