1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I will not stand by while Donald Trump and his allies attempt to dismantle Social Security. My mother worked her entire life as a CNA in a nursing home, raising me as a single parent on poverty wages. She paid into Social Security for decades and now relies on those benefits to survive. I’ve followed in her footsteps, contributing to Social Security for over 30 years. Any plan to cut or privatize these earned benefits is theft—plain and simple. Americans like my mother, my family, and millions of others deserve to be repaid for the labor and sacrifices they made, not left to fend for themselves in old age. According to a memo obtained by Popular Information, Trump and his advisors are plotting to undermine Social Security by pushing privatization schemes and attempting to bypass Congress to slash benefits. These ideas are not new, but they are more dangerous now, as Trump surrounds himself with operatives who see Social Security as a “burden” rather than the lifeline it is for working families. This is an assault on one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in U.S. history. Social Security is not welfare. It is a self-funded insurance program that American workers, including me and my mother, paid into with every paycheck. Without it, nearly 22 million Americans—primarily seniors—would fall below the poverty line (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2024). Efforts to gut or privatize it will hurt not only retirees but working families, disabled Americans, and surviving children who depend on it. This isn’t fiscal responsibility—it’s cruelty dressed as policy. Congress must reject this attack on Social Security outright. Trump’s advisors may frame this as “reform,” but we know better. These plans betray the American worker and threaten the dignity and security of generations who earned every penny of their benefits.