WASHINGTON, DC – The American Prospect reported that the acting leader of the Social Security Administration (SSA) – who was handpicked by Trump outside the usual process for elevating an acting commissioner -- instructed managers to draw up plans to cut the SSA workforce by half.  This comes on the heels of the Trump Administration terminating SSA’s Office of Transformation which was moving to modernize technology, customer experience, and more across the SSA in a coordinated and transparent manner with trackable progress.

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) condemned the Trump Administration’s moves to drastically downsize the SSA by shuttering field offices and firing critical staff and warned that doing so would be an alarming step toward disrupting payments and slashing future benefits.

“Social Security is an earned benefit that Americans pay into.  President Trump is recklessly moving to disrupt this vital lifeline and deny people the assistance they need when they need it most,” said Senator Reed.  “If the Trump Administration fires half of the SSA workforce it will degrade customer service for taxpayers and set the stage for even bigger cuts to the underlying program -- leading to more elderly and disabled people struggling without a safety net.”

For nearly 90 years, Social Security has provided income protection to millions of retirees, people with disabilities, dependents, and families that lose a wage earner.

This year, the Social Security Administration will administer benefits and payments to more than 70 million beneficiaries – including 230,000 Rhode Islanders -- while also issuing millions of Social Security numbers; maintaining the  wage records of workers; and more.

Rhode Island is currently home to five SSA field offices and one location for the Office of Hearings Operations (Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, Warwick, Woonsocket).  Senator Reed says it’s imperative that older Americans and individuals with severe physical and intellectual disabilities have access to in-person services and that the SSA do more to enhance and simplify communications with Social Security recipients.

“Over 100,000 visitors travel to SSA’s brick-and-mortar facilities every weekday seeking help.  They shouldn’t be placed on indefinite hold or forced to chat with a bot -- they need a dedicated SSA staffer who can connect with them and help them through all the legalese to get the personalized assistance they deserve.  But the Trump-Musk cuts would make it harder for people in need to get timely assistance accessing their benefits,” said Reed, who noted that 30,000 people died while waiting for Social Security disability determinations during fiscal 2023.

Senator Reed also sounded the alarm about recent turmoil at the agency as a result of Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) prying into people’s personal data.  DOGE coders gained access to personally identifiable information on hundreds of millions of Americans stored by SSA, which, if it is not properly protected, could lead to a tsunami of scams targeting older Americans. 

Musk has blatantly tried to mislead the public about Social Security, including spreading misinformation that large numbers of 150-year-old “vampires” were receiving Social Security payments.

“The Trump Administration is systematically trying to discredit Social Security: Elon Musk has made his disdain for Social Security clear through outrageously false claims that don’t add up.  The Trump Administration is putting Social Security benefits at risk by firing civil servants who assist beneficiaries and making it harder for Americans to talk to a real person and get the personalized customer assistance they need,” said Senator Reed.

“Rhode Island seniors depend on the Social Security and I will do everything I can to defend against the Trump-Musk cuts that seek to downsize the SSA and people’s retirement security in order to fund bigger windfall tax benefits for the wealthy.  We must strengthen and improve retirement security for Americans, not promote insecurity and economic instability,” concluded Reed.