• Some Republicans are once again targeting a cap on deductions for state and local taxes, aka SALT.
• The SALT deduction cap affects high-tax states like New York and California significantly.
• Part of the GOP tax and spending bill proposes raising the cap to $30,000, sparking debate.

A tax deduction known as SALT that helps affluent residents of high-tax states is standing in the way of President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill."

A small group of Republicans is fighting to raise or abolish the $10,000 cap on the amount of state and local taxes you can deduct from your federal return that was originally introduced in Trump's 2017 tax law. Lifting that cap would allow high-earning taxpayers in states and cities with high taxes to cut down what they owe to the feds.

"It is a Republican principle to allow hardworking taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York and member of the SALT caucus, a group of bipartisan representatives from states that would benefit from lifting the cap, said. "And that is the point that I have made over and over again in every room that I've been in on this discussion."

Whether or not you care about SALT depends on how much you pay in state and local taxes. Americans in higher-tax states, like New York or California, would benefit from being able to deduct more from their federal taxes, while residents of states like Tennessee and Florida have a much lower local tax burden.

The map below shows the per capita amount residents in each state pay in state and local taxes.

In fiscal year 2022, the most recent year available, Washington, DC, had the highest tax collections per capita. High rates are mainly due to the need to maintain federal property, the Tax Foundation said. New York and California followed DC in the ranking. States with the lowest collections per capita were mainly in the South.

The Tax Foundation said people making above $100,000, concentrated in six states, including Texas and New York, claimed 91% of the SALT benefit before the $10,000 cap was created in 2017.

Now, SALT is in Congress's crosshairs, with House Ways and Means Committee members voting for provisions that would raise that cap to $30,000. Marc Goldwein, the senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said that the figure "gives a bigger tax cut to people that already got a pretty big tax cut" under the 2017 legislation.

Even so, the $30,000 already drew ire from SALT hawks, who want even more relief. Malliotakis said it wasn't easy to triple the deduction in this iteration, but now they're in negotiations to see what they can do to balance varying SALT interests.

Meanwhile, hardliner GOP members shot down the first iteration of the bill, saying they wanted deeper cuts in federal spending and to not increase the deficit — a big contrast to the Republicans hoping to deliver more relief in high-tax states.

Malliotakis said that they're in active discussions with the chairman, speaker, and other committee members "to figure out if we can sweeten the pot a little bit." Discussions have touched on a higher deduction number, income limits, and the length of time the deduction will be in place.

"At least we have a framework of what will satisfy the SALT caucus members or what potentially can satisfy the low-sodium members, as I like to call them," Malliotakis said. "And we will hopefully get to a good spot."

Do you have a story to share about the SALT deduction? Contact these reporters at [email protected] and [email protected].

• Top Democrats are urging the Social Security Administration to halt plans they say would make firings easier.
• SSA's acting commissioner said the agency would reclassify some employees, making termination easier.
• SSA is already facing a shrinking staff amid federal cost-cutting, causing alarm for recipients.

Top Democrats are urging the Social Security Administration to scrap plans that they say could make it easier for agency employees to be fired by DOGE. It's the latest push from the party's "Social Security War Room."

In a Friday letter exclusively obtained by BI, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Kristen Gillibrand called on new SSA Commissioner Frank Bisgnano to immediately stop any action that would reclassify staff members to a new category labeled Schedule F or Schedule Policy/Career.

The move would give the White House more control over the hiring, firing, and management of SSA employees by categorizing some as "policy-influencing" — a designation that means workers who were civil servants before, with the protection that affords, would become at-will, and are therefore able to be terminated more easily.

"Converting these SSA employees' status is a deliberate maneuver to make it easier to get rid of critical SSA staff, endangering the program and the benefits earned by millions of Americans," the senators wrote.

An April internal email sent by former acting commissioner Leland Dudek, who helmed the agency during its transition to Bisignano's full-time stewardship, said that senior executives, some advisors, and staff of certain offices within the agency should be reclassified as policy-makers.

Dudek told BI in a statement last week that the Trump administration is getting rid of "unnecessary bureaucracy" within the agency that "will deliver on President Trump's promise to protect Social Security by providing the high-quality service and stewardship that the American people expect and deserve."

The SSA said the ongoing staff cuts are part of a"workforce optimization plan that focuses on reducing employees in non-mission-critical positions and bolstering staff in mission-critical roles."

Turbulent times at the Social Security Administration

The agency operates America's largest social safety net, ensuring that 73 million older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income households receive their monthly benefit checks. Since President Donald Trump returned to office, federal cost-cutting efforts have hit the agency hard, contributing to historically low staff numbers and a slew of anxious baby boomers. Organizations like the AARP have also sounded an alarm about the agency's crumbling customer service.

In addition to older Americans worried about benefit disruptions, BI has heard from current and former SSA employees in recent months who are worried about losing their livelihoods and described the "chaos," "stress," "confusion," and "fear" they feel working at the agency under DOGE. And, while White House policy changes will not impact the monthly checks beneficiaries receive, several of the employees BI spoke with warned that continued staff cuts may cause delays in processing paperwork and Social Security claims.

"We're at the tip of the iceberg; this is just going to get worse and worse and worse," Jill Hornick, a field office employee of 33 years and administrative director for AFGE Local 1395, previously told BI, adding, "I don't think the Social Security that we know is going to be something we'll see again."

The senators said a potential reclassification to Schedule F would put employees at greater risk of losing their jobs. They asked Bisignano to halt planned reclassifications and to restore any employees who had already been made Schedule F to their original civil servant status.

"By indiscriminately making senior officers and rank-and-file employees at will, you are politicizing Social Security," they wrote. "Americans receiving their earned benefits is not a political call — it is a right."

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via Signal at alliekelly.10 and julianakaplan.33, or email at [email protected] and [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Nicole Crawley has saved $2,000 in the past 2 years using a couponing app to manage household expenses.
• Crawley, a stay-at-home mom, has honed her strategy to save on baby products and essentials.
• Crawley has been couponing since she was 15, and says it's worth it to learn how to save.

Nicole Crawley has been couponing since she was 15.

Now, at 28 and a mom of three, she takes money-saving seriously. Over the past two years, she's saved $2,000 using a couponing app. That can make a real difference in her household, which lives on one income since she's a stay-at-home mother. High day care costs drove her to stay home with her kids; losing her salary means leaning even more into couponing.

"I still use a lot of the skills and a lot of the shopping techniques to be able to afford the lifestyle that we have kept up," she said, referring to the money-saving methods she learned growing up in a "very, very poor" family.

Though she now mainly uses a couponing app, she first accrued savings the old-school way: a couponing binder, rifling through the recycling center for coupon inserts, and even collecting coupons from people in her community who wanted to help out.

Those skills are coming in handy in an age when products, especiall those for children and babies, have seen price fluctuations. Tariffs might only increase costs. An April 10 survey of 1,1014 US consumers by market research data firm Numerator found that 83% of consumers are planning on changing up their shopping behaviors in preparation for tariffs, and 48% said that they'll look for sales or coupons. Crawley said that tariffs are a stressor — she's been picking up her couponing to ensure that they have staples in their household.

"If prices do increase significantly, which I do see happening, it won't hit home as hard and as abruptly," she said.

Couponing to save money on kids' stuff

When she was younger, Crawley watched TLC's "Extreme Couponing," a TV show about people seeking to save as much money as possible and competing to see who can get their bills to be the smallest. While Crawley said the show itself is unrealistic, it did help her launch her own couponing passion.

Crawley said that when she first moved out of her house at 18, she paused her couponing for a little while she got settled. But when her first child was born a few years later, and she was trying to make it on her own, she discovered how expensive baby gear was. That's when she threw herself back into the couponing lifestyle.

She was able to accumulate so many baby items that she could donate some to her local women's care center; her hauls included baby soap, lotions, and diaper wipes. She also said she took her couponing ethos to other ways of saving — she utilized thrift stores, and would barter her coupon items for other items she needed, like baby clothes or toys.

