What's New
House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene threw a copy of President-elect Donald Trump's 2024 campaign Social Security pledge on the floor during a heated confrontation with a campaigner inside the Capitol Hill complex on Tuesday.
The incident took place after the Georgia representative was approached by Alex Lawson, executive director of Strengthen Social Security, a group that campaigns to protect and expand the Social Security program.
Newsweek contacted Greene for comment via email on Wednesday outside regular office hours.
Why It Matters
During his campaign, Trump pledged to protect Social Security and end its taxation as he sought to appeal to poorer and blue-collar voters. Speaking at a rally in July, Trump said: "I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare."
Trump also vowed to abolish taxes on overtime pay and tips, which help pay for Social Security, leading the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget to warn that the program's finances would "dramatically worsen" if the proposals are implemented. About 72 million American's rely on Social Security, so any policy change would have a major impact on their lives and the wider U.S. economy.
What To Know
Tuesday's confrontation began when Greene was approached by Lawson while heading for the inaugural House Subcommittee meeting for the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which she is chairing. Trump announced that DOGE will be headed by business tycoons Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy with the task of slashing waste.
After Lawson said "congresswoman" to get her attention, Greene immediately went on the attack, saying: "Democrat PAC—he's funded by a Democrat PAC, donates 100 percent to Democrats."
After Lawson replied that Strengthen Social Security is "bipartisan" Greene replied: "No you're not. We looked you up. You are 100 percent funded by Democrats, you donate to Democrats."
According to its website, Strengthen Social Security has a number of "coalition member" organizations, most of which are charities or representative bodies for various groups. Some are explicitly left wing, such as the Democratic Socialists of America and the Progressive Democrats of America.
Lawson then held up a document containing Trump's Social Security pledge and said: "This is a mailing, this is Trump."
Greene was also speaking at the same time, and it's unclear if she knew that the mailing contained Trump's pledge.
She replied: "We all campaigned on protecting senior Social Security, you can't lie about it. See this is your political agenda. We don't care."
At that point, Greene took the papers from Lawson's hand and threw them over her shoulder, scattering them on the group.
Lawson said "that's Trump's mailing," to which Greene replied: "You're not media. This right here is for Democrat ads to attack Republicans."
Lawson then twice asked Greene if she would "pledge to take Social Security and Medicare cuts off the table."
After accusing Lawson of lying, Greene said: "I don't need to take a pledge because we've already done that all year long and guess what, the sad story for you is the American people elected Trump, his agenda and Republicans to lead the country because you guys suck so bad." She then walked into the meeting, ignoring another pledge request.
Speaking outside the DOGE committee meeting, House Republican Greg Lopez of Colorado warned that "there will be some cuts" after being asked about Medicare and Social Security.
What People Are Saying
Lawson told Newsweek: "When I tried to hand Representative Greene Donald Trump's mailer that he sent to millions of households promising not to cut Social Security and Medicare, she refused to affirm she would keep his promise.
"I wasn't asking for a lot, just for her to say I will do what President Trump said he wanted, no cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. Not only did she refuse, she ripped the Trump mailers out of my hands and threw them on the floor in disgust. I think that is a very visual explanation of how the Republicans in Congress view the promises made during the campaign, worthless garbage."
What Happens Next
Musk has claimed it is possible to cut "at least $2 trillion" from U.S. government expenditure by eliminating "waste." DOGE will now have to find ways to do this without sparking an anti-Trump backlash with major Social Security cuts.
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