In his first speech since leaving the White House in January, former President Joe Biden took aim at cuts to Social Security put in place by President Donald Trump‘s administration and Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“Fewer than 100 days into this administration,” Biden said, “this new administration has done so much damage and done so much destruction. It’s kind of breathtaking.”

He continued, “They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration.”

Biden, Tuesday’s keynote speaker at the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) in Chicago, pointed out DOGE’s spending and staffing cuts. He mentioned, specifically, the reported issues about the Social Security website crashing and beneficiaries being worried about delayed checks.

The 82-year-old former president mentioned Musk’s quote about Social Security being “the ultimate ponzi scheme of all time.”

“What the hell are they talking about,” Biden said.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is facing mounting criticism amid plans to lay off 7,000 workers and implement stricter identity verification measures for beneficiaries. The agency is now the subject of a lawsuit over its decision to grant access to individuals’ Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal information to DOGE.

Meanwhile, recipients have reported growing frustration over long wait times when calling the SSA, as well as frequent outages on the agency’s “my Social Security” online portal. Many Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients—including disabled seniors, low-income adults, and children—have also received alarming notices incorrectly stating they are “not receiving benefits.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took a jab at the former president’s age during Tuesday’s press briefing when asked about his upcoming speech.

“I’m shocked that he is speaking at nighttime,” Leavitt remarked. “I thought his bedtime was much earlier than his speech tonight.”

Leavitt went on to announce that President Trump, who is 78, would sign a presidential memorandum Tuesday afternoon focused on preventing Social Security benefits from being accessed by “illegal aliens and other ineligible individuals.” The directive will expand the Social Security Administration’s fraud prosecutor program to at least 50 U.S. attorney’s offices and will also establish new Medicare and Medicaid fraud prosecution initiatives in 15 additional offices.

This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is available.

Update: 4/15/25, 7:03 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and remarks.