There is a lot at stake in the attacks on the Social Security Administration (SSA). 

The administration is cutting 12% of staff from the Social Security Administration (about 7,000), shuttering 6 out of 10 regional Social Security field offices, and no longer allowing some people to apply for or adjust benefits by phone. People applying for or adjusting retirement or survivors’ benefits will have to go online or go to an office to access their benefits even as 61 percent of seniors don’t have broadband service in their homes, and reduced staff and closed offices mean very long waits for in-person appointments. People are now facing longer wait times on SSA’s 1-800 number. Getting through by phone is the first step to getting an in-person appointment, and the appointment is likely to be more than a month away. The increased difficulties in getting through caused SSA to exempt people applying for disabilities benefits from this restriction – they will still be able to apply by phone. But the cutbacks mean that is still far from easy: average call wait times have doubled in the past six months, to 104 minutes. It’s urgent that we improve services, not dismantle them.

Thousands of people die each year waiting for disability benefits and millions of Americans now face real barriers to accessing their earned benefits after paying in over their entire working lives. This is an issue for children and adults with disabilities along with our growing senior population.

Many CHN members understand what is at stake, with The Arc briefing hundreds of advocates on our Wednesday Advocates Meeting on March 12 and AFSCME noting, “A highly efficient agency is being stripped to the bone.” An AFSCME member and other partners will testify at the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee Hearing Tuesday, April 1, at 2pm ET (streaming link).

The Trump Administration is demonstrating how it is capable of cutting off recipients from their earned Social Security benefits without a single act of Congress. In addition to repeating false claims that Social Security is rife with fraud, demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of how Social Security’s rolls are maintained, Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency are actively terminating people’s benefits while deteriorating service.

For example, a 66 year-old from Oklahoma City saw his benefits terminated without explanation. And an 82 year-old from Seattle was deemed dead by Social Security (he’s still very much alive). 

All of this is effectively delaying or cutting off older Americans and people with disabilities from their benefits. These attacks are particularly painful for people in rural areas and those waiting, on average, almost 8 months for Social Security and SSI disability claims to be processed. Their strategy is to undermine faith in our earned benefits and government as a whole, so when people begin to see lapses in their Social Security payments, they’ll buy the line that Social Security is unsustainable or that government services can’t work for people.

And unfortunately, this isn’t hyperbole. Martin O’Malley, Social Security’s most recent Senate-confirmed commissioner, predicts that Musk and DOGE’s actions will result in a “system collapse” within the “next 30 to 90 days.” 

It is also worth noting that the Social Security Administration is a central hub for Americans’ most sensitive personal and financial information―with a federal judge noting the Social Security Administration likely violated privacy laws by giving Elon Musk’s aides “unbridled access” to our data. 

Together, we must work to stop these systematic attacks on the Social Security Administration ― and the millions of seniors and people with disabilities impacted by their attack on core services – and demand Congress step up to end the gutting of these programs.