Democrats have pushed back after Elon Musk claimed that social security operates like a ‘Ponzi scheme’ as he continues to argue for cuts to the federal bureaucracy, but one expert tells Fox News Digital that Musk is on track with his criticism of the agency.

‘Musk’s statement about Social Security being the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme does have validity,’ James Agresti, president of the nonprofit research institute Just Facts, told Fox News Digital in response to pushback from Elon Musk’s claim, which included a ‘false’ rating from Politifact. 

‘A Ponzi scheme operates by taking money from new investors to pay current investors. That’s the definition given by the SEC, and contrary to popular belief, that’s exactly how Social Security operates.’

Agresti explained to Fox News Digital that Social Security, believed to be a target of Musk’s efforts at DOGE, ‘doesn’t take our money and save it for us, as many people believe, and then give it to us when we’re older’ like many Americans might believe. 

‘What it does is, it transfers money when we are young and working and paying into Social Security taxes,’ Agresti said. ‘That money, the vast bulk of it, goes immediately out the door to people who are currently receiving benefits. Now there is a trust fund, but in 90 years of operation, that trust fund currently has enough money to fund two years of program operations.’

The trust fund only being able to last for two years is not a result of the fund being ‘looted,’ Agresti explained, but rather it was put in place to ‘put surpluses in it’ from money that Social Security collects in taxes that it doesn’t pay out immediately and pays interest on. 

‘The interest that’s been paid on that has been higher than the rate of inflation,’ Agresti said. ‘So, the problem isn’t that the trust fund has been looted. The problem is that Social Security operates like a Ponzi scheme.’

One of the top Social Security criticisms from Republicans, including President Trump, has been a concern that individuals who are dead or listed with an age well over 100 years old are on the rolls and receiving benefits.

Agresti told Fox News Digital that there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about that issue.

‘What’s unclear to me at this moment is whether or not the people who are on the books are actually receiving checks,’ Agresti said. 

‘Back during the Obama administration, there was a stimulus, and the Obama administration sent out stimulus checks via Social Security numbers to 80,000 people who were dead, and about 70,000 of them, the Social Security Administration knew they were dead. So I don’t know if they’ve remedied that situation since then, but clearly the system is not keeping up with the pace of current data, and that provides an opportunity for fraud.’

Democrats have also made the case that Musk is attempting to strip away benefits that senior citizens have rightfully earned. Agresti told Fox News Digital that is not what is happening.

‘There’s been a lot of misinformation about that as of late,’ Agresti said. ‘You know, when DOGE came in and suggested that the Social Security Administration cut, I think it was about 10,000 workers, Democrats erupted that this is going to weaken Social Security. But the fact of the matter is that Social Security pays those workers who are for administrative overhead from the Social Security trust fund. So, by cutting out the money that they’re paying them, you actually strengthen the program financially.’

Agresti told Fox News Digital that the current administrative overhead for Social Security is $6.7 billion per year, which is enough to pay more than 300,000 retirees the average old age benefit.

Questions have emerged from critics in recent years as to whether Social Security, in its current form, is even capable of remaining solvent to pay benefits to Americans who have paid in over the past few decades.

Agresti told Fox News Digital that the program will ‘become insolvent’ as soon as 2035 if changes are not made. 

‘To give you a feel of how disconnected Social Security is from a fully funded pension plan, if to keep the program solvent and put it on the same firm financial footing as a real pension plan, it would require an extra $272,000 in additional payroll taxes from every person paying payroll taxes right now,’ Agresti told Fox News Digital. 

‘I’ll give you another way in which more numbers prove this point. If you retired in 1980, it took about three years of receiving Social Security benefits to get back the value of your payroll taxes plus interest. If you retired in 2000, it took 17 years. If you retired in 2020. it will take 22 years, assuming the program has enough money to pay those benefits, which it won’t without another increase in taxes on another generation of Americans.’

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., got up during a pre-taped ABC ‘This Week’ interview that aired Sunday, and accused Jonathan Karl of asking a ‘nonsense’ question about whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., should run for Senate.

Right after calling Ocasio-Cortez ‘extraordinary,’ Sanders would not answer a question about whether he would like to see her in the Senate. Speculation has ramped up about AOC challenging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a primary after Schumer supported a government funding bill to avoid a partial shutdown.

‘Right now, we have, as I said, just a whole lot of people in the Congress. OK, Jonathan. Thanks,’ Sanders said as he got up from his seat.

Karl told the senator that he had one more question for him. 

‘Well, I ask you – you know, you want to do nonsense, do nonsense. No, I don’t want to talk about inside the Beltway stuff. I got 32,000 people,’ Sanders said, referencing the crowd that gathered Friday in Denver for an event with AOC.

Karl convinced Sanders to come back and sit down.