Couponing these days looks a bit different. Paper coupons are less common, and retailers will only allow consumers to use a few at a time, she said. Instead, rebate apps like Ibotta are the place to be these days. That app has helped Crawley save over $2,000. She also takes advantage of retailers' online coupons and online loyalty accounts. One of her most recent household finds: Eight toilet bowl cleaners for $5 at Walgreens. With a universe of deal options, Crawley said she's been focusing her efforts on diapers, formula, and other baby accoutrements.

Getting discounts and trying out new products

Crawley also capitalizes on a strategy retailers use to potentially hook new customers: She'll often try new products just because they have a steep discount. When Ragu announced a new kids veggie sauce, she was able to get jars for 25 cents each; it ended up being a hit in her household, and she has 12 jars currently sitting in her pantry.

Crawley is still trying to be mindful of overconsumption — she doesn't want to just accrue things she doesn't need for the sake of couponing. She said that she tries to clear some things out when she's run out of space, or they might not be able to use them before they go bad.

"If I get anything extra that, we might not use this in time, it automatically gets donated to a family in need. I'll post on Facebook, 'Hey, who needs this? Come get it," she said. "Or I'll take it to our woman's care center and they'll dish it out to whoever needs it there."

Couponing has been worth it for Crawley's household. She knows it can be daunting to explore, but the work is worth it.

"When you're planning your grocery excursion with it, making your list, it can be time-consuming," she said. "You're checking multiple apps, you're checking all the coupons, you're checking the ads, you're writing everything down. But I think just an hour to sit down and do it and saving the money makes it worth it."

Do you have a story to share about finding ways to save money? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• House Republicans have proposed cuts and tweaks to federal Medicaid funding.
• Business Insider analyzed who receives Medicaid in the US.
• Cuts could affect children, low-income millennials, and residents in states like California.

House Republicans' latest budget plans suggest big cuts could be coming to federal Medicaid funding — and it could mean less access to healthcare for millions of Americans.

To understand who might be vulnerable, Business Insider used publicly available enrollment and demographic data to create a picture of the typical recipient. The results: Children, lower-earning millennials, and those in Western and Northeastern states could be particularly impacted by any cuts.

Over 79 million Americans, or just under a quarter of the population, receive coverage under either Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, which is eligible for children through Medicaid. Medicaid and CHIP are paid for by a mix of federal and state funding.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee's proposal was released on Sunday and includes about $715 billion of cuts over the next decade from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. On Wednesday, House Republicans from the committee voted to advance the proposal, which will go to a full House vote. That might mean that 8.6 million people could see their health insurance coverage axed, according to an analysis released May 7 by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Who receives Medicaid

Medicaid enrollment data from October 2024 and July 2024 population estimates from the Census Bureau indicate that at least 10% of residents in nearly all states relied on Medicaid or CHIP, with New Mexico and California leading.

To get a picture of the demographic breakdown of Medicaid beneficiaries, Business Insider analyzed individual-level data from the Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey assembled by the University of Minnesota.

Children are highly overrepresented among Medicaid recipients: People under 18 make up just about a fifth of all Americans, but nearly 40% of Medicaid recipients. Conversely, prime working-age Americans — who are between 25 and 54 — are underrepresented among Medicaid recipients, compared to the population at large. The average Medicaid recipient is around 32 years old.

Medicaid recipients were unemployed at a higher share than the rest of American adults; around 40% were employed, compared to around 60% of all adults.

A far greater share of Medicaid recipients was not in the labor force, meaning that they're not working or actively looking for work. There are many reasons people may be out of the labor force — they might need to provide care to a child or someone else, or have simply thrown in the towel on finding work.

Accordingly, Medicaid recipients are lower-earning: The average annual income among adults on Medicaid was $21,654, less than half of the average income of $55,050 for all adults; around a third of all Medicaid recipients lived below the poverty line, compared to 13% of all Americans.

Adult Medicaid recipients were also less likely than the total American adult population to be married, and a slightly higher share is separated or divorced. The greatest share of Medicaid recipients is single, and Medicaid recipients are also slightly more likely to be female than male.

Compared to all American adults, Medicaid recipients were also more likely to have less than a high school education; just under 10% have a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education.

Similar to the wider American population, the largest share of Medicaid recipients are white; however, Black and Hispanic Americans are disproportionately represented among American adults receiving Medicaid. The analysis also showed that immigrants are underrepresented among Medicaid recipients.

What's on the table now

The latest proposal from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, includes increasing Medicaid user fees, more frequent income verification, and adding work requirements for lower-income adults without children — which would go into effect in 2029.

The proposal would aim to crack down on using state taxes for hospitals to secure more federal funding. It would also require some copayments for doctors' visits for Medicaid recipients who make more than the federal poverty limit.

In addition, the proposal looks to reduce Medicaid expansion rates for states that cover people living in the country illegally, as well as prevent Medicaid from funding Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

It's a less severe proposal than some commentators expected. The GOP committee members opted not to lower the federal Medicaid matching rate or implement a per capita spending cap, which were pushed for by some GOP leaders.

Republicans have been split on the best path forward for Medicaid cuts, as some represent districts that have among the highest Medicaid reliance rates.

Of course, Trump's big, beautiful bill is far from a guarantee. The coming weeks and potentially months of negotiations likely mean that the final iteration will reflect what Republicans can agree on cutting. For now, though, Medicaid seems to be in their crosshairs.

Do you have a story to share about potential Medicaid cuts? Contact these reporters at [email protected] and [email protected].

• House Republicans narrowly passed Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" on May 22.
• It includes new tax cuts, changes to Medicaid, saving accounts for kids, and other provisions.
• Here's what you should know about the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda.

For months, President Donald Trump has pursued his sweeping agenda through executive actions. Now, he's experiencing the hard part.

Republicans put pen to paper on what Trump has called his "One Big Beautiful Bill. On May 22, House Republicans narrowly passed the sweeping fiscal package that serves as the centerpiece of the president's legislative agenda on a 215-214 vote.

The bill includes GOP priorities like no taxes on tips or overtime, cuts to Medicaid, "Trump accounts" for children and several other provisions.

The process is far from over, even after House Republicans spent weeks debating its details, culminating in a 22-hour committee hearing.

Senate Republicans are likely to further change the legislation, meaning the House would need to vote again. Republicans hope to send the bill to Trump's desk by July 4.

Here's what you should know about what's in the "One Big Beautiful Bill."

The bill includes cuts to Medicaid, and millions could lose health coverage

As part of the House-approved bill, states would implement work requirements by the end of 2026 for childless adults on Medicaid who do not have a disability, mandating they work for 80 hours a month.

A previous version of the bill gave states until 2029 to implement the strict requirements, but House conservatives successfully pushed for the changes to come sooner.

One component of the plan would increase the price of doctors' visits, mandating beneficiaries making above the federal poverty limit to pay co-payments of up to $35. States would also be required to stop taxing hospitals and nursing homes in order to secure more federal funding.

Medicaid recipients in some states would have more paperwork to regularly confirm their residency status and income. And the plan would lower federal funding for some recipients in states that fund medical coverage for undocumented immigrants.

Conservatives also secured another victory by inserting a provision that would incentivize states to not expand Medicaid to a broader group of low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act, Politico reported.

The Congress Budget Office previously estimated that an earlier version of the legislation would save about $912 billion over the next decade in federal spending, about $715 billion of which would derive from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts. The CBO said about 8.6 million people could lose their insurance coverage.

The plan came short of expectations among some ultraconservatives who wanted more Medicaid cuts at the federal level. Some GOP leaders wanted per-capita caps for those in Medicaid expansion states and a lower across-the-board rate at which the federal government supplements each state's funding for Medicaid programs.

Democrats have strongly opposed the bill, emphasizing that millions of Americans will potentially have their lives uprooted by Medicaid cuts.

No tax on tips or overtime, making Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent, and more

Some of Trump's flashiest campaign promises were to remove taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security. This bill largely gets those done, but only for the next four years — lawmakers will have to decide whether to renew the cuts in 2029.

