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Cuts to the Social Security Administration Threaten Millions of Americans’ Retirement and Disability Benefits [1]

['Molly Weston Williamson', 'Associate Director', 'Media Relations', 'Senior Director', 'Government Affairs']

Date: 2025-05

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Without necessary staff and infrastructure, Social Security and disability checks could be delayed or missed, putting millions of Americans at dire risk The Social Security Administration has been doing more with less for years, providing benefits to a rapidly growing number of beneficiaries despite its shrinking staff. Under congressional restrictions on administrative spending, agency capacity has stretched to the breaking point, with staff levels approaching a 25-year low in fiscal year 2024. Under these conditions, former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley warned that DOGE-led cuts to an already skeletal agency may lead to “system collapse and an interruption of benefits.” Any delay or interruption in payments would be catastrophic. More than 7 million Americans 65 and older receive at least 90 percent of their income from Social Security.* For many of these seniors, even a few days’ delay in receiving Social Security benefits would pose an immediate threat to their ability to pay rent and buy food. Payments made even later, or missed, would irreparably harm many more: In a January 2025 survey, 42 percent of Americans 65 and older reported “I would not be able to afford the basics, such as food, clothing, or housing [without Social Security retirement benefits].”

More than 7 million Americans 65 and older receive at least 90 percent of their income from Social Security.

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Disabled people and their families, likewise, would face dire straits. More than 11 million disabled Americans under the age of 65 rely on benefits administered by the SSA through either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or both. Most SSDI recipients can’t work due to their disability, while others work limited hours and can only earn very limited amounts without forfeiting their benefits. For SSI claimants, even when they are able to work, they can only hold a few thousand dollars in gross assets without losing their benefits, subject to limited exceptions, making it essentially impossible to save. As a result, too many SSDI and SSI recipients are one missed or late payment away from not making rent or putting food on the table.

Administrative cuts could foreshadow benefit cuts Retirees and other Social Security beneficiaries remain at risk of direct cuts to their benefits, in addition to the administrative gutting threatening the system that delivers them. Soon after the announcement of SSA layoffs, DOGE leader Elon Musk declared on Joe Rogan’s podcast that “Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” This statement ominously echoes past remarks from Project 2025 author Stephen Moore, a prominent Social Security antagonist who has said that the program “essentially was a Ponzi scheme.” Meanwhile, as prior Center for American Progress research has highlighted, the Republican Study Committee has long sought to cut Americans’ Social Security benefits by raising the retirement age. Similarly, House Republicans have floated cutting SSI benefits for some disabled children. As congressional Republicans pursue a budget resolution that slashes programs on which working-class Americans rely to give unnecessary tax cuts to the extraordinarily wealthy, vigilance is needed to protect Social Security, the nation’s largest anti-poverty program.

Learn more

Paid Leave Helps Americans Keep Their Health Insurance When They Need It Most Report December 16, 2024 Paid Leave Helps Americans Keep Their Health Insurance When They Need It Most Molly Weston Williamson

See also

How the Trump Administration Could Leave Families Hungry: Potential Cuts to SNAP in 2025 and Beyond Article February 3, 2025 How the Trump Administration Could Leave Families Hungry: Potential Cuts to SNAP in 2025 and Beyond Kyle Ross

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[1] Url: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/cuts-to-the-social-security-administration-threaten-millions-of-americans-retirement-and-disability-benefits/

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