Email to 35 million seniors claimed Trump tax law delivered $7,500 average relief
Senate Democrats on Monday challenged the Social Security commissioner over an unsolicited mass email to benefit recipients that they say contained multiple misleading claims about the benefits of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law.
The email, sent from the Social Security Administration’s commissioner to a distribution list of recipients, stated that thanks to President Trump, over 35 million American seniors received an average of $7,500 in relief this tax season, and listed recent changes at the agency, including reduced wait times at field offices and faster responses to beneficiary calls. It closed by declaring that America’s seniors were winning.
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico — all Democrats — wrote in a July 21 letter to Commissioner Frank Bisignano that the message was an inappropriate use of official government communications and contained multiple misleading assertions about the benefits of the Trump-backed legislation. The senators described the communication as an unsolicited electronic message that pushed partisan and misleading statements.
The clash arrives as the future of Social Security, which provides economic support to more than 70 million retirees, disabled workers, and survivors, becomes an increasingly prominent campaign issue ahead of this November’s midterm elections. Democrats and Republicans are competing for control of a narrowly divided House of Representatives, with the Senate also in play, and both parties see the program as a potent symbol of government’s role in Americans’ financial security. The New Deal-era program faces a looming funding shortfall that has made talk of cutting benefits unpopular among voters.