06/04/2026
As a Licensed Social Worker currently out of work under physician orders while fighting cancer, I find Secretary Rubio’s statement incredibly out of touch. When I hear, “The U.S. Government is not a charity. We are not here to play social worker. We are here to win for America,” I have to ask: what does winning mean if Americans are suffering? I did everything society told me to do. I earned my degrees, built a career, paid taxes, and spent my life helping others.
Then cancer changed everything. Suddenly, I found myself relying on the same support systems that I once helped my clients navigate. Not because I lacked ambition. Not because I refused to work. Because cancer made working impossible.
What I find most concerning is the apparent dismissal of social work itself, as though helping people is somehow beneath the role of government. Social workers help veterans, seniors, children, people with disabilities, cancer patients, and families facing crisis. We help people survive some of the darkest moments of their lives.
That is not weakness. That is service. I challenge Secretary Rubio to spend a week in an oncology unit. Sit with the patient who lost their job because of treatment. Sit with the family struggling to navigate disability benefits while a loved one fights for their life. Then tell them government is not here to help. Programs like Medicare, Social Security, disability benefits, veterans’ services, and community support programs are not charity.
They are investments in the American people. A government’s responsibility is not simply to “win.” Its responsibility is to serve. America is not just an economy or a political slogan. America is people. As someone fighting cancer, I am grateful these programs exist because without them many Americans would not survive long enough to get back on their feet.
A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, and America does not become weaker when it helps people. It becomes stronger.