‘Well, fine. But I don’t want to talk about this. What was the last question?’ Sanders asked.

Karl then asked about Sanders’ future in politics.

‘Right now, I am very proud that the people of the state of Vermont sent me back to the Senate with 63% of the vote,’ Sander said. ‘Right now I’m Vermont’s senator. That’s what I do, and I’m very happy to do it. I am 83 years of age, so. And I’m tired.’

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., spoke on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ whether he would encourage Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Schumer.

‘She’s perfectly capable of making the decision,’ he said. ‘She’s got so many options. She’s got an incredible future. You know, it’s really her decision. But, you know, all I can say is there’s real anger. And there would be a lot of support for her if she decided to do it.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has refused to step down from his leadership position, as Democratic infighting worsens while the party struggles to agree on messaging to challenge President Donald Trump. 

‘Look, I’m not stepping down,’ Schumer said in a pre-recorded interview that aired on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday. ‘I knew that when I cast my vote against the government shutdown that there would be a lot of controversy.’ 

Schumer defended why he chose to vote in support of the Republican-proposed continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown despite the bill’s broad opposition by the Democratic Party. 

‘The CR was certainly bad, you know the continuing resolution, but a shutdown would be 15 or 20 times worse. Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power to determine what is ‘essential.’ And they can determine without any court supervision. The courts have ruled it’s solely up to the executive what to shut down,’ Schumer said. 

Schumer alleged, without evidence, that Trump, Department of Government Efficiency chair Elon Musk and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought would slash funding for SNAP, or food stamps and mass transit, as well as cut Medicaid ‘by 20, 30, 50, 80%’ He suggested the administration could decide during a government shutdown, ‘We’ll go after Social Security. We’ll go after the veterans.’ 

‘They would eviscerate the federal government,’ Schumer said. ‘Their goal is just eviscerate the federal government so they can get more taxes in their tax cuts to their billionaire class over there. So it would be devastating.’

‘There’s no off ramp,’ he added. ‘Who determines how long the shutdown would last? Only those evil people at the top of the executive branch in the Trump administration.’ 

Schumer told NBC that a Republican senator close to the DOGE team told a Democratic colleague of his that the administration would keep the shutdown in place for ‘six months, nine months, a year til everyone was furloughed and gone and quit.’ 

‘And there would be no way to stop it,’ Schumer said. ‘So I thought that would be so devastating to the republic and anger so many people.’ 

Schumer, who played a critical role in urging Joe Biden to exit the 2024 race, denied that he was acting similarly in resisting calls from his party to resign as leader. Democrats have increasingly criticized Schumer for breaking with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in supporting the continuing resolution, and Schumer has dismissed reports of a potential primary challenge by progressive ‘Squad’ member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for his Senate seat. 

‘It was a vote of principle. Sometimes, when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve, and I did it out of pure conviction as to what a leader should do and what the right thing for America and my party was,’ Schumer said, admitting that there’s ‘disagreement’ in the Democratic caucus on the spending bill, but ‘We’ve all agree to respect each other because each side saw why the other side felt so strongly about it.’ 

‘And our caucus is united in fighting Donald Trump every step of the way,’ Schumer claimed. ‘Our goal, our plan, which we’re united on, is to make Donald Trump the quickest lame duck in modern history by showing how bad his policies are.’ 

‘He represents the oligarchs, as I’ve said, he’s hurting average people in every way,’ Schumer added, saying Democrats are using oversight hearings, the courts and organizing across districts to challenge Trump’s agenda. 

‘I believe that by 2026, the Republicans in the House and Senate will feel like they’re rats on a sinking ship because we have so gone after Trump and all the horrible things he’s doing,’ Schumer said. 

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, the former House Speaker, has claimed Democrats did not gain anything in Schumer conceding to Republicans’ over the CR. 

‘What we got, at the end of the day,’ Schumer responded, ‘is avoiding the horror of a shutdown.’ 

He added that Democrats had ‘no leverage point,’ because Republicans in control of both houses could force a vote on the CR. ‘When you’re on that political mountain, the higher up you climb, the more fiercely the winds blow,’ Schumer said. ‘The only way you stop being blown off the mountain is your internal gyroscope… I had to do the right thing for our country and for our party.’ 

They are like a classic comedy team crafted in a1950s Hollywood studio. There’s the old and grump straight man, Sen. Bernie Sanders set in his Marxist ways, and there’s the young, bubbly comedian Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, always smiling or dancing or making cute TikTok videos.

Last week, Sanders & AOC launched a national tour to perform for tens of thousands. The Democrats’ dynamic duo even played Vegas, where they insisted attendees don COVID masks (no, seriously). The question is, why are they on the road?

The 2026 midterm elections are more than 19 months away, so why would two Democrats whose seats are safe as houses spend millions of dollars and untold man hours on this traveling circus today?