The bill would allow workers in an "occupation that traditionally and customarily receives tips" to claim a tax deduction for the sum of all tips that they received in the previous year. It would also do the same for overtime wages. Neither deduction is available to anyone who is a "highly compensated employee."

To help accomplish Trump's "no taxes on Social Security" pledge, Republicans created a new $4,000 tax deduction for seniors making less than $75,000 per year. There's also a provision in the bill to fulfill Trump's promise of no taxes on car loan interest.

There's also an extension of the child tax credit, which is currently $2,000 but was set to decrease to $1,000 after this year. The bill would increase the credit to $2,500 through 2028, then it would drop to $2,000 permanently after that.

If you're thinking of buying an electric vehicle, you might want to do so before the end of the year. The bill would eliminate existing tax credits for new and used EVs, and it would impose an annual registration fee of $250 for EV owners.

The bill also makes permanent a slew of tax cuts that Trump and Republicans enacted in 2017. The average American won't feel much of a difference, since they've probably gotten used to the existing tax rates and brackets that have existed since 2018. But it's the most consequential part of the bill from a budgetary perspective, adding trillions to the deficit over the next several years.

Trump savings accounts

The bill establishes Trump savings accounts for children. The idea was originally proposed by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. In an initial draft of the bill, Republicans called the accounts "Money account for growth and advancement" accounts, or MAGA accounts.

At the last minute, House Republicans renamed the accounts after the president.

The federal government would pay $1,000 to babies born from 2024 through 2028. After the cutoff, parents will still be able to put $5,000 per year into each account.

Cruz's proposal is similar to previous Democratic-led efforts for "baby bonds," but the biggest difference is that there is no income cutoff. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a Democrat, envisioned a program primarily targeted at low-income families.

A repeal of Biden's student loan forgiveness plans

If enacted, the reconciliation bill would mean major changes for student-loan borrowers. The legislation proposes terminating all existing income-driven student-loan repayment plans, including Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan, which would have shortened the timeline for debt relief and provided cheaper monthly payments. While SAVE is currently paused due to litigation, Trump and Republican lawmakers have said they would not carry out the plan if it survives in court.

Under the bill, borrowers would have two repayment plan options: one, called the Repayment Assistance Plan, would allow for loan forgiveness after 360 qualifying payments, and the other option would be a standard repayment plan with a fixed monthly payment over a fixed time period set by the servicer.

Payments made under the Repayment Assistance Plan would be calculated based on the borrower's income and would count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

A 10-year ban on state-level AI laws

House lawmakers handed a major win to Big Techby including a 10-year federal preemption on all state artificial intelligence laws in the larger bill. Congress has talked about a federal AI policy, but no serious legislative proposals have emerged.

In the meantime, states have tried to fill to void. Major tech companies have long fought state-level AI regulations. Last year, California lawmakers passed the nation's most sweeping AI legislation only for Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto it.

Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic lobbied against California's bill. Meta recently wrote to the White House that state laws "could impede innovation and investment."

The issue isn't going away. In the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers in at least 45 states introduced AI-related bills, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Unlike most of the other provisions on this list, the AI regulation ban faces major hurdles to making it into law. Republicans must adhere to strict parliamentary rules to pass Trump's bill without facing a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. One rule is that all provisions must be primarily fiscal in nature, and many expect that the AI provision will fail that test.

A debt ceiling hike, the end of IRS Direct file, money for a border wall, and more

Avoiding default: Republicans would raise the debt limit by $4 trillion, staving off a potential default that could come later this summer. One way or another, Congress will have to address the debt issue soon. The federal government is expected to exhaust its borrowing ability sometime in August.

Billions for missile defense: Trump wants the US to have a futuristic missile defense system inspired by Israel's vaunted "Iron Dome" air defenses, but the US shield would include space-based components and focus on longer-range missile threats rather than the smaller weapons Israel faces. House Republicans have allocated roughly $25 billion for overall missile defense, most of which will go to the "Golden Dome" project.

700 more miles of Trump's border wall: Republicans proposed spending roughly $47 billion on border barriers, which will cover 701 miles of "primary wall," 900 miles of river barriers, and 629 miles of secondary barriers. Trump repeatedly fought in his first term to build a massive border wall between the US and Mexico but struggled to get funding through Congress.

A big tax increase on large university endowments: Republicans would significantly increase Trump's 2017 groundbreaking tax on colleges and universities with large endowments. Under the bill, the tax rate would be tied to the size of their endowment, adjusted by student enrollment. At the low end, the rate would remain at 1.4%. At the highest level, universities would pay 21% tax if they have an endowment of $2 million or more per student.

IRS direct file: The big beautiful bill would officially kill off the IRS's Direct File program, a Biden-era initiative that has long been a subject of Republican ire. In April, a Treasury Department official told BI that it was a failed and disappointing program. The new legislation would instead allocate funding towards studying a public-private partnership to provide free filing for a majority of taxpayers.

• With recession fears rising, the revenge spending of recent years is slowing down.
• A downturn isn't a sure thing; we're talking an all-inclusive cruise instead of a flight to Europe.
• It's time for fixed-price options like cruises and streaming to take precedent over more freewheeling spending.

You're cutting back on big nights out, so you host dinner parties at home, springing for the fancy candlesticks and serving San Pellegrino.

You're skipping the flight to Europe this summer. Wandering cobblestone streets comes with too much spontaneous spending; an all-inclusive cruise is the way to go.

Kelsey Laurier, a 32-year-old in Atlanta, understands this mindset. She caters her online content to people who want affordable luxury.

"People are tired of being nickel-and-dimed when it comes to certain situations," Laurier said. "I think when you pay for something that's already bundled, when you pay for something that you already know this is what it costs, I think it just feels better."

A little bit of financial comfort might just hit the spot in today's in-between economic moment. People are still spending, and inflation cooled in April, but both sentiment measures have fallen due to the US's erratic trade strategy and last month's stock market roller coaster. It's not a bad time to readjust your budget for more predictable spending, even if you still want that luxury feeling.

The answer? Clear, upfront prices. Paul Hardart, a marketing professor at NYU Stern, pointed to an idea called perceived value — how much you perceive an item to be worth, which may or may not align with how much it's actually worth. Bundles can have a big perceived value right now because they speak to that same comfort that Laurier mentioned.

"Even hotels where breakfast is included, you are paying for that, but there is a perceived value that feels good," Hardart said.

All-inclusive entertainment, vacations, and dinners

If the early 2020s were all about YOLO spending, 2025 is an era of intentional budgeting.

It's why concerts aren't selling out anymore, but Netflix earnings are strong. Airlines are cutting flights while cruises are doing just fine. The difference? The winners have fixed prices and a lower likelihood of unexpected costs.

While spending has stayed strong, Americans have less of a savings cushion than in the immediate post-lockdown years. And there are signs their confidence is starting to crack. Consumer sentiment has been dwindling, falling 32% since January and hitting lows unseen since 2022.

"I definitely think we're going to see a rise in people being more mindful of where they spend, and I think there's going to be more of a focus on delayed gratification versus instant gratification," Laurier said.

Cheaper store-brand groceries, as well as thrift and discount stores, are having a moment. At the same time, though, consumers — especially younger ones — have gotten a taste of luxury. Laurier has noticed that Gen Zers, who grew up with social media, are very interested in more name-brand items and designer clothing, whether they have the budget for it or not.

That's where affordable luxury strategies come in. Dinners out can add up; they may or may not include drinks, appetizers, and a nightcap. The affordable luxury version of that is a dinner party, where you can set a budget in advance and still feel upscale with a few choice items — sans pricey appetizers, an upcharged bottle of wine, and tax and tip.

"People, even myself, are starting to splurge on higher quality foods as a way of it being a little luxury, because it is a very affordable luxury versus buying a handbag or something," she said. "You can go to a farmers market and get all organic food and make a good meal with high-quality ingredients."

That idea can be applied to the bigger-ticket luxuries, like travel and entertainment. The appeal of the cruise, as Henry Wismayer writes for BI, is that you know what you're paying for — boats are generally all-inclusive, with some add-ons offered. That's a stark financial contrast from bopping around Europe and stumbling into a pricey café, or having to pay for transit to get around.

