Millions upon millions of vulnerable individuals rely on the consistency of their Social Security benefit checks to cover at least part of their living expenses from each month to the next. Now that the federal government is faced with shutdown due to a deadlock between the Republican and Democratic parties regarding the spending bill, Social Security beneficiaries may be fearing delays with their benefit payments until this shutdown ends.
The shutdown has been in effect as of October 1st, however, existing beneficiaries of Social Security need not worry too much about missed payments as their benefits are still scheduled to roll out uninterrupted during this time. As per an October 1st update from the Social Security Administration (SSA), benefits will still be paid to recipients as per the official schedule, and local offices will remain open, however, the services offered will be limited for the duration of the government shutdown. Here is everything you need to know.
What caused the federal government shutdown?
The U.S. government has shutdown for the first time in nearly 7 years due to members of Congress failing to reach an agreement regarding the spending bill. A total of 60 votes are required in order for a spending bill to be passed, however, neither the Democratic Party nor the Republic Party were able to garner the required number of votes in order to pass the healthcare spending bill, with neither party willing to compromise. As a result of this, the federal government has been shut down as of Wednesday, October 1st.
During a shutdown, federal agencies will halt operations and face furloughs, which means that service delivery will be significantly reduced or paused altogether. Not all federal agencies will be shutdown, however. Whether or not an agency will continue to operate during a shutdown depends entirely on how the agency is funded. There are two types of funding for federal agencies:
- Mandatory spending: agencies with mandatory spending are funded automatically due to existing legislature. This includes programs like Social Security or Medicare.
- Discretionary spending: agencies with discretionary spending require appropriations from Congress on a yearly basis, and includes many federal agencies such as education or defense.
The last government shutdown happened at the end of 2018 and lasted a total of 35 days, marking it as the longest government shutdown on record in American history. This shutdown occurred during the Trump Administration’s first term in office due to a deadlock regarding border security. Since 1981, there have been a total of 14 partial shutdowns, however, most of these shutdowns only lasted for a day or two.
SSA confirms payments will be made on time
On October 1st following the announcement of a federal government shutdown, the SSA shared an update on its blog outlining how the shutdown will impact beneficiaries. The most important thing to note is that both Social Security and SSI benefits will continue to be paid to recipients as per the schedule.
“We want you to know that during the federal government shutdown, payments to all people who currently receive Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will continue with no change in payment dates. You will still receive your payments on time,” the agency wrote.
Additionally, local offices and hearing offices will remain open amid the shutdown, however, the local offices will be offering services in a limited capacity for the time being. For the duration of the shutdown, the SSA will only be offering the following services:
- Apply for benefits
- Request an appeal
- Change your address or direct deposit information
- Report a death
- Verify or change your citizenship status
- Replace a lost or missing Social Security payment
- Obtain a critical payment
- Change a representative payee
- Make a change in your living arrangement or income (SSI recipients only)
- Obtain a new or replacement Social Security card