The Trump Administration has begun a multi-front war against the Social Security system, starting with attacks on the operations of the agency, but also including rhetorical attacks on the system itself.
They've piled on the operational cuts with added bureaucracy and IT problems, which threaten the day-to-day activities of the system. These actions are causing significant problems for beneficiaries, particularly vulnerable populations like seniors and people with disabilities.
Operational Attacks On Social Security
Rhetorical Attacks On Social Security
New Bureaucracy And Diminished Efficiency
Political Backlash
2025: Trump Administration Ordered End To Social Security Paper Checks According to Axios, "The federal government must stop issuing paper checks by Sept. 30 in favor of direct deposit, prepaid cards, or 'other digital payment options,' per an order Trump signed yesterday." [Axios, 3/26/25]
2025: Order Aimed To Reduce Government Costs And Fraud According to Axios, "The continued use of paper-based payments ... imposes unnecessary costs; delays; and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies," per Trump's order. [Axios, 3/26/25]
456,000 Americans Affected By Social Security Payment Change In 2025 According to Axios, "Nearly 456,000 Americans are still receiving paper Social Security checks as of March, per Social Security Administration data." [Axios, 3/26/25]
Social Security Administration Cut Phone Services At White House Request According to Axios, "The Social Security Administration is simultaneously rushing to cut phone services at the White House's request, Axios' Emily Peck reports." [Axios, 3/26/25]
White House Pushed Social Security Phone Service Cuts According to Axios, "The Social Security Administration is rushing cuts to phone services at the White House's request, the agency's acting commissioner told Social Security advocates in a meeting on Monday, two sources who attended tell Axios." [Axios, 3/24/25]
SSA Announced New Identity Verification Rules According to NPR, "The new guidelines will require beneficiaries to travel in-person to a Social Security office for both benefit claims and direct deposit changes, if they are unable to use the online verification system." [NPR, 3/22/25]
2025: DOGE Proposed Workforce Reduction at SSA According to an opinion piece by the Brookings Institute, "Additionally, they have announced plans to reduce the agency's workforce from 57,000 to 50,000." [Brookings Institute - Brookings, 3/26/25]
2025: DOGE Planned To Close 47 Social Security Offices In The U.S. According to USA Today, "DOGE plans to shutter 47 Social Security Administration offices across the U.S., including Ohio, [...] following the Trump Administration's DOGE cost-cutting measures." [USA Today, 3/27/25]
2025: Mansfield SSA Office Set To Close On May 17, 2025 According to the Associated Press, "DOGE will close the Social Security office located at 30 N. Diamond St. in Mansfield on May 17, 2025, according to information from the General Services Administration obtained by the Associated Press." [Associated Press, 3/27/25]
2025: Ohio SSA Offices Impacted By Lease Cancellations According to DOGE's website, "DOGE canceled multiple leases for [...] including Portsmouth and Mansfield's Social Security Administration offices." [DOGE, 3/27/25]
2025: DOGE Cited Cost Savings From Lease Cancellations In Ohio According to the Dispatch, "Here are the Ohio cities and towns affected, and the total amount DOGE claims to save." [Dispatch, 3/27/25]
2025: SSA Plans Workforce Reduction To Cut Costs According to USA Today, "The Social Security Administration (SSA) has said it plans to cut its workforce by more than 12%, cutting 7,000 employees. These 'significant workforce reductions,' as the SSA described them, along with the closing of some offices could result in people facing a slowdown in the processing of benefits applications and longer waits for help from Social Security personnel." [USA Today, 3/26/25]
Leland Dudek Discussed Employment Cuts Within The Social Security Administration According to ProPublica, "These choices have included planned cuts of at least 7,000 Social Security employees; buyouts and early retirement offered to the entire staff of 57,000, including those who work in field offices and teleservice centers helping elderly and disabled people navigate the program; cuts to disability determination services; the dissolution of a team that had been working to improve the user experience of the ssa.gov website and application process; a reduction of the agency's footprint across the country from 10 regional offices to four; the terminations of 64 leases, including those for some field office and hearing office space; proposals to outsource Social Security customer service; and more." [ProPublica, 3/12/25]
Cornyn Acknowledged Social Security Staffing Issues According to NBC News, "Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said staffing at the Social Security Administration is still a work in progress for DOGE. 'They've had some layoffs, and then they've rehired people. They're still trying to figure out what the right numbers are.'" [NBC News, 3/26/25]
March 2025: SSA Resumed Withholding 100% Of Benefits For Overpayments According to USA Today, "The Social Security Administration (SSA) will resume withholding 100% of benefits from individuals who were overpaid until overpayments are recovered." [USA Today, 3/26/25]