The answer is that Sanders & AOC are confronting an emergency, just not the one they say they are. They want you to think the emergency is President Donald Trump’s second term, but the real emergency is that America is firmly rejecting their brand of far-left progressivism.

Make no mistake, old man Sanders and his spunky sidekick aren’t really fighting against Trump, they are fighting to maintain ideological control of a Democratic Party that right now might be the least popular major party in American history.

In the aftermath of Kamala Harris’ embarrassing defeat in November, all fingers were pointed at wokeness to explain the Democrats’ woes. From men in women’s sports and open borders, to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and ending private health insurance, the far left has been rejected at every turn.

So here come Sanders & AOC in their hilariously named ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour, this from two people who never saw a big bundled donation from George Soros that they wouldn’t greedily accept.

And yes, they perform some tired old material about Trump supposedly tearing down Democratic norms, or Elon Musk swimming in a pool of stolen social security money like Scrooge McDuck. But the real story is in the new material.

Take this from AOC, for example, ‘This isn’t just about Republicans,’ she opined in Arizona. ‘We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us. That means each and every one of us choosing and voting for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class. I want you to look at every level of office around and support Democrats who fight, because those are the ones who can actually win against Republicans.’

Not lately, congresswoman.

On Sunday, the Democratic Socialists of America, who launched Ocasio-Cortez’s career, were protesting in New York City to demand that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer step down for refusing to pointlessly shut down the government this month.

These are desperate last gasps. Since 2008, when the party of Bill Clinton, once the moderate Democratic savior, became the party of Barack Obama, the Democrats have lurched so far left that their most sacred shibboleths of wokeism appear to most Americans as beyond parody.

Sanders & AOC are well aware that as they continue to try to sell gender bending, the green new deal, and endless illegal immigration, there are lean and hungry Democrats like Rep. Ritchie Torres D-NY, Sen. John Fetterman D-PA, and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo who are ready to remake the party in their more centrist image.

Even fellow comedian and TV Host Bill Maher is sticking it to Sanders & AOC by accepting a friendly invitation to meet with Trump. His message is clear; screaming, ‘THIS ISN’T NORMAL!!!’ over and over again isn’t working and never will.

This Burns & Allen act that Sanders & AOC have going on is meant to spur the Democratic faithful into revolt against semi-normal party leaders, the kind who won’t encourage the destruction of Teslas or stand around outside empty DC office buildings singing 1960s resistance songs off-key.

Those more centrist Democrats have the upper hand now, and they know it. This is why instead of barnstorming the country with political celebrities, they are biding their time, building their war chests, and plotting a new course for their party.

In the end, don’t be surprised if Sanders & AOC’s Fighting Oligarchy Tour turns out to be the final goodbye tour of socialism in the Democratic Party and in our national politics. 

The American people gave the party of Obama a good fair chance and, for their trouble, wound up in a deeply divided nation overwhelmed by illegal immigration, a crushing cost of living and frankly, a stark and troubling lack of patriotism.

Put another way, the party of Obama has failed, and no matter how many times Sanders & AOC yuk it up for a crowd of liberal college-educated women, that fact and its electoral consequences are not going to change.

The Trump administration is calling on Iran to give up its entire nuclear program or face the consequences, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Sunday.

Waltz said it was time for Iran to ‘walk away completely’ from its pursuit of nuclear weapons, pushing for a ‘full dismantlement’ during an appearance on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation.’

‘This isn’t some kind of, you know, kind of tit-for-tat that we had under the Obama administration or Biden,’ Waltz said. ‘This is the full program. Give it up or there will be consequences.’

Waltz did not specify what kind of consequences Iran could face, though he said President Donald Trump is keeping ‘all options on the table,’ including diplomacy.

Waltz said the Trump administration wants Iran to give up its nuclear program ‘in a way that the entire world can see.’

‘If [Iran] had nuclear weapons, the entire Middle East would explode in an arms race,’ he said. ‘That is completely unacceptable to our national security. I won’t get into what the back-and-forth has been, but Iran is in the worst place it has been from its own national security since 1979.’

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been high since Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, launched attacks on Israel in the past few years. Iran directly traded fire with Israel twice last year.

Trump has threatened U.S. military action if Iran doesn’t negotiate a new agreement on its nuclear program.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said he isn’t interested in talks with a ‘bullying government,’ though Iranian diplomats, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, previously suggested that talks could be possible. Araghchi later toughened his stance, following Khamenei’s lead.

The original 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama allowed Iran to enrich uranium up to only 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 661 pounds. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s last report on Iran’s program put its stockpile at 18,286 pounds as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has ‘undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has issued an endorsement in Wisconsin’s upcoming state Supreme Court race, as the formally bipartisan contest draws mega-donor dollars over its potential national implications.