Hardart, the marketing professor, said that companies, too, want predictability, and subscriptions are the way to go. Think Disney+ offering Hulu and sports, or Amazon Prime partnering with food delivery services.

Of course, an actual recession would hit spending in much more profound ways. But while that's not guaranteed at the moment, Hardart said, "If you can't really plan your future, therefore, you're going to want to save more for the uncertainty that lies ahead."

Do you have a story to share about bundling or affordable luxury? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Gen Z's intrigue with the papal conclave surged because they'd had a juicy primer in the film "Conclave."
• The movie offered a fictional glimpse into the secretive papal selection process.
• "Conclave" became a box-office hit, resonating with Gen Z's love for drama and exclusivity.

I have a confession.

I saw "Conclave," the movie, five times in the theater.

It's shocking, I know, in an era when movie theater attendance has been tanking, but it meant I was well-prepared for this week's real-life event and the inner machinations of the cardinals who ultimately selected Robert Francis Prevost to be the next pope.

It also meant I understood all the Gen Z hype around it.

First, there's "Pope Crave," a play on the popular "Pop Crave" X account, which has transitioned from sharing "Conclave" film memes to reporting live from the event itself.

Then there were TikTok edits and betting pools. Even NBC's Steve Kornacki, another unlikely Gen Z icon, jumped in, breaking down the conclave à la his popular election coverage — signature khakis and all.

So why the huge surge in interest in the real conclave — and the film?

Gen Z loves access, exclusivity, and drama

In an age when social media and direct virtual access have come to dominate politics, the movie gave Gen Zers a fictional glimpse at what might happen behind closed doors — an inroad into a ritual that, by design, is shrouded in secrecy and pomp. When the real event rolled around, anyone who had seen the film could feel like they were already in on the secrets.

Some of the most affecting parts of the film are grounded in the humanity of its holy men: The throughline of Ralph Fiennes' Cardinal Lawrence, the dean of the "Conclave," is his growing detachment from his own faith. Factions snipe at each other, the purest of men are petty and short, and the desire for power and institutional stability is a blinding force for some. Those are certainly themes that are resonant for younger viewers who have often joked about constantly living in unprecedented times.

And those themes resonated with audiences: Conclave also emerged as a surprise box-office hit, a standout in a time when big superhero franchises and reboots are floundering. And, yes, it amassed its own barrage of TikTok edits — another Gen Z hallmark.

The film primed Gen Z for the actual event

It's like knowing Taylor Swift's catalog so well that you can spot the Easter Eggs in her newest music — you're naturally going to be a bigger fan, notice the inside details, and debate what it all means in the group chat.

The actual conclave meant that, unlike dramas such as "Succession" or "Game of Thrones," the movie crossed a little bit into reality; Gen Z came in with an acute, gossipy understanding of what might be happening behind closed doors and was ready to speculate. That offered the opportunity to edit, post, and bet away.

The film, and the actual event, also came at important times for Gen Zers. "Conclave" gained box office steam right around the 2024 election, suggesting an appetite for a contained story about a high-stakes and tumultuous election; the film's box office yields for the Friday and Saturday following the election both came in over $1 million. (I did not pay for five individual viewings. As a sober-curious, subscription-maximizing young person, I'm a member of AMC A-List, which allows me to see four movies a month for just under $30.)

The appointment of a new pope comes at a consequential life stage for many Gen Zers, even as the share of young Catholics in the US shrinks: Many in my age cohort are considering marriage or having their first children. A new pope might dictate how much, if at all, they choose to be involved in their religion or raise a child within it.

Now, ironically, we're in a world with a new pope tailored to the Gen Z age: Folks are already combing through his X account and finding his political takes. Welcome to the official Pope Crave era.

Do you have a story to share about the conclave (real) or "Conclave" the film? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• The days of offering perks to fill labor shortages are long gone — in fact, some companies wouldn't mind shedding workers.
• So they're going hardcore with stricter RTO rules, low-performer layoffs, and pullbacks on pay.
• With recession fears rising, companies want to cut costs, and workers are clinging to whatever job they have.

When Monday morning rolls around, you may be feeling a lot like Garfield; that's kind of the point.

In recent months, BI has reported on a litany of changes that companies are making to performance reviews, return-to-office mandates, middle management, and compensation structures that have office workers feeling like the grumpy orange cat about their jobs. They may be drowning their sorrows in recession-friendly frozen pizzas — while their bosses are just hoping they quit.

That's because rising recession fears have contributed to conflicting incentives for companies looking to cut costs and employees who want to hang on to whatever job they have. Gone are the days of big raises and job-hopping, so workers are more likely to put up with changing polices — even if they don't like it.

While companies make changes for all kinds of reasons, the current economic climate provides a chance for them to go hardcore and not sweat the attrition along the way. Several Big Tech companies have made moves to identify and disincentivize low performers. When Uber upped the ante on return-to-office and changed eligibility for sabbaticals, its CEO said the policy changes could drive some workers to quit.

"The good news is the economy is still really strong. The job market is strong," Dara Khosrowshahi said. "People who work at Uber, they have lots of opportunities everywhere."

While he's right that unemployment is still low, it's gotten much harder in recent years to get a new job, especially for white-collar workers. The quit rate, which was high during the Great Resignation, has slowed way down.

And so the grumpy cat workers only get grumpier. Just 31% of those surveyed by Gallup in February 2025 said that they were engaged at work, a tumble from pre-pandemic 2023 highs. Gen Zers are particularly disconnected, which may stem from a sharp turnaround in policies like DEI or sudden layoffs, which stand in stark contrast to pandemic-era workplace rhetoric.

Indeed, fewer workers surveyed by Gallup say that they feel cared for at work, a share that's tumbled since pre-pandemic and then post-vaccine highs.

In the "take this job and shove it" period, that would have been a clear sign to walk away and find something new. But rising recession fears are instead leading to an uneasy stay. As Business Insider's Aki Ito reported, America's workers are getting restless — they can't leave their roles, even as the walls tighten around them, and that might only be exacerbated by the uncertain economic climate under Trump's tariffs.

Workers are increasingly less likely to say that they're satisfied with their wages at their current jobs, according to the New York Fed, even as the share of job seekers remains well below summer 2024 levels. Wage growth has slowed from 2022 peaks, according to the Atlanta Fed's Wage Growth Tracker, and even switching jobs might not garner a big raise these days.

Workers seem to understand their static fates, at least: In November 2024, a slim majority of the New York Fed respondents said that they were satisfied with prospects for advancement at their current jobs. By March 2025, that fell to 48.7%.

Do you have a story to share about your job? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Staffing at the Social Security Administration is at a historic low.
• Nearly a dozen SSA employees told BI that morale has tanked among Trump cuts and rising boomer demand.
• Employees warn that understaffing could lead to delayed checks for beneficiaries.

Edwin Osario believes there's a "sense of nobility" in his work at a New York-area Social Security office. For over three decades, he has answered phones, taken meetings, and helped ensure that thousands of retirees and people with disabilities receive their monthly checks.

"People who are downtrodden, people who are aged, people who just became recently disabled or widowed — they come here because we're the last stop," he said. "We're the salvation."

Lately, however, it seems to Osario like the agency he's "cherished for many years" no longer wants him. It's not personal to Osario; the Trump administration is working toward its goal of reducing spending by cutting 7,000 Social Security Administration employees through office closures, return-to-office mandates, and deferred resignations.

Business Insider spoke to nearly a dozen current and former employees who used words like "chaos," "stress," "confusion," and "fear" to describe working at call centers and field offices every day. While Social Security remains immensely popular among Americans, with the majority thinking the country should spend more money on it, beneficiaries are taking out their anxieties on workers. They've flooded field offices and phone lines, overloading an already-stretched staff. Those who remain at their desks are concerned about the effect of the cuts on their ability to complete the work that ultimately provides monthly checks to 73 million Americans.

Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek told BI in a statement that the Trump administration is getting rid of "unnecessary bureaucracy" within the agency that "will deliver on President Trump's promise to protect Social Security by providing the high-quality service and stewardship that the American people expect and deserve."

The SSA told BI that its staff cuts are part of a "workforce optimization plan that focuses on reducing employees in non-mission-critical positions and bolstering staff in mission-critical roles," adding that there will be no disruptions in service for beneficiaries.

With cuts ongoing, the pressure is mounting on the roughly 50,000 SSA workers who will remain to keep the nation's largest safety net afloat— and tensions are bubbling over.

"We feel like we're the enemy," he said.

What it's like to work at Social Security as cuts collides with a wave of boomer retirements

Social Security field office employees described two main parts of their job. There are the tasks the public sees: the hours they spend on the phone answering beneficiary questions or taking in-person meetings. Then, there are the more complex and time-consuming tasks that happen behind the scenes: completing paperwork, reviewing means-testing documents, updating bank information, and more.

Recent staff reductions mean workers have less time and resources to complete this crucial work. A pilot program at some field offices to give employees more time for these tasks was canceled this spring, and staff members involved said they received little communication from leadership about why.

Osario said he feels that work anxiety "stays with you at your dinner table" with family and friends. Jill Hornick, a field office employee of 33 years, said she regularly receives phone calls from colleagues "crying because they don't know if they're going to be fired," and a customer service representative said "when you're taking on so much sadness, it creates a level of sadness in you as well."

Call center employees don't have the same paperwork responsibilities, but Shaunellia Ferguson, AFGE Local 2014 president and a longtime customer service representative, said the demands of her role have grown, too. Call volume for the SSA's 1-800 number has jumped in recent months, causing frustration among beneficiaries and raising alarms with AARP and lawmakers. An increasing share of callers have gotten a prerecorded disconnect message when they tried to reach a representative.

"A loss of seven to eight thousand employees is a huge crush, and the public is going to see worse than a two to three hour wait time — that's going to increase exponentially," another seasoned customer service employee told BI.

A BI analysis showed that the number of beneficiaries has grown much faster than the SSA's staff in the last few decades. That comes as a wave of baby boomers prepares for retirement, with many in the peak cohort set to be reliant on Social Security as their primary income.

While it's also not unheard of for a White House transition to prompt leadership and policy shifts at the SSA, several employees told BI that this time feels different. The most recent changes came as a surprise to many, as SSA staff were left out of the initial round of federal firings, and the president previously said he "would not cut one penny" from the program.

Prior to Trump taking office, employees said, their workload could be overwhelming, but now they are experiencing what one called "the most chaotic period in my 40-plus years that I've been here."

"We've never seen something of this magnitude," Laura Haltzel, a former Social Security associate commissioner, said, adding, "We have never seen anything this intentional, this effort of cutting — beyond cutting — to the bone."

Employees also feel left in the dark about the new in-person ID requirement the administration has introduced to fight fraud, which makes up less than 1% of Social Security's improper payments. The SSA rolled back the ID requirement multiple times before officially enforcing it in mid-April. Some employees said they didn't receive training about it.

Several employees told BI they have learned about staff reductions and other updates from news reports, not SSA leadership. This also comes as acting commissioner Dudek is likely to be replaced by Trump appointee and finance industry executive Frank Bisignano, which employees feel both hopeful and apprehensive about.

One customer service representative said they hope Bisignano will "see the big picture here that the constant barrage of whippings towards federal employees isn't productive."

As customer service crumbles, the stakes are high for employees and beneficiaries

Social Security's monthly checks are pivotal in keeping seniors, people with disabilities, and lower-income households out of poverty.

As the need for it grows and SSA staff numbers shrink, employees told BI morale within the agency has tanked.

This is coupled with personal safety fears, especially if desperation grows among beneficiaries: "It's a potential tinderbox of people getting irate because of having to wait a long time," SSA General Committee Spokesperson for the AFGE Rich Couture said, adding, "You're looking at a potential security risk."

Beyond the emotional toll on staff, employees said that the Trump administration's changes to the SSA could have material consequences. As time and resources disappear, some employees warned that it will take longer for beneficiaries' claims to be processed.

There have not yet been any reports of delayed or missing checks, and none of the White House's cuts or policies at the SSA are expected to impact the amount of money beneficiaries receive. But several employees emphasized that there is a risk of delays if staffing conditions don't improve.

Any delay in checks would be catastrophic for beneficiaries like Linda Hudak, 71, who relies on Social Security for all of her income and receives SNAP benefits for food. "It's very depressing," she said.

The SSA employees BI spoke with feel a heavy weight on their shoulders. Some took a job at Social Security because they're veterans looking to serve their country in a different uniform; others are beneficiaries themselves who say the checks are important for their own livelihood. Most told BI they feel the public service mission they signed up for is falling apart — and they're worried it won't recover if Trump's cost-cutting efforts continue.

"We're at the tip of the iceberg," Hornick, who is the administrative director for AFGE Local 1395, said. "This is just going to get worse and worse and worse. Humpty Dumpty has fallen off the wall, and all the king's men can't put them together again. I'm sorry I'm in a very pessimistic mood, but I don't think the Social Security that we know is going to be something we'll see again."

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via Signal at alliekelly.10 and julianakaplan.33, or email at [email protected] and [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

The Social Security Administration faces a delicate moment. Its future teeters between a career bureaucrat and a former Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase executive who may bring order — or further tumult.

The agency maintains the country's largest safety net. It employs nearly 60,000 federal workers and provides benefits to over 73 million Americans. It has long been seen as untouchable in Washington — "the third rail of American politics" — and commissioners rarely leave, even as presidential administrations change.

That changed in February, when Michelle King, a 30-year veteran of the agency, abruptly left her role as acting commissioner. In her place, President Donald Trump installed Leland Dudek, an employee who wasn't in the agency's executive ranks.

The transition, which came as DOGE staffers accessed internal agency data, one worker's affidavit said, was a sharp departure from typical agency protocol. It "was a shock to every single person that works at SSA," Laura Haltzel, a former Social Security associate commissioner, told Business Insider. It was also a harbinger of the chaos to come.

Since then, the White House DOGE office has slashed staff numbers, policy flip-flops have put beneficiaries on edge, Dudek weighed closing the agency based on his understanding of a judge's ruling, and the AARP has said that things may get worse.

Meanwhile, Frank Bisignano, a finance titan and formidable turnaround manager, is waiting in the wings as Trump's nominee to replace Dudek. The transition ahead could set the course for how — and how well — millions of Americans receive their benefits.

The turnaround agent

Bisignano, 65, is the chair and CEO of Fiserv, a global fintech giant. He was the second-highest-paid CEO in the US in 2017, when he earned more than $100 million.

Some in the industry told BI they see him as a turnaround artist, which could serve him well should he take over the agency.

Bisignano's confirmation is awaiting a full Senate vote, which is expected after the chamber votes on nominees for multiple diplomatic positions. He has already appeared before the Senate Finance Committee, where he addressed concerns about privatization. "I've never thought about privatizing. It's not a word that anybody's ever talked to me about," he told lawmakers.

An official on the transition team shepherding Trump's nominees through the confirmation process declined to comment for this story or make Bisignano available for an interview.

Some who spoke with BI expressed surprise that he would join the Trump administration. An archived biography from First Data, where he served as chair and CEO, said he's "a strong supporter of diversity" and helped create affinity groups for women and LGBTQ+ employees at the company. He's donated to candidates on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, records show. In May 2019, Bisignano gave $125,000 to the Trump Victory PAC and another $83,900 to the Republican National Committee.

Born in Brooklyn, with a father who was an orphan and a grandfather who emigrated from Italy, Bisignano first landed on Wall Street in the 1970s. He started out at smaller firms before joining the legendary bankers Sandy Weill and Jamie Dimon as they built what would become Citigroup. There, he managed the company's global transaction services business, helping steer trillions of dollars in payments worldwide.