2023: Overpayment Recovery Policy Relaxed To Aid Financial Hardship According to USA Today, "Last year, the SSA had opted to begin withholding only 10% of a recipient's benefits to recoup overpayments as a way of 'significantly reducing financial hardship on people with overpayments,' the agency said at the time." [USA Today, 3/26/25]
SSA Faced Negative Media Coverage Over Overpayment Collections In 2023 According to USA Today, "The move came after Social Security faced negative media coverage in 2023 from KFF Health News and Cox Media Group Television Stations, as well as '60 Minutes' about how the agency went about collecting overpayments, some of which happened more than a decade ago." [USA Today, 3/26/25]
August 2024: SSA Inspector General Reported $72 Billion In Improper Payments According to USA Today, "In an August 2024 report, the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General estimated the agency made nearly $72 billion in improper payments – mainly overpayments – during fiscal years 2015-2022." [USA Today, 3/26/25]
September 2023: SSA Sought To Reclaim Overpayments From 2 Million People According to USA Today, "The Social Security Administration sought to reclaim overpayments from about 2 million people in the fiscal year that ended September 2023, according to KFF and Cox Media Group, which acquired information about SSA overpayments in a Freedom of Information Act request." [USA Today, 3/26/25]
Trump Administration Initiated Cuts To Social Security Administration Through DOGE According to Associated Press, "It's all part of the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency, inspired by President Donald Trump's adviser Elon Musk." [Associated Press, 3/7/25]
DOGE Downsize Moves Were Obscured From Key Lawmakers According to NBC News, "Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is moving to downsize the Social Security Administration with office closures, cutbacks on phone services and new rules requiring in-person visits for some prospective beneficiaries to register. And DOGE is making those changes without consulting or notifying some of the most senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill who oversee Social Security." [NBC News, 3/26/25]
2025: DOGE's Influence Led To Efficiency Issues Within SSA According to ProPublica, "DOGE, which Musk has portrayed as a squad of techno-efficiency geniuses, has actually undermined the efficiency of Social Security's delivery of services in multiple ways, many employees said. Under DOGE, several Social Security IT contracts have been canceled or scaled back. Now, five employees told ProPublica, their tech systems seem to be crashing nearly every day, leading to more delays in serving beneficiaries." [ProPublica, 3/12/25]
DOGE's Restrictions On SSA Purchases Caused Operational Problems According to ProPublica, "Under a policy that DOGE has applied at many agencies, front-line Social Security staff have been restricted from using their government purchase cards for any sum above $1. This has become a significant problem at some field offices, especially when workers need to obtain or make copies of vital records or original documents — birth certificates and the like — that are needed to process some Social Security claims, one management-level employee said." [ProPublica, 3/12/25]
2025: Leland Dudek Acknowledged DOGE's Influence Over Social Security According to ProPublica, "Dudek framed the choices that he has been making in recent weeks as 'the president's' agenda. These choices [...] involved the presence of DOGE's influence, directing extensive input from the White House itself." [ProPublica, 3/12/25]
Leland Dudek Expressed Concerns About DOGE's Impact On Social Security, Potential Collapse Of The System According to ProPublica, "Since the arrival of a team from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, Social Security is in a far more precarious place than has been widely understood, according to Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. 'I don't want the system to collapse,' Dudek said in a closed-door meeting last week, according to a recording obtained by ProPublica. He also said that it 'would be catastrophic for the people in our country' if DOGE were to make changes at his agency that were as sweeping as those at USAID, the Treasury Department and elsewhere." [ProPublica, 3/12/25]
2025: Acting SSA Commissioner Resigned over DOGE Access to Database According to an opinion piece by the Brookings Institute, "On Feb. 17, Acting Commissioner Michelle King stepped down after refusing to grant DOGE team members access to the Social Security database." [Brookings Institute - Brookings, 3/26/25]
2025: Controversial Appointment of SSA Commissioner Amid Data Leak Concerns According to an opinion piece by the Brookings Institute, "The White House replaced King with Leland Dudek, a mid-level executive at the agency who, at the time of his promotion, was under investigation for illegally sharing sensitive data with the DOGE team." [Brookings Institute - Brookings, 3/26/25]
2025: Judge Issued Restraining Order Against DOGE Employees at SSA According to an opinion piece by the Brookings Institute, "On March 20, Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander of the U.S. District Court in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order against DOGE employees at SSA." [Brookings Institute - Brookings, 3/26/25]
