Luján Presses Budget Office Nominee on Firing FBI Victim Specialist, Attacks on Social Security

Luján Helped Lead Opposition to Project 2025 Chief Architect to Serve as OMB Director

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of Senate Committee on the Budget, pressed Dan Bishop, the nominee to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on firing career civil servants and Elon Musk’s attacks on Social Security following President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress.  

Senator Luján shared the story on behalf of a New Mexican who was fired as an FBI victim specialist, saying, “I am not waste, fraud, and abuse. I am not the enemy. I’m not expendable. For more than 22 years, it has been my greatest honor to be with people in their darkest hour, to bring light into the darkness at the cost of my own well-being. I do not deserve to be forced out under fear or duress or discarded.”

“When Elon Musk is calling the shots, firing people across the country, cutting budgets, cutting programs, putting people on the chopping block using chainsaw as a tool who says Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, I think that requires us to take notice,” Senator Luján said, in part, in the hearing. “Elon Musk was described by President Trump last night at the address to the American people as being in charge. There’s been a lot of questions over the last eight weeks if he is in charge or not, but Elon Musk is calling the shots right now.”

“I’m not sitting this one out. I’m going to stand up and fight for my constituents,” concluded Senator Luján.

Video of Senator Luján’s exchange with Dan Bishop is available HERE.

An excerpt of Senator Luján’s questioning is available below:

Sen. Luján: I’m going to accept the challenge of my colleague. I’m going to read you a note, Representative Bishop, from a constituent that was fired:

“I am an FBI victim specialist, civil servant, a career government employee. I am there when your loved one is killed by an actual shooter, when your child is sexually exploited online, when your family member is kidnapped and held for ransom, when your mother, sister, daughter is the victim of interstate domestic violence or stalking. When the federal agent is injured or killed in the line of duty. When your elderly parent is defrauded of their life savings, when your child is kidnapped by the other parent. When you or someone you love is victimized in so many ways. I am not waste, fraud, and abuse. I am not the enemy. I’m not expendable. For more than 22 years, it has been my greatest honor to be with people in their darkest hour, to bring light into the darkness at the cost of my own well-being. I do not deserve to be forced out under fear or duress or discarded. For if I am, you and those you love will have to walk in that darkness alone. There are so many of us throughout the United States with stories just like this, examples of how they responded to crime victims.”

I agree. Let’s root out waste, fraud, and abuse. But we should both agree, when there is a victim of a sexual crime or someone from across the border that is going to kill someone or do something to them, they don’t deserve to be fired. That is the nonsense going on here.

I accept this responsibility, but I’m not sitting this one out. Not on behalf of my constituents. There’s a better way for us to do these things.

As Deputy [Director] of the Office of Management and Budget, Representative, it seems like you will be working in lockstep with Elon Musk and DOGE. I appreciate the conversations we have had on both sides of the aisle, speaking about what Elon Musk and others are doing here.

Over the weekend, Elon Musk said something. He said, “Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” Do you believe that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme?

Mr. Bishop: It really isn’t my place. What I’m doing is sitting to be the Deputy Director of OMB, to implement President Trump’s policies. I’m not in a position to comment on every comment that Elon Musk makes. But I know President Trump has said he is not touching Social Security or Medicare, he will ensure those benefits. That is the policy I’m going to be seeking to work with Director Vought to implement.

Sen. Luján: Elon Musk was described by President Trump last night at the address to the American people as being in charge. There’s been a lot of questions over the last eight weeks if he is in charge or not, but Elon Musk is calling the shots right now. President Trump is going to Daytona, and golfing. I believe in finding balance. But I believe the president is able to do those things because the other president [Elon Musk] is calling the shots.

When Elon Musk is passing things down to Director Vought and others, some of which were documented, and these ideas came from Director Vought which are part of Project 2025, and you have someone who is calling the shots, firing people across the country, cutting budgets, cutting programs, putting people on the chopping block using chainsaw as a tool who says Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, I think that requires us to take notice. Your responsibility, sir, is going to be making decisions with Director Vought to the president about these budgets. You said you want to get to a balanced budget. That will require cuts. This notion that Medicaid and Medicare are not on the chopping block–

I would ask voters, Democrats and Republicans, look at the votes cast last week. Read the document. Go back and read the document that Speaker Paul Ryan put together when he was Speaker of the House that described going after this program. Go back when Paul Ryan was the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and went after that program. Look in 2017 when Republicans were trying to eliminate all aspects of Medicaid, eliminating the Affordable Care Act, and took John McCain coming to the floor — may he rest in peace, the great hero that he is — and said no. Fighting brain cancer. This is not new. It is not some secret. These are the facts. Look them up.

Representative Bishop, We did not vote the same a lot, but I appreciate you being here and stepping up, and I pray for you and the president because we have got to do better for the American people.

And I’ll close the way I started: I’m not sitting this one out. I’m going to stand up and fight for my constituents.

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