Business magnate Elon Musk suggested that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) may be benefiting financially from government fraud—an accusation the senator has firmly denied. “Chuck, I’m starting to think you’re getting a piece of the action with the government fraud. But no, that couldn’t possibly be the reason, could it?” Musk posted early Tuesday morning.
Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, made the remark in response to a Monday post from Sen. Chuck Schumer. In the post—echoing remarks from a recent Senate speech—Schumer accused DOGE of “sabotaging” Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Schumer responded to Musk’s claim that he might be profiting from government fraud. “Another Elon lie. He wants you to think anyone who dares to stand up to him is committing fraud, meanwhile he’s taking tens of billions from the government,” Schumer declared in a post on Tuesday. Musk, meanwhile, isn’t being paid for his work for the federal government.
Early Tuesday morning, Musk fired off a response to a post in which Schumer suggested that Musk is slashing Social Security benefits. “Make no mistake: What Elon Musk is doing at Social Security is cutting benefits,” Schumer said in a post on Monday, which echoed his speech. “The intern running Schumer’s social media account is lying,” Musk shot back Tuesday on X.