2025: DOGE Team Allegedly Misinterpreted Social Security Data According to an opinion piece by the Brookings Institute, "The DOGE team at SSA argued that their objective was to identify fraud —not to alter benefit payments. When questioned about their methods, they provided misleading information." [Brookings Institute - Brookings, 3/26/25]
Trump Administration Nominee Faced Scrutiny Over SSA Plans According to Reuters, "Democratic lawmakers also grilled President Donald Trump's nominee to oversee the agency, Frank Bisignano, over the plans during a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday." [Reuters, 3/26/25]
Musk Described Social Security As A Ponzi Scheme According to NBC News, "Social Security advocates and congressional Democrats decry the Musk-led changes to the agency as a backdoor move to curtail access to benefits. They cite Musk's antagonistic rhetoric, [...] calling Social Security a 'Ponzi scheme,' as evidence of his intentions." [NBC News, 3/26/25]
Commerce Secretary Criticized Over Missed Payments Remark In 2025 According to Axios, "Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick suggested this week that only 'fraudsters' would complain about missing a monthly Social Security check, and that most people wouldn't mind if the government simply skipped a payment." [Axios, 3/26/25]
Elon Musk Made False Claims About Social Security Fraud According to Popular Information, "Elon Musk has pushed several false claims about the nature and scope of Social Security fraud. In a recent interview on Fox Business, Musk suggested that 10% of federal expenditures were related to Social Security fraud. This is false." [Popular Information, 3/13/25]
2025: Michael Astrue Criticized Elon Musk's Fraud Claims In an interview with NPR, Michael Astrue said, "Elon Musk claims the Social Security Administration is practicing 'extreme levels of fraud.' However, he has failed to provide proof of fraud, and his claims have been debunked by the agency's inspector general and its acting commissioner, Leland Dudek." [Interview - NPR with Michel Martin, 3/24/25]
2025: Allegations of Widespread Social Security Fraud Disputed According to an opinion piece by the Brookings Institute, "The overall record on fraud in the Social Security system is strong. Accusations of widespread fraud are often misleading when not presented in context." [Brookings Institute - Brookings, 3/26/25]
2025: Dudek Replied To Queries On Trump's False Claims On Social Security Fraud According to ProPublica, "When a participant in the meeting asked him why he wouldn't more forcefully call out President Donald Trump's continued false claims about widespread Social Security fraud as 'BS,' Dudek answered, 'So we published, for the record, what was actually the numbers there on our website. This is dealing with — have you ever worked with someone who's manic-depressive?'" [ProPublica, 3/12/25]
2025: Dudek Dismissed Trump's Social Security Fraud Allegations According to ProPublica, "Dudek also more than once dismissed Trump's claims about Social Security fraud, which the president amplified just hours after Dudek's meeting [...] Dudek said, but those people are 'not in pay status' — they're not actually being paid benefits. 'These are records we never bothered with,' he explained." [ProPublica, 3/12/25]
Trump Administration Linked Social Security Cuts To Immigration Fraud According to NBC News, "Musk's argument crucially cast significant cuts to Social Security as a critical part of Trump's agenda cracking down on illegal immigration, his most popular major issue, according to recent polling by NBC News." [NBC News, 3/19/25]
Experts Refuted Immigration Fraud Claims In Social Security Debate According to NBC News, "experts and former executives told NBC News, warning that cuts made in the name of fraud will hurt eligible recipients of government benefits." [NBC News, 3/19/25]
Social Security Fraud Typically Perpetrated Domestically According to NBC News, "it's well known that fraud exists in programs such as Social Security and disability programs, experts say Americans and overseas crime rings are typically perpetrating fraud on entitlements." [NBC News, 3/19/25]
Social Security Fraud Included Overseas Crime Rings According to NBC News, "Fraud exists within every government program, but a former executive at the SSA with knowledge of the agency's anti-fraud program said overseas criminal rings' stealing eligible people's benefits and people's faking disability or not reporting relatives' deaths are the most common types of Social Security fraud, not fraud involving undocumented immigrants." [NBC News, 3/19/25]
Grassley Unaware Of DOGE's Actions According to NBC News, "Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Finance subcommittee on Social Security, said he had not been told ahead of time about DOGE's moves at the agency. 'No, I have not been,' Grassley told NBC News." [NBC News, 3/26/25]
Daines Uninformed About Agency Changes According to NBC News, "Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a Senate Finance Committee member [...] said in an interview that he, too, hasn't been in the loop for the administration's changes." [NBC News, 3/26/25]
