The speech in Chicago to disability advocates was a major reemergence by Biden onto America’s political landscape, as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by tech billionaire Elon Musk, makes massive cuts to the federal workforce.

“Social security is more than a government programme. It’s a sacred promise we made as a nation,” said Biden. “We know just how much social security matters to people’s lives.”

The SSA pays out US$1.4 trillion in benefits to 73 million elderly and disabled Americans annually. Trump repeatedly pledged during his election campaign not to touch social security benefits.

Members of the DOGE team have been inside the agency since February where leadership has pledged to cut at least 7,000 staff and shutter offices, triggering fears of longer lines, longer wait times and benefit disruptions.

In March a federal judge said the SSA likely violated privacy laws by giving Musk’s aides “unbridled access” to the data of millions of Americans inside the agency’s networks, and ordered a temporary halt to further record sharing. The case continues.

“President Trump is absolutely certain about protecting social security benefits for law-abiding tax-paying American citizens and seniors who have paid into this programme. He will always protect that programme,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s White House press secretary, told reporters before Biden’s speech.