The claim that Social Security is going bankrupt is just one of the Big Lies that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been spewing about the most successful government program in American history. Click here to read the Real Truth about Social Security.
Trump repeatedly promised he “wouldn’t touch” Social Security. He may not have privatized or ended Social Security (yet), but that’s only because he can’t. Social Security is “mandatory spending.” If you’ve paid into the system during your working life, you cannot be denied the money you are owed in return after retiring or becoming disabled.
But Trump and Musk are making it as difficult as possible for beneficiaries to receive what that money. Call it a predictable debasement of the old saw, “If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
When it comes to Social Security, Trump and Musk’s mantra is, “If it ain’t broke, then break it.” Here’s how they’re doing it:
Closing Social Security Offices. The Social Security Administration is set to close dozens of local offices this year, many of them in the South or Southeast. This increases already long wait times.
Gutting Social Security Staffing. Social Security staffing was already at 50-year lows before Trump and Musk lifted their chainsaws, and they now plan to eliminate 7,000 of the 57,000 federal employees and 50% of those that perform critical services like “technology support.”
Ending Telephone Service. The Social Security Administration first floated the idea of entirely eliminating phone service but pulled back following the public outcry. Now they are terminating telephone service for beneficiaries needing to change their mailing addresses or bank accounts, requiring in-person visits to their local Social Security office or “two-factor authentication” via the internet. Given staffing cuts and office closures, this will create huge wait times for beneficiaries seeking to make changes in person. The alternative, inputting the desired changes online, is unavailable to those who lack internet access or facility.
The acting head of Social Security claims this is necessary because 40% of Social Security direct deposit fraud is connected with changes made by telephone. He omits the fact that less than 1% of all benefits paid over the prior decade were “improper,” according to a July 2024 report by the Social Security Administration. So we’re talking about less than half of 1 percent of all improper payments (some of which the government may actually recover). It is monstrous to impose such severe hardships on people simply seeking to receive what they are owed by their government.
Collectively, These Changes Are Likely to Cause “An Interruption of Benefits” Citing the deep staffing cuts and internal chaos Musk and Trump have created at Social Security, former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley told attendees at a town hall meeting on April 21 that he believed the chaos resulting from these cuts and changes would cause “the system to collapse and an interruption of benefits . . . within the next 30 to 90 days.” He added that, “I’ve never hoped I was wrong so much in my life.”
