During a Senate Democratic leadership press meeting, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took a sharp swing at the Trump administration for all the irregularities withing the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Veterans’ Affairs. During this conference, she made accusations to the administration for creating much inconvenience for millions of seniors around America.
“Fixing” Means Breaking, Then Denying
Senator Murray opened her speech by calling out the Trump administration for being dishonest and corrupt. “Trump’s first few months in office have been nothing but chaos. His definition of ‘fixing’ things—is breaking them and then lying about it.”
She mentioned that all the disruption within the SSA is a typical example.
Staff cuts and decreased efficiency
One of her team members, had spent multiple days calling the local Social Security Office and never got through. This made them drive to the nearest field office and upon arriving, it was found that there was a long queue even before the door was open. As a result of the reduced staff, by mid-afternoon, citizens were turned away without being helped. She said, “By 8 in the morning—an hour before the office opened—people started lining up, and by 3:30 that afternoon—people started getting turned away, best they could do was sign up for a later appointment.”
According to Murray, these delays and service inefficiencies is due to the staff reductions that were put in place without proper planning. “That is what happens when Trump pushes out thousands of Social Security workers, with no plan. That’s what happens when Trump pulls people off of casework to answer phones. And that’s what happens when Republicans blow trillions on tax breaks for billionaires while DOGE penny pinches by gutting Social Security”, said Murray.
Serving the people
Murray highlighted that many of the elder Americans require human support and not dealing with automated systems. “Here’s a message for Donald Trump: seniors in this country who need their Social Security do not want to deal with an AI chatbot,” she said. “This chaos cannot continue.”
Failing Veterans and Gagging VA Staff
After much frustration resulting from operations within the SSA, Murray then shifted her focus towards the Department of Veterans Affairs. She then took a swing at the VA leadership, making accusations of neglect. She provided a description of the work environment stating that it was toxic and a large number of employees were being laid off.
She also underlined that mental health practitioners are being forced to treat PTSD patients in small cubicles, where there minimal or no privacy. “Therapists treating PTSD have been forced now to work in open-air office cubicles where everyone can hear them. VA contracts have been cancelled with seemingly no one checking what they are for first—including a cancer registry in my state,” she said.
An Administration Obsessed with Optics, Not Outcomes
Senator Murray believes that the Trump administration and its party are more concerned about public appearance and social media attention rather than fixing real life problems that citizens are experiencing. “Meanwhile, we have a VA Secretary who seems to be more interested in picking fights with me on social media than taking any accountability for his actual job. He fired thousands upon thousands of random probationary employees and VA had to scramble to rehire,” she said.
She called out Doug Collins for celebrating the departure of over 30,000 VA employees. This included hundreds of doctors and more than 1,700 registered nurses.
Wrong Priorities, Wrong Incentives
As Senator Murray’s anger began to subside a bit, she ended off by noting that the administration follows a specific pattern, ‘a refusal to admit mistakes, and a constant appetite for conflict. “Every cabinet member is focused on social media and confrontation. Every failure is an opportunity to double down and lie about how you’re actually making America great” she said.
She mentioned that it’s the American citizens who are bearing the brunt of this so called leadership.
Murray closed her statement by affirming that she is committed to being the voice of Americans and will ensure that they are heard in every possible way.
This article has been written based on excerpts from Senator Murray’s remarks published in U.S. Senator Patty Murray.