The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is an initiative brought forward by the Trump Administration with the aim of slashing federal spending. The initiative is headed by tech billionaire and unofficial government overseer, Elon Musk who works under President Donald Trump himself.
Musk’s role with DOGE appears to now be a cause of concern for many in terms of its implications towards the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Impact of DOGE on the Social Security Administration
President Donald Trump has personally promised that the Department of Government Efficiency, and its overseer Elon Musk, would not have any impact on the Social Security Administration. Trump has, on several occasions, promised that Social Security “will not be touched,” however, concerns are still being raised and recent events are not helping better the situation at large.
Starting in February, as part of Trump’s plan to cut down on both the federal budget and the workforce, the SSA announced on February 28 that it would be minimizing its workforce by letting go of around 7,000 employees. This news came not too long after a previous announcement from the SSA stating that the agency would “eliminate 41 jobs and close at least 10 SSA offices,” as per a report from ProPublica.
Whilst there is no exact understanding of how impactful the Musk headed Department of Government Efficiency had been on the decision to make cuts at the SSA, alarm bells have certainly been set off regarding the world’s wealthiest person and his integration into the U.S. government.
“Social Security will probably be the first beloved program by Americans that these DOGE boys break,” former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley shared with the Baltimore Sun. “And they’re on their way to doing it by driving people out of the agency.”
Four things to look out for regarding DOGE and Social Security
Compromised Data
Possibly the biggest cause for concern with Musk’s integration into government programs is Musk and his DOGE team being granted access to sensitive data. The Social Security records of tens of millions of citizens has been made available to DOGE and a new fear is that the information will get misplaced, landing it into the wrong hands and ultimately causing millions of Social Security beneficiaries to be targeted for scams.
In a recent statement, Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, said, “SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Security’s means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income.”
“Older people are disproportionately susceptible to scams. The data at SSA leaking would make the numbers of scams skyrocket,” Altman added.
Office closures
It appears that shuttering government offices and emptying out buildings has been placed high on the list of Musk’s priorities. In the February 28 statement, the SSA claimed “its regional structure of 10 offices is no longer sustainable” and that the aim is to “reduce the regional structure in all agency components down to four regions.”
The agency’s over 1,200 regional and field offices serve around 119,000 beneficiaries each day and the closure of any of these offices will cause unnecessary difficulty to those hoping to access SSA services.
Workforce cutbacks
Much like the office closures, staff reductions are also undoubtedly being enacted at the agency. In a statement shared with NPR, Rich Couture, a spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)’s SSA General Committee, said, “SSA is at its lowest staffing levels in 50 years while taking care of more Americans than ever.”
“We need to retain our frontline workers who directly serve the public as well as those workers who provide critical support for the frontlines. Any cuts will ultimately hurt the public and undermine delivery of Social Security benefits.”
Lengthened wait times
An already existing problem at the SSA is the increased wait times when accessing benefits or having questions answered and this issue is only going to worsen if the agency continues to shutter offices and let staff go, according to experts.
This rings true particularly in the case of disability benefits, which are “cumbersome and difficult to navigate,” according to what Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, shared with NPR. “About 10,000 claimants who appealed for their benefits die waiting for their claim to be resolved.”