"He knew enough about the guts of the operations he was involved in to be able to be a very good manager," Weill, a former chair and CEO of Citigroup, told BI.

Later, he joined JPMorgan Chase, where he reversed multibillion-dollar losses in the firm's mortgage banking unit and rose to become its co-chief operating officer.

"Frank did a very good job in operations for JPMorgan, but I think that he was looking for something where he would be able to test his leadership skills beyond operations," Weill said.

In 2013, he took over First Data. Its owner at the time, the private equity giant KKR, was seeking a CEO with knowledge of payments and back-office systems. He steered the company through its $2.6 billion initial public offering and its $22 billion sale to Fiserv in 2019; he became Fiserv's CEO the following year. Under his tenure, the company's stock price has roughly doubled.

A post on the official White House website in late April touted the "Trump effect," crediting the president for spurring a series of private sector investments in American industry. Among those the administration pointed to: Fiserv's $175 million commitment to develop a 427,000-square-foot fintech campus in Kansas, which is expected to drive the creation of 2,000 jobs.

Leland Dudek's turbulent tenure

Currently leading the agency — and seen by some SSA insiders as responsible for much of the recent turmoil — is Dudek, the acting commissioner Trump installed in February.

One former senior Social Security official who was familiar with the senior-level employees usually tapped for the role remembered thinking: "Who is this guy?" A director-level employee who's on administrative leave told BI that Dudek, 48, was "a nobody until a month ago." (Most of the SSA sources who spoke with BI left within the past few months.)

Most recently, Dudek had been serving as a senior advisor in the agency's Office of Program Integrity.

Dudek, who holds degrees from the Catholic University of America and the National Defense University, has long been enmeshed in anti-fraud and information technology work. According to an agency biography, he previously served as the chief information security officer for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. He has been with the SSA since 2009, though he does not appear on an organizational chart archived immediately before King's departure.

One former manager at SSA who met Dudek when he arrived at the agency said that he "seemed like a pretty earnest, straightforward kind of computer science IT type who had experience outside the agency." Dudek, this person said, was part of a larger group who felt the agency was slow to adopt technological advances.

"He generally seemed to be interested in things running more effectively," a former SSA employee said. They described him as being frustrated over "trying to make change and do things in a bureaucratic environment" and said other employees at his level felt similarly.

Another former SSA executive said they believed he had good intentions and genuinely cared about curbing fraud and improper payments.

His path at the agency was not straightforward. Elon Musk said on X that Dudek was "fired" for "helping @DOGE find taxpayer savings" before he ascended to SSA's highest perch.

There, he brought his own style.

"I think he felt like he deserved a voice at the table, and then he suddenly got one and didn't quite know what to do with it," the former executive said. The executive added that Dudek appeared to have competing priorities between staff cuts and making sure the agency ran smoothly. "It's been a bit of a yo-yo," they said.

"It's very unusual, very unusual leadership," said Kathleen Romig, who worked at the agency for nine years on and off and now serves as the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Many of his decisions seemed to be "hasty and ill-considered," Romig said. Some, like shuttering the agency or changing in-person identification guidelines, were ultimately reversed.

"I've never seen leadership like this before at SSA, by a long shot," she said.

On a press call in March, Dudek said some contracts in Maine that let parents register their newborn children for an SSA number were "canceled because I screwed up."

"I made the wrong move there. I should always ask my staff for guidance first before I cancel something," Dudek said. "I'm new at this job. It looked fishy." The contracts were ultimately reinstated.

Dudek and the Social Security Administration did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

His appointment pushed at least one SSA worker to leave. When they saw reports that he'd shared information with DOGE and was still elevated, "it just all became a farce," the former worker said.

A person who has spoken with Dudek said they believed some of his bluster might be a smoke screen. They said Dudek, like previous commissioners, said he feared that the system was on the brink of collapse and worried about people not receiving their benefits — a similar sentiment to what Dudek expressed in a recording obtained by ProPublica. They feel that he thinks he's doing damage control and running interference between DOGE and everyone else.

"It felt like a bunch of 6-year-olds with too much sugar had been put in charge of the agency and were just kind of running all over the place, randomly disconnecting and reconnecting things in different ways," the former SSA manager said.

Bisignano's high-stakes challenge

This is what awaits Bisignano, who has developed a reputation as a hard-charging, demanding executive who tends to see Saturdays as just another workday.

"He was always making sure that everybody had their nose to the grindstone," Weill said.

As he's moved from company to company, Bisignano has surrounded himself with a cadre of deputies, some of whom have been with him since his JPMorgan Chase days. Another person who knows Bisignano said some of these loyalists had shown they'd follow his lead without question, no matter how big the ask.

"They're going to pick up any call from Frank any time of day — morning, night, Saturday, Sunday, 7 a.m.," the person said.

Some of the decisions at Fiserv that played out on Bisignano's watch appear to have rankled some of his employees. A former Fiserv client project manager said that return-to-office policies rolled out late last year under Bisignano contributed to his decision to leave. The former manager described the culture as "a bit of a sweatshop."

Around Thanksgiving, Fiserv implemented new return-to-office guidance, calling some personnel managers back to their desks five days a week and instructing other workers to spend about nine hours a day at the office, an internal communication reviewed by BI shows.

The former Fiserv employee credited Bisignano with getting results: "I do think he was part of the reason Fiserv is so profitable."

In a statement, Fiserv pointed to a 122% rise in its stock under Bisignano's leadership, attributing his "vision" to driving innovation across technology and payments. The company also cited his "commitment to investing in people," including veterans and small-business owners.

Whether Bisignano's no-nonsense approach will be as effective in running the government's biggest safety net as it was in vaulting him to the zenith of corporate America is an open question. So is what a dynamic might look like with his peers in the administration, like the former Wall Streeters Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent, or Musk, who has acted as DOGE's public face.

He may soon find himself standing between policy whiplash from Washington and the checks that millions of older Americans depend on.

Bisignano "loves his reputation for fixing things," said one person who worked closely with him, "not for burning things down."

Allie Kelly contributed reporting.

• Elon Musk said he'd soon be pulling away from the White House's DOGE office to focus on Tesla.
• Though he's been known for his chainsaw approach to firing federal workers, deeper cuts are still to come.
• The first round faced legal challenges, but DOGE has a path to making the next set of reductions stick.

Elon Musk said he's backing away from DOGE in May, but that doesn't mean the federal worker firings are over.

In fact, they're only heating up.

While the first era of DOGE firings continues to face legal issues, the next set could be on stronger footing. That's because agencies have the chance to craft more methodical plans. In particular, many are offering buyout-like deferred resignation plans for workers to voluntarily quit in exchange for months of paid administrative leave.

These methods could prove to be on a more solid legal footing than the first round of firings, which focused on new or newly promoted workers, cited low performance ratings, and did not provide notice. It all means that the DOGE ethos is alive and well in the federal government, with or without Musk.

How round 2 of firings is different

Musk and DOGE spent much of the last three months overseeing a wave of probationary federal workers. Those workers were at the start of their tenure in their new roles, including internal promotions. They have fewer protections than longer-serving federal employees.

That round of cuts saw several snafus because, rather than targeting specific programs, DOGE simply removed many people who had been working for less than a year or two. That led to scenarios like workers who handle the nuclear stockpile or study bird flu getting fired and then ultimately rehired. It also faced legal issues, with a judge ordering in March that those workers needed to be reinstated.

Going back to the drawing board with terminations means a chance to execute reduction-in-force plans, or RIFs, that follow proper procedures.

"I think probably the courts have done a huge favor to DOGE by putting people back in their office until they can do a more well-calculated RIF," Michele Evermore, a senior fellow at the left-leaning think tank the Century Foundation, said.

The White House and DOGE office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Over the past month, new RIFs have gone out. The Department of Education announced in March that it was terminating over 1,300 workers, slashing its workforce by 50%. The Small Business Administration said it would reduce its workforce by 43%.

The Department of Health and Human Services had already started terminating employees as part of its plan to slash 10,000 from its workforce.

While the next round of reductions appears to be more targeted, it doesn't mean they're immune to litigation.