Schumer Criticized Musk-Led Social Security Changes According to NBC News, "Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday. 'They can't outwardly cut benefits because it would be so unpopular. They're just making it harder for you to get benefits. Same thing. Different route, same nasty result.'" [NBC News, 3/26/25]
Senators Warned Against Social Security Privatization According to Axios, "These new developments leave us deeply concerned that DOGE and the Trump Administration are setting up the SSA for failure—a failure that could cut off Social Security benefits for millions of Americans—and that will then be used to justify a 'private sector fix,' Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) [...] said in a letter to Bisignano on Monday." [Axios, 3/24/25]
Schumer Criticized Musk's Influence On SSA Cuts According to Associated Press, "Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has characterized Musk's cuts to the agency as efforts to 'attack the bedrock of America's social safety net.'" [Associated Press, 3/7/25]
AARP Criticized SSA's Interim Policy Changes According to Reuters, "Nancy LeaMond, chief advocacy and engagement officer at AARP, a nonprofit organization that advocates for older Americans, called the announcement a 'good first step' by SSA, but added 'merely delaying the implementation of this change is not enough.'" [Reuters, 3/26/25]
Advocacy Groups Opposed SSA Policy Shift According to Reuters, "The policy shift sparked anger among advocacy groups, which warned that it would prevent many disabled and elderly people from receiving their benefits, especially with the agency cutting staff and reducing the number of field offices." [Reuters, 3/26/25]
2025: Reaction Against Forced In-Person SSA Visits According to NPR, "Nancy LeaMond, AARP's executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer, said the announcement 'not only comes as a total surprise but is on an impractical fast-track.'" [NPR, 3/22/25]
Former SSA Commissioners Criticized Agency Changes According to NPR, "During a recent event with the National Academy of Social Insurance, two former SSA commissioners — Martin O'Malley, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden, and Michael Astrue, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush — both expressed serious concern over the direction of the agency." [NPR, 3/22/25]
2025: Michael Astrue Criticized Trump Administration's Social Security Reforms In an interview with NPR, Michael Astrue said, "The Trump administration says big changes are coming to Social Security as it works to weed out alleged fraud. But Michael Astrue, a former commissioner of the Social Security Administration, warns that the Trump administration's efforts are ill informed. [...] It's just a product of the fact that they sent in a group of 20-year-olds with laptops who are used to seeing certain types of code. They went in without the proper authorities and didn't understand it." [Interview - NPR with Michel Martin, 3/24/25]
2025: Michael Astrue Warned Against DOGE's Approach to Social Security In an interview with NPR, Michael Astrue said, "We need a perspective other than the DOGE perspective. [...] I'm all for efficiencies. [...] But there's a smart way to do it, and there's a stupid way to do it. And we're doing it the way that 22-year-old frat boys that have never seen the system think is a good idea, and that's a mistake." [Interview - NPR with Michel Martin, 3/24/25]
2025: Michael Astrue Opposed In-Person Verification For Social Security Recipients In an interview with NPR, Michael Astrue said, "Yes, it's at least going to cause delays, and in some cases they may just not get it at all. And to put in this requirement at the same time that you're cutting back staff and office space dramatically is going to compound what is already a big problem." [Interview - NPR with Michel Martin, 3/24/25]
2025: Advocates Expressed Concerns Over SSA Changes According to NPR, "Advocates warn these sweeping moves could lead to seniors and people with disabilities having a harder time getting help with their crucial benefits. [...] Kristen Dama, a managing attorney at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, which helps people navigate the benefits process, said there simply have not been enough workers to administer the benefits timely." [NPR, 3/22/25]
Vulnerable Populations Affected by Social Security Changes in 2025 According to Popular Information, "The memo acknowledges that the policy changes would create increased 'challenges for vulnerable populations.' This seems to concede that many elderly and disabled people are physically unable to travel to an in-person office." [Popular Information, 3/13/25]
SSA Offices Unable to Handle Increased In-Person Visits in 2025 According to Popular Information, "SSA offices do not currently have the resources to handle an influx of in-person appointments of this size. In 2023, the most recent data available, there were about 119,128 daily visits, on average, to SSA offices. Eight-five thousand more week visits would be a 14% increase." [Popular Information, 3/13/25]
Social Security Changes Raised Fraud Concerns According to Axios, "Dudek also said the changes, happening so fast and with little public understanding, will create opportunities for scammers, one of the sources said. Dudek acknowledged the policy could increase fraud risks for beneficiaries, according to one attendee." [Axios, 3/24/25]