Chris LaCivita, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, rejected talk of the Department of Government Efficiency making drastic cuts to Social Security, telling Politico on Friday that it's not DOGE leader Elon Musk's decision.

LaCivita, appearing on Politico's "Deep Dive" podcast with White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns, LaCivita offered clarity on who makes decisions in the White House.

LaCivita, a former Trump co-campaign manager, listed several of the more outlandish expenditures the federal government has been making and then said, "Now they're not going to cut social security. They're not going to cut Medicaid, they're just not. That's just fearmongering from the left."

Asked about Musk's role, LaCivitia said, "He's not president. He doesn't get to make those decisions."

Musk has put fear into millions of Americans who rely on the long-time social safety net by suggesting it will be among his biggest cuts to date if he gets his way. Last week on the Joe Rogan podcast, Musk described Social Security as "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time," adding, "So that's the big one to eliminate. That's the sort of half trillion, maybe six, 700 billion."

Burns asked LaCivita if Musk's consistent commentary in the media is helpful to the administration trying to constantly mitigate false narratives saying "it freaks people out."

"No, it freaks the media out because the media loves a boogeyman," LaCivita said. "The media has decided it won't go after Donald Trump, we'll go after Elon."

Social Security, which serves 70 million Americans annually, plans to shed 7,000 employees, or about 12% of its staff, as well as closing 47 offices nationwide.

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