Former Social Security administrator Martin O’Malley was in Racine recently and has been hosting townhalls to highlight potential impacts of cuts.

Fifteen Republican members of Congress took aim at proposed customer-service changes at the Social Security Administration, while the House Committee on Ways and Means invited the newly confirmed Social Security commissioner to outline plans for ensuring benefits get paid on time.

The tension between DOGE and protecting public services like SSA thus becomes a new point of contention, even within the Republican bloc itself.