Michael Sainato reports for The Guardian on the utter chaos at the Social Security Administration (SSA). DOGE, the “Department of Government Efficiency,” has been closing Social Security offices, firing employees, reducing phone and other Social Security services, reorganizing or closing departments, and changing Social Security policies. Employees are concerned that the SSA is in a “death spiral.”
Social Security is the largest US government program. It administers retirement, disability, and survivor social insurance benefits. Nearly 69 million Americans pay in to Social Security their entire working lives and expect benefits when they retire or become disabled.
Social Security pays out about $1.6 trillion in benefits a year. It represents 22 percent of the federal budget. Tens of millions of American rely on Social Security exclusively or nearly exclusively for their income, when they are no longer able to work.
But, Elon Musk and others do not appear to support Social Security and are crippling the Social Security Administration through budget and staffing cuts. They plan to cut 7,000 jobs at SSA, 12 percent of its workforce. As the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) explains, “Since almost all Social Security spending goes towards benefits, which are set by statute, gutting the agency won’t save money for participants.”
If you’ve tried going onto the SSA web site this month, you might have found that it had crashed. DOGE is moving all Social Security data and rewriting code with seemingly little concern for the consequences of failing to successfully move the data or web site crashes.
In response to a lawsuit, a judge has ordered that DOGE cannot access SSA data. But, the SSA acting commissioner is threatening to close down SSA if DOGE is barred from accessing SSA data.
Millions of Americans’ income security is at risk. Social Security needs more staff, according to an Office of the Inspector General report from last year. The number of Social Security recipients has risen as our population has been aging. SSA had been spending less than 1 percent of its budget on administration. Moreover, Social Security pays for itself through people’s contributions, so the cost of its administration should not be an issue.
In sum, Social Security benefits are set by Congress and paid for out of the Social Security Trust Fund. Americans earn these benefits, paying for them throughout their working lives. Firing workers at SSA will only save money by keeping people from getting their Social Security benefits, to which they are entitled.
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