Trump wrecks social security
Trump’s promise to “always protect” Social Security is quickly proving hollow. Trump is closing Social Security offices, firing staff and violating the privacy of the 73 million Social Security beneficiaries. It is almost impossible now for people to call the Social Security office and get through.
Trump’s assault on Social Security employees included abrupt layoffs, underfunded field offices, and flawed technology rollouts, all of which undermined service delivery and destabilized the agency’s ability to effectively serve the public.
Trump’s acting Social Security Commissioner is looking at firing 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. He is also looking at 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.
Trump’s Social Security office now may be backing off from the office closures and has reversed a policy that would have required new beneficiaries to apply in person rather than on the phone if they are unable to apply online.
Social Security stopped a new check to stop alleged fraud after it had identified only a couple of potential cases while causing huge backups processing claims.
Trump violated the Privacy Act of 1974.
Trump gave Elon Musk access to sensitive personal information—including Social Security numbers, tax records, and medical files—from federal employees, benefit recipients, and job applicants without clear justification, raising alarms over violations of the Privacy Act of 1974. Trump’s interference with SSA systems jeopardized the integrity of Americans' personal information, leading to legal action and further damage to the agency’s functions.
A federal court put a temporary block on Trump’s diving into the personal information in the Social Security administration and ordered the deletion of any information that DOGE already gobbled up.
Social Security’s customer service has collapsed
Trump’s Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days in March because the servers were overloaded, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts. At field offices, managers have answering phones in place of receptionists because so many employees have been pushed out. Amid all this, the agency no longer has a system to monitor customer experience because that office was eliminated as part of the cost-cutting efforts led by Trump’s DOGE.
Six-out-of-ten people who call Social Security never even reach a representative after waiting hours on the phone. That’s twice as bad as one year ago when three-out-of-ten who called were not able to get through.
Trump Betrayed America’s Seniors by Slashing Social Security Staff to 50-Year Lows
Trump broke his promise not to touch Social Security benefits, leaving 73 million Americans struggling to access their lifeline payments. Disabled and elderly citizens are suffering, with reports of 90-year-olds using walkers being turned away and amputees falling in parking lots—while Trump pressures staff to hide the crisis instead of fixing collapsed phone systems and overwhelmed field offices.
Trump's dangerous experiment has left rural, Trump-voting towns like Wisconsin Rapids with skeleton crews—revealing that his “fraud prevention” crusade is really about dismantling services, as terrified beneficiaries flood offices fearing their benefits will disappear.
Trump fueled public panic with false claims about widespread Social Security fraud
Trump’s DOGE distorted interpretations of SSA databases to justify DOGE’s overreach, with claims of widespread fraud. In fact, fraud represents just 0.00625% of the annual budget, far less than what private companies like Mastercard or Visa would accept.
Trump’s DOGE claimed that 150 year olds are on Social Security, although Musk provided no evidence of an obvious falsehood based on not understanding the coding language.
Trump took immigrants off of Social Security declaring them dead
Trump’s Social Security Administration purposely and falsely labeled 6,100 living immigrants as dead, eliminating their ability to legally earn wages or to receive the Social Security benefits they have earned and paid for.