Federal worker unions have vowed to fight back. Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement that the union would "pursue every legal avenue to stop this unprecedented attack on the very foundation of our national government."

It's unclear if they'll have a case. David Super, an administrative law professor at Georgetown Law, said that the plans may vary by department, and some could be more vulnerable to legal challenges than others.

He added that it's "entirely possible that those agencies work really, really carefully and produce correct RIF plans."

Federal workers are getting the option to quit before they're fired

In lieu of RIFs, some agencies are choosing another acronym: DRPs. Deferred resignation programs are the next round of the "Fork In The Road" that offered employees early resignation earlier in the year, and might be an easier solution for those aiming to trim head count because workers voluntarily opt into them. Bloomberg reported, for instance, that nearly 20% of Department of Labor workers have opted for voluntary separation. Some Social Security Administration employees have also received a DRP.

Two internal emails at the Internal Revenue Service, viewed by BI, said that over 10,000 agency employees applied for the second round of the deferred resignation program and that further reductions in force are coming.

While DRPs might help the government shed workers, the payout could end up being less than the severance provided in a RIF, said Alan Lescht, an employment attorney specializing in federal workers.

"They're trotting this out to people who are being targeted for RIFs or could potentially be in a RIF. And for federal employees that are like that, the RIFs may actually provide a larger payout," Lescht said. And, opting into a DRP means workers are giving up rights to their positions — essentially, forfeiting the ability to be reinstated. He suggests workers take a "deep dive" into their job prospects before opting out.

"For many people, it may turn out that the best option is to stay and fight because the government has to satisfy a lot of requirements in order to justify a firing under the RIF rules," Lescht said. "The RIF rules are very extensive and very complicated, and it's very likely that with the speed with which the government is moving, that they will make mistakes."

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via Signal at asheffey.97 and julianakaplan.33 or via email at [email protected] and [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Elon Musk announced his plans to step back from DOGE to focus more on Tesla.
• BI spoke with 17 federal workers about what a possible Musk retreat would mean.
• Several said they hope they no longer have to send Musk's weekly "What did you do last week" email.

Whether or not Elon Musk actually steps back from the West Wing, federal workers want to know one thing.

"Can we stop sending this weekly email now?" an employee at the Internal Revenue Service asked.

Business Insider spoke to 17 federal workers after the Tesla CEO said on a Tuesday earnings call that he hopes to devote more time to the company because the "major work of establishing" DOGE is complete.

Several referenced the "What did you do last week" email required by Musk's DOGE office since February. Many said they're skeptical that Musk will forfeit his White House influence. Even if he does, some said Musk's legacy will live on in DOGE through cuts to the federal workforce and government budget. Others are simply hopeful they'll have one less weekly email to send.

As a special government employee, Musk is only legally allowed to work for the Trump administration for 130 days a year. Still, the federal workers BI spoke with said they expect him to continue making political headlines.

"My reaction is 'I'll believe it when I see it,'" a programmer at the IRS said, adding, "I believe the richest man in the world has hacked his way into the most powerful government in the world, and there is nobody to stop him from keeping that access, even if he looks 'gone' on paper."

A former employee at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that they aren't taking Musk's announcement seriously. An employee at the Office of Personnel Management added that Musk's vow to step back seems like "PR spin."

Other federal workers said that, even if Musk does leave DOGE, his actions will have a lasting impact on the government and its staff.

"The effect he's had on the federal government can't be as neatly defined as quarterly earnings reports," the OPM employee said. Several workers expressed concern over reports that DOGE and Musk have access to sensitive information like internal government databases and Americans' Social Security details.

Some reflected on the anxiety that DOGE's federal firing spree has caused in their own lives. A few said they are constantly worried about losing their livelihood. Federal workers who voted for Donald Trump and support his money-saving goals have also previously told BI they felt betrayed by Musk's abrupt mass firings of what DOGE called "low performers."

"There is a methodical way to downsize, and I'm all for right-sizing to meet current events," a Department of Agriculture employee said. "The way Musk and his team have handled and are continuing to handle the situation is harmful to federal workers (who are real people with families), harmful to American institutions, and ultimately harmful to the American public."

A Department of Defense employee hopes Musk's stepping back will give them "a little relief" about their job security.

And then there are the possible effects on their day-to-day work. Several federal workers told BI they hope Musk's departure signals the end of his "five bullets" email. It's unclear what Musk and his colleagues do with the information or if it has directly led to any employee firings.

"I have to look and research and see what I did — that's 10 minutes that's wasted," one Social Security Administration employee said, adding, "I could be spending my time more efficiently doing other things." Another IRS employee said they send nearly the same email every week.

Musk said on Tuesday's Tesla call that he will still spend a day or two a week on government matters, "as long as it is useful" to the president. When reporters asked Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday about Musk's departure, he said that Musk "is an incredible guy" and "was a tremendous help both in the campaign and what he's done with DOGE." Neither Musk nor Trump elaborated on Musk's future role in the administration.

The possible DOGE shake-up comes alongside plummeting first-quarter Tesla earnings. The electric vehicle company's earnings per share and revenue were down 71% and 9% year over year, respectively. Musk said last month that his role in the White House is "costing me a lot" and that he's running his businesses with "great difficulty." With news that he could be retreating from Trumpworld, Tesla's stock was trading up over 5% after hours and jumped again Wednesday.

One federal employee said they aren't surprised Musk is leaning back into his CEO role. They said working in the government is likely "too much trouble for someone who is trained to see things as engineering problems."

• Some millennials and Gen Zers still live with their parents, particularly in the Northeast and West.
• Economic challenges and cultural factors drive young adults to put off forming their own households.
• Cities in Texas, Florida, and California had the highest shares of young adults living with parents.

Some millennials and Gen Zers are still opting to live with their parents, especially in the Northeast and the West.

A new Pew Research Center analysis looked at where younger Americans, ages 25 to 34, lived in a parent's home in 2023; cities in Texas, Florida, and California had the highest shares of these home-dwellers.

Five of the six metros with the highest shares were in California, with about a third of younger adults living in a parent's home. Meanwhile, the Midwest and the South had the lowest shares of young adults living with parents.

Young people are much more likely to live with their parents when jobs are hard to come by and wages are stagnant, Pew researcher Richard Fry, who authored the report, told BI. Previous Pew research also found that Black, Hispanic, and Asian young adults were more likely than their white counterparts to live with their parents.

"This may be reflecting economic differences in terms of being able to afford to live independently, and it also may be reflecting some cultural differences," Fry said.

There's also a gender gap: 20% of young adult men lived with a parent, while just 15% of women fell into that category.

The share of younger Americans living with their parents has dropped in recent years, coming down to 18% in 2023, but it's still well above historic lows in the 1970s. The 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession supercharged the trend, with many young adults living in their parents' homes for years after.

Many recent college graduates and millennials found themselves back in their parents' homes when the pandemic hit, closing schools and forcing widespread remote work. As of 2022, some Gen Zers considered it a more permanent arrangement, especially as housing costs and inflation raised the barriers to living independently.

A 2023 Pew survey found that nearly two-thirds of young adults who were living with their parents said it was good for their wallets. "Even if you got a job, even if earnings are coming in, as a young adult, you may indeed want to live with your parents because it improves your finances," Fry said.

Perhaps surprisingly, local housing markets didn't seem to have much influence on younger people living at home. The Pew analysis found that housing costs weren't strongly correlated with the rates of younger Americans living at a parent's home.

As BI previously reported, the reliance of Gen Z and millennials on their parents has led to new conversations on when — or if — to cut off support. After all, Gen Zers are facing their own set of economic hurdles, which may only be accentuated in another downturn.

It's not clear how the trend will change in the coming years — much depends on how well the US economy fares. And whether young adults rent or buy their own homes will have implications for the US economy, broadly, as well as their personal finances.

"Household formation is important for the national economy, so in terms of an economic driver, this is a bad thing," Fry said. But, if living with parents helps young adults "manage their finances and maintain their credit scores and be able to pay their student loan payments, that's probably a good thing."

