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A right-wing pressure group accused the White House on Friday of violating the public records law by deleting a tweet this week for undermining freedom of information requests.
Officials were forced into an embarrassing Twitter climb on Wednesday when they had to delete a claim that President Joe Biden was responsible for seniors receiving the largest increase in Social Security checks in a decade.
As fact-checkers were quick to point out, the increase was linked to inflation and required by law.
However, on Friday, watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust called for an investigation into whether the removal was a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
“Enforcement of public record laws, such as FOIA, is virtually impossible if data retention policies are not enforced, including social media policies,” said Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust.
“If the American public is going to trust its government, these policies must be enforced equally regardless of who is in power, and circumventing the requirements to avoid embarrassment or political backlash should not be seen as legitimate justifications.”
On Monday, the White House boasted of increases in Social Security benefits. A day later, the tweet was deleted after Twitter added a fact check
The White House claimed President Joe Biden was responsible for a record hike in Social Security checks. In fact, it was an automatic adjustment triggered by record inflation
The Presidential Records Act was passed President Richard Nixon tried to destroy documents when he resigned in 1974.
It is intended to keep documents related to the official duties of the President.
The controversy started with a tweet from the official White House account.
“Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years thanks to President Biden’s leadership,” it said.
Some of that is true. Next year, Social Security benefits will rise 8.7 percent next year, which is the largest cost-of-living adjustment since 1981.
Policy experts on Twitter were quick to suggest that the Biden administration was taking credit for something that happened automatically — and that was a reflection of historic inflation levels.
Twitter added a fact-check note on Tuesday morning.
“Seniors will receive a large increase in Social Security because of the annual adjustment of the cost of living, which is based on inflation,” it said.
“President Nixon signed the Automatic Benefit Adjustment Act Linked to the Consumer Price Index Act in 1972.”
It contained a link to the relevant legislation.
Then the tweet was deleted altogether.
Biden’s opponents rejoiced at the confusion.
The flaw comes at an embarrassing time for the White House as Twitter’s new owner Elo Musk has alarmed Democrats with promises to ease restrictions on users.
“Next year, the Social Security hike will be one of the biggest in decades after Biden’s disastrous policies that have pushed prices, fueled record inflation and reduced it to critical retirement savings,” Republican Representative Claudia Tenney wrote. from New York. York.
A White House official said the tweet was removed because “the point was incomplete.”
The official said a more complete picture was painted by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre when she suggested a preview of the impending rise, suggesting it would average about $140 per month.
“For the first time in more than a decade, seniors’ Medicare premiums will fall even as their Social Security checks increase,” she said.
This means seniors have a chance to stay ahead of inflation through the rare combination of rising benefits and falling premiums.
“We’ll put more money in their pockets and give them some extra breathing room.”
Biden’s career has been filled with blunders and his time in the White House has been no different.
In a speech on Tuesday, he managed to incorrectly refer to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz as a senator; claims again that his son Beau died in Iraq, rather than years after serving there; and referred to the war in Ukraine as the war in Iraq, before quickly correcting itself.
Biden does not control the White House Twitter account.
Yet long-time White House correspondents note an unusually high rate of typos and misinformation in official correspondence, such as press releases.
The Social Security flub is especially embarrassing because Biden has hit Republicans hard, accusing them of abolishing the entire system.
In particular, he has lashed out at a policy agenda written by Republican Florida Senator Rick Scott that aims to have Congress vote on social welfare programs every five years.
“A Florida senator going after Social Security and Medicaid?” he said.
“Maybe you don’t even believe it. Again, word for word. All federal law means sunsets will disappear in five years.”