Trump threw his support behind conservative Brad Schimel, the former Wisconsin Attorney General who is currently a Waukesha County judge. Republicans have warned that Schimel’s opponent, Dane County’s Susan Crawford, a liberal considered the Democrats’ preferred candidate, could support efforts to ‘draw out’ two U.S. House Republicans in future redistricting maps. 

‘In the Great State of Wisconsin, a Radical Left Democrat, one who is insistent on bringing hardened CRIMINALS, that we removed to far away places, back into our Country, allowing men into women’s sports, Open Borders, and more, is running against a strong, Common Sense Republican, JUST CALL HIM BRAD, for the Wisconsin Supreme Court,’ Trump wrote on TRUTH Social on Sunday.

‘It’s a really big and important race, and could have much to do with the future of our Country. Get out and VOTE, NOW, for the Republican Candidate — BRAD!!!’ Trump said. 

It’s not the first time Trump has voiced support for Schimel. The Wisconsin Supreme Court election is scheduled for April 1, but Trump called supporters to turn out Saturday, as early voting had already begun. 

‘Brad Schimel is running against Radical Left Liberal Susan Crawford, who has repeatedly given child molesters, rapists, women beaters, and domestic abusers ‘light’ sentences,’ Trump wrote Saturday on his social media platform. ‘She is the handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country — And if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin. All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel.’

‘By turning out and VOTING EARLY, you will be helping to Uphold the Rule of Law, Protect our Incredible Police, Secure our Beloved Constitution, Safeguard our Inalienable Rights, and PRESERVE LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL,’ Trump said. 

Democrats and Republicans have traded barbs on billionaires’ influence in the election. George Soros, the far-left Hungarian American billionaire, poured $1 million into Wisconsin Democrats’ coffers last month to benefit Crawford’s campaign. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has funded two groups that have together spent more than $10 million to promote Schimel, according to the Associated Press. 

Both sides have been boosted by additional mega-money. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker – whose family owns Hyatt Hotels – dumped $500,000 into WisDems coffers, and other six-figure pitches came from Lynde Uihlein – a Schlitz Beer heiress – LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and the mother of a Google co-founder. Meanwhile, Joe Ricketts – co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and father of Nebraska’s GOP governor – was listed as a top donor to Wisconsin Republicans ahead of the election – as well as Liz Uihlein, a cousin-by-marriage of Lynde Uihlein and president of Uline shipping supply company. 

Donald Trump Jr. notably held an event for Schimel last week. 

Republicans are branding Crawford as ‘dangerously liberal,’ citing support from Soros, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as well as activist groups who support gender-transition surgeries for minors and allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports.

A source familiar with the race warned of Crawford’s candidacy as part of an ongoing ‘radical’ shift in Wisconsin – both with liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz’ similarly contentious election in 2023 and Gov. Tony Evers’ move to replace ‘mother’ in the state budget dozens of times with ‘inseminated person.’

Republicans also accuse Crawford of signaling a willingness to ‘legislate from the bench,’ citing her past role in challenging the state’s voter ID law and her appearance at a January event hosted by a liberal donor group aiming to unseat Reps. Bryan Steil of Janesville and Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du Chien.

In January, Wisconsin Republicans also claimed that Crawford would seek ‘selling two of Wisconsin seats’ after a New York Times report cited donors hoping that Crawford’s win would lead to Steil’s and Van Orden’s ouster.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump’s envoy to Russia and Ukraine says he doesn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to invade Europe.

Envoy Steve Witkoff made the statement during a Sunday morning appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ commenting on Putin’s motives on a ‘larger scale.’

‘Now I’ve been asked my opinion about what President Putin’s motives are on a larger scale. And I simply have said that I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe,’ Witkoff said.

‘This is a much different situation than it was in World War II. There was no NATO,’ he added. ‘I take him at his word in this sense.’

The comments come just before Witkoff is set to meet with Russian and Ukrainian delegations for indirect ceasefire talks in Saudia Arabia. Trump’s administration hopes to mediate a larger peace deal.

‘I think you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that you’ll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire,’ he said Sunday.

Moscow spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that there are many roadblocks that could prevent a peace deal, however.

‘We are only at the beginning of this path,’ he told reporters this weekend.

Russia launched a massive drone attack targeting Kyiv and other major cities in Ukraine overnight on Sunday, highlighting just how far there is to go before a peace agreement can be made.

Ukraine’s air force says the Russian attack involved 147 drones, 97 of which were shot down and 25 others failed to reach their targets.

Ukrainians at the scene of the attacks in Kyiv surveyed the damage done to their homes and neighborhoods on Sunday morning. Many were disparaging of the upcoming ceasefire talks, pointing to the burned-out homes destroyed in the drone attack, saying these were more indicative of Russia’s true intentions.