Molly Weston Williamson, MSNBC - With Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency leading the charge, the Trump administration is intensifying attacks on the Social Security Administration and jeopardizing the vital benefits 1 in 5 Americans rely on. Under President Donald Trump-appointed leadership, the SSA recently announced its intent to eliminate 7,000 jobs, slicing the agency’s already skeletal staff down to the marrow. The SSA’s shrinking workforce already has been covering an increasing number of beneficiaries for years. With no capacity to spare, the consequences could quickly turn dire.
As the baby boomer generation ages, a record number of Americans are hitting retirement each year, making this exactly the moment when seniors most need Social Security’s systems to function in order to access the benefits they have earned. But as former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley recently warned, the administration’s actions could break those systems and interrupt benefit payments.
These attacks on the Social Security Administration coincide with other ominous signals about the program’s future.
If Social Security benefits stop — or even experience delays — the impact will be immediate and catastrophic. In a recent survey, 42% of Americans age 65 and up reported they wouldn’t be able to afford necessities like food, clothes or housing without their monthly Social Security retirement benefits. Over 11 million disabled Americans under age 65 also receive benefits through Social Security — payments that are subject to strict rules limiting recipients’ ability to earn wages or accrue savings. For these disabled Americans, too, even a few days’ delay could mean not putting food on the table.
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