Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has already made deep cuts with a nationwide reduction of staff, branch closures, and an imposed leadership structure that has been reorganized. These changes have led some to question whether the agency has the capacity to better, faster deliver required benefits and services to millions of Americans. This comes in the wake of an employee shortage at the SSA and a hiring freeze that has hampered their ability to hire new staff. Now, Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek is temporarily filling that spot after Michelle King resigned amid privacy violation concerns over the agency’s supervision by the Division of Operations Governance and Exchange (DOGE).

The SSA already has executed a loss of staff of at least 7,000 workers from its 57,000-person labor force. This downsizing, coupled with the closure of 10 field offices, may limit access to benefits for many individuals, particularly those in rural or underserved areas. These changes are occurring against the backdrop of an existing employee shortage and hiring freeze, further straining the agency's resources.

Beyond the painful staff cuts and wholesale office closures, the SSA is now undergoing a disruptive shift in its executive leadership paradigm. Under the new structure, there will only be five deputy commissioners, who will all be political appointees. This change has led some to fear that this unprecedented politicization will lead to political interference in the agency’s decision-making. The Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Transformation have been closed to cut costs, raising concerns about the agency's commitment to civil rights and its ability to adapt to changing needs. Additionally, targeted research on how to make Social Security better has been completely canceled, thus limiting the agency’s capacity to meet coming challenges.

The Social Security Administration’s customer service crisis started long before DOGE ever hit the mainstream. The National Academy of Social Insurance Robert M. Ball award, former Commissioner Robert M. Ball’s name award, recipient’s takeaways provide this important insight. This has been the agency’s conundrum and the cause of long wait times, challenges to accessing services, and a backlog of claims for years. Unfortunately, new changes at the SSA will only serve to exacerbate these issues. This will create significant barriers for people who rely on these benefits to access the support they need.

Notwithstanding these obstacles, the SSA has made strides in fulfilling some of its overdue commitments. The agency has already processed over 71% of all back payments to impacted beneficiaries. The SSA has stated that it will need 1,000 work hours just to process the back payments that are still outstanding. Currently, much of this effort requires intensive manual review on a case-by-case basis.

The National Academy of Social Insurance released a statement signed by recipients of its award named on behalf of former Social Security Administration Commissioner Robert M. Ball. It goes on to underscore the essential role of the SSA in protecting the economic security of tens of millions of Americans.

The economic security of millions of Americans is at stake - recipients of the National Academy of Social Insurance award named on behalf of former Social Security Administration Commissioner Robert M. Ball.

The statement further highlights the importance of having sufficient staffing and resources to be able to adequately process and administer Social Security’s benefits in a timely manner.

Getting benefits to the currently and newly eligible, and accurately determining how much those benefits should be, requires the work of current SSA staff and more - recipients of the National Academy of Social Insurance award named on behalf of former Social Security Administration Commissioner Robert M. Ball.

Some 10 million people are estimated to have died in recent years before they could receive any disability benefits. This tragic statistic underscores the imperative to take action to fix the myriad of challenges facing the SSA.

On January 5, President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law. This legislation provided unprecedented COVID relief by raising Social Security checks for over 3.2 million Americans. While this legislation answers the immediate lives-and-livelihoods-crushing impact of delay, it breaks no new ground on the problems plaguing the SSA.

In her first press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to fears that the proposed changes would affect people’s Social Security benefits.

Any American receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive them - White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt also clarified the role of DOGE within the SSA.

The sole mission of DOGE is to identify waste, fraud, and abuse only - White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith on the positive outcomes resulting from the changes made

Seniors are already seeing the benefit of doing things differently - House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith.

Critics argue that the staff reductions, office closures, and leadership changes will ultimately undermine the agency's ability to serve the public effectively. We share their worries over factors leading to political interference in the SSA’s functionality.

The Social Security Administration is on the cusp of significant changes. This does as the agency fights to threats—challenges that are both external and self-inflicted. The aging workforce, tidal wave of new claims, and budget constraints are all collectively bogging down the SSA’s ability to process claims. It remains to be seen how these changes will impact the agency moving forward. Their mission to deliver economic security to tens of millions of Americans is on the line.