5 Facts You Need To Know About the State of Social Security Right Now
Written by
T. Woods
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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Ever since the federal Office of Personnel Management, acting on a mandate from President Donald Trump, ordered such agencies as the Social Security Administration (SSA) to submit reorganization plans and reduce their workforce, uncertainty has swirled around the subject of Social Security.
Further, with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) currently rooting throughout the SSA in a search for fraud and waste, many have begun to worry about the SSA’s future, and about its ability to continue paying benefits to Americans who need Social Security to survive.
Former SSA commissioner for President Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley, went so far as to warn that “you’re going to see the system collapse” along with “an interruption of benefits. I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days,” according to Newsweek.
Given that Social Security is such a hot-button issue, it’s easy for emotions to flare and rumors to explode, with the reality of the situation being obscured by misunderstandings.
So, what is the factual, verifiable state of Social Security right now?
The Trump Administration Claims To Eliminate Waste Only
In a press release, the White House stated that its only intention regarding SSA is to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse,” and to leave Social Security otherwise untouched.
That Said, Trump and Musk Have Made Inaccurate Claims About SSA
As Axios has noted, President Trump and Musk have made a number inaccurate and false claims about SSA — such as dead people receiving benefits — that have been verifiably disproven. Musk has gone further, stating that [immigrants living illegally in the U.S.] receive Social Security benefits, which is also untrue.
Social Security Has Been Neither Cut nor Delayed (Yet)
As Forbes recently reported, the Social Security Administration has not missed a payment in 80 years, and that hasn’t changed — not yet, anyway. Regardless of the current uncertainty regarding the future of Social Security and DOGE’s impact upon it, no cuts, delays or cessations have been ordered or implemented at this time.
If Social Security were to begin missing payments, it would historically unprecedented.
What Changes Are Actually Happening at the SSA
Per Newsweek, the SSA has announced a number of cutbacks, including the elimination of 7,000 employees (with approximately 50,000 staff members remaining). It also announced the closure of a number of customer service field offices across America.
The SSA Will Withhold Benefits From Overpaid Recipients
From Mar. 27 onward, the SSA will withhold full monthly benefits from those Social Security recipients that the SSA has found to be overpaid, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
By deducting overpaid funds from recipients, the SSA hopes to recover those overpaid funds entirely (this also happened during the previous Obama and Trump administrations, while the Biden administration deducted only 10%).
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