Written by Lisa Mascaro and Michelle L. Price
Washington (AP) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Wednesday that the children’s savings program, which was part of President Donald Trump’s tax relief and expenditure cut law, is a back door for privatizing Social Security.
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Following Trump’s repeated pledges that he would not reduce Social Security, Bessent’s statement, delivered at a discussion hosted by Breitbart News, was startling. Democrats swiftly interpreted the remark as evidence that the GOP is seeking to resurrect an unsuccessful attempt to privatize the long-standing retirement program.
Tim Hogan, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, stated in a statement that Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just said the silent part aloud: The administration is planning to privatize Social Security.
A message regarding Bessent’s comments was not immediately answered by the White House.
Trump Accounts, a new children’s savings program launched by the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill,” can be opened for newborns born in the United States and may include a $1,000 Treasury deposit.
Similar to other accounts or college savings plans, the accounts can increase over time, and as adults, the collected money can be accessed.
On Wednesday, however, Bessent gave the accounts an additional choice.
Speaking about Social Security, Bessent claimed that it is a kind of back door toward privatization.
Bessent’s remarks were remarkable since they casually brought up a divisive topic.
Since ideas to privatize Social Security were discussed by the George W. Bush administration over two decades ago, Republicans have openly distanced themselves from discussing the politically unpopular and quickly abandoned topic.
In the lead-up to the 2006 midterm elections, Democrats regained control of the House and Senate in Congress by utilizing Republican plans to privatize Social Security.
Republicans are once more attempting to undermine the long-standing retirement program, Democrats said Wednesday.
Removing food from starving children and denying health care to millions of people wasn’t enough. Hogan claimed in the DNC statement that Trump is now targeting American elders with a backdoor fraud to revoke the benefits they were entitled to.
