Joe Biden has used his first speech since leaving office to criticise the Trump administration’s welfare policies.
The ex-US president told a conference in Chicago that the government had “taken a hatchet” the social security system, which Donald Trump and Elon Musk – who is leading the White House’s cost-cutting efforts – claim is beset by fraud.
The administration wants to cut staff at the agency responsible for spending $1.6 trillion (£1.2 trillion) in benefits a year.
Biden did not refer to Trump by name during his speech on Tuesday, but said: “In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction. It’s kind of breath-taking.”
He described social security as a “sacred promise”, adding: “We know just how much social security matters to people’s lives.”
Biden – who was speaking at a disability rights event – did not address his departure from the White House or the 2024 presidential election during his remarks.
The Social Security Agency (SSA) provides a base income for people in the US who are retired or cannot work because of a disability. It covers about 67 million Americans, primarily older citizens.
Democratic politicians have repeatedly accused the administration of planning sweeping social security cuts.
Members of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency have been making cuts to the agency since February, with the target of slashing 7,000 jobs – about 10% of its total staff.
Musk has described social security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time”.
Trump has previously said that he intends to target fraudulent claims and payments to illegal immigrants and not make wholesale cuts to benefits.
On Tuesday, he signed an order preventing illegal immigrants and “other ineligible people” from obtaining social security payments.
Before Biden’s Chicago speech, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president was “absolutely certain” about protecting benefits for “law-abiding tax-paying American citizens and seniors”.
In a post on X, the SSA – which is now controlled by a Trump appointee – said Biden had been “lying” during his Chicago speech.
Since leaving office, Biden has kept a relatively low profile. In February, he signed with Creative Artists Agency, the Los Angeles talent agency that represented him between 2017 and 2020.
Barack Obama also criticised the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying on X that its decision to freeze more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for Harvard University was “unlawful and ham-handed”.
Trump is freezing the fund because Harvard said it would not make changes to its hiring, admissions and teaching practices that he claims are key to fighting alleged antisemitism on campus.
Obama has rarely criticised or rebuked government officials or government policies on social media since leaving the White House almost a decade ago.
