By MEG KINNARD
Across-the-board cuts at the Social Security Administration are prompting questions about how the benefits of millions of recipients may be affected.
Among the potential changes are layoffs for more than 10% of the agency’s workforce and the closure of dozens of offices throughout the U.S. It’s all part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency, inspired by President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk.
Some of the public-facing locations listed for closure were already slated to be shuttered due to lack of use. The SSA says work in other non-public sites up for closure is being consolidated.
Here’s a look at cuts to the agency, which serves more than 70 million Americans, and potential effects for recipients:
Will the Social Security office near my home close?
On its website, DOGE lists 47 Social Security Administration field offices set for closure across the U.S., with many concentrated in the South and across the Southeast.
An agency spokesperson said last week that most of the leases not being renewed were for spaces used for in-person hearings, sites no longer necessary due to the majority of hearings now being held virtually. In the 2024 fiscal year, according to SSA, 20% of those offices held no in-person hearings.
Some of the other properties had already been set for closure, or were being consolidated anyway, the spokesperson noted, saying the agency was working with the General Services Administration “to review our leases and ensure they are used efficiently.”
According to the Social Security Administration, the agency has about 1,200 field offices across the U.S.
Will my Social Security benefits be cut?
Not necessarily, but advocates have claimed that agency reductions will result in diminished services.
The 72.5 million Social Security beneficiaries across the country include retirees and children who receive retirement and disability benefits.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has characterized Musk’s cuts to the agency as efforts to “attack the bedrock of America’s social safety net.”
Social Security is one of the nation’s largest and most popular social programs. A January poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that two-thirds of U.S. adults think the country is spending too little on Social Security.
The program faces a looming bankruptcy date if it is not addressed by Congress. The May 2024 Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report states that Social Security’s trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. Then, Social Security would be able to pay only 83% of benefits.
What about Social Security employee layoffs?
Earlier this week, a person familiar with the agency’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly said that the Social Security Administration was preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000.
According to the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities, administering the program amounts to less than 1% of the revenue that funds it.
Advocates and Democratic lawmakers have warned that layoffs and agency cuts will reduce the agency’s ability to serve recipients in a timely manner.
In a letter last month to acting Social Security Administrator Michelle King, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York wrote that the White Plains hearing office in her state has 2,000 pending cases, saying “beneficiaries will be required to travel between 24 and 135 miles” to get to another office if it closes.
What has the Trump administration said about Social Security?
In an episode with podcaster Joe Rogan airing last month, Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
But Trump, who during the presidential campaign vowed to make no changes to the program, has consistently said there would be no changes to benefits. Since his election in November, the Republican has reiterated those comments, saying Social Security benefits “won’t be touched” and “will only be strengthened.”
Associated Press reporter Fatima Hussein contributed from Washington.
Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.
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