Are you an adult living with a parent or a parent with adult kids living at home? Reach out to these reporters to share at [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].

• Americans are dealing with a palpable sense of uncertainty about the economy.
• Most react to money fears in three ways: fight, flight, or freeze.
• Which are you? Identifying your reaction can help regain a sense of control when anxiety strikes.

Job applications, panic buying, and tuning out the news: Which one's closest to your reaction to economic anxiety?

"We want the economy to keep rolling smoothly in the background while we live our lives," Joseph Coughlin, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab told Business Insider. "So when we see this great uncertainty, it only adds to the stress that we're already trying to manage."

Coughlin said that many people cope in three ways: fight, flight, or freeze. In other words, Americans' money anxiety mirrors their natural reactions to other fears.

In recent months, BI has heard from dozens of Americans who are dealing with uncertainty regardless of their age, financial situation, or political affiliation.

The US isn't in a recession yet, but most of the people we spoke to are worried about short-term price increases, their student loan payments, or their 401(k)s. Some fear a more dire scenario of job losses and a downturn in the months to come.

Amid flip-flopping trade policies, stock market fluctuations, and DOGE cuts, consumer sentiment fell again in April, reaching its second-lowest level since 1952. Consumer spending trends indicate households are feeling the heat of high prices and tariffs.

If you feel powerless in the current financial environment, focus on what you can control and be aware of your own natural fear reaction, said Bradley Klontz, psychologist and professor at Creighton University's business school. He added that the US economy has faced downturns before and always recovers.

"We have a fight, flight, freeze response," Klontz said. "You need to point it in the right direction."

Do you have a story to share about your finances? Fill out this survey.

People in 'fight' mode are busy making plans

Those with a fight mentality toward uncertainty are working hard to make plans. As Coughlin said, they are likely calling their financial advisors, reading news articles, saving extra money, and doing anything else they can to prepare for a potential downturn.

Robert Kistler, 71, retired a decade ago from his career as a product engineer. He and his wife built a seven-figure net worth and strong nest egg, but they're working to dial back their spending. With the long-term future of the Social Security trust fund in question and current staffing turmoil at the Social Security Administration, Kistler said they aren't confident benefits will support them as they age.

"It turns out our annual spending is roughly 20-25% more than in our plan — I am certain this is going to impact our retirement plan confidence level somewhat," Kistler said, adding that he met with his financial advisor this month to make a plan.

Similarly, 65-year-old professor Gail Lisenbard recently paid off her car and started grooming her mini golden doodle at home to save more money. She hopes to retire in the next few months and said she's carefully planned her nest egg, but is now concerned about rising prices.

Younger Americans are taking action to protect their finances, too. Millennial mom Jen Miller had planned to buy a new car before May because her family has a third baby on the way, and they need more room. But, concerned about new tariffs on auto imports, she moved up her timeline because she's worried US car inventory will decline: "We certainly felt spurred into action," she said.

Haylee Bachman, a 30-year-old mother of three near Seattle, said her family lives on a low income and receives some government aid, but their budget has been especially tight lately. Her fiancé's job in car manufacturing became less stable in recent months because the industry is in turmoil with the auto tariffs.

Bachman said she's teaching herself to bake bread, cinnamon rolls, and other kitchen staples from scratch because it's cheaper and has visited food banks to pick up groceries. She's trying to save enough to afford rent and pay for activities like soccer and tumbling that make her kids happy.

"I know that things could get very bad for us since we are low-income and a one-income household," she said. "I'm not sure what the future holds, so I'm just trying to make those tiny changes."

People with a 'flight' reaction make snap financial decisions

A "flight" reaction to economic turmoil can take a few different forms. To protect their finances, Coughlin and Klontz said people with this response are likely panic buying or pulling their investments out of the stock market — snap financial decisions that may not be the wisest, but make people feel better in the moment. Coughlin refers to it as the "I need to get out of here" feeling.

BI has heard from teachers cashing out their pensions, families with tariff nerves overstocking their pantries, and investors primed to sell at the first sign of trouble. Some Americans are considering literal 'flight' — they're moving to other states or countries to escape high costs or policies they disagree with. Others are anxiously stepping back from newspapers or social media to tune it all out.

Klontz said when people get scared, "our survival brain tends to take over."

"Our instincts are great if we're being chased by a rabid dog," Klontz said, "but our instincts are not good when it comes to investing and spending." He advised people to avoid major or impulsive purchases where possible.

Still, Olivia Iverson, 28, doesn't regret choosing to "panic buy" a new MacBook laptop in early April. She pulled the trigger because many laptops are imported from China, and tariffs are likely to raise prices. Trump has since announced a pause on tariffs on electronics for now.

"A laptop is a one-time purchase," Iverson said, adding, "there's some stuff people panic buy that you're going to have to keep buying week to week, even if prices of these items change."

A flight response can lead to moves and major purchases, but it can also be a much-needed emotional break. As a busy mom balancing a household budget, Bachman said she often turns off the news. She said it can be stressful to constantly be on alert for changes in politics or the economy that might affect her family.

"I try to take care of myself as much as possible, just because I can't be the best mom without doing that," she said. "I do self-care, skincare, like face masks, or I sit in silence. That's a big one. I just sit in silence, in the dark sometimes, and just relax."

People who 'freeze' don't know what to do with uncertainty

The most common reaction to economic uncertainty is freezing, Coughlin said. Freezers are looking at the economy — the tariffs, stock ups-and-downs, the tough white-collar job market, and DOGE cuts — and they don't know what to do.

The slow job market has left Christopher Smith's financial plans on ice. The 41-year-old has been looking for a job for about two years, but hasn't found the right fit. He's trying to stay optimistic, but he's "admittedly terrified" of what will happen to his employment prospects if there's a recession. He's taken on a roommate to help with bills.

"I am begging the universe to send me a job ASAP," he said. "I really hoped to be working by now, and I am slowly drowning under my finances."

Michael Salvatore, similarly, isn't sure what to do next. He operates several bars and coffee shops in Chicago. His businesses are at risk of higher costs on everything from eggs to coffee beans. He said he's put all kinds of decisions on hold, including hiring and opening a new location.

"Especially as a small-business owner, the unknown makes it impossible to have a vision that you can execute on," he said, adding, "I'd rather the market crash and know that, 'hey, we're on a level playing field."

Rebecca Walriven-Lawson, 74, is also feeling stuck. She recently lost Medicaid because her Social Security cost-of-living increase put her over the qualification threshold. Without health insurance, she can't afford the surgery she needs to walk comfortably. She isn't sure what to do next.

"There's nothing for any of us to do but wait," she said.

• AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps are bracing for cuts, throwing members' career planning into doubt.
• Volunteers told BI they thought their service would be a launchpad for future opportunities.
• Many said they don't have clear backup plans, especially with the difficult job market.

Javon Walker-Price was squashed in a van on Wednesday afternoon, driving from Nebraska to Iowa, when the news came: His group of AmeriCorps members was being sent home.

By Thursday, Walker-Price's whole crew had to be on planes. They were only three months into a ten-month service contract and had been preparing to go to Minnesota to fix cabins and trails at a campground.

"It happened so fast," Walker-Price, 20, said. "One minute we were working, and the next minute we were told to pack our bags and come back to Iowa as soon as possible to get on the flight. It took everybody by surprise."

Walker-Price is just one of the thousands of AmeriCorps volunteers who are dealing with — or bracing for — the firings that have decimated many other federal agencies. Members of the White House DOGE office visited both AmeriCorps and Peace Corps headquarters earlier this month, throwing the agencies' futures into question. A representative for the Peace Corps told BI that while the agency is subject to the federal hiring freeze, "volunteer recruitment activities continue," and no staff have been cut.

Founded in 1993 and 1961, respectively, AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps enroll hundreds of thousands of young adult volunteers each year domestically and abroad. They receive a stipend for living expenses to do a range of service work, from environmental conservation to education, in local communities. Those who complete their service can also get educational grants for graduate school or to pay off student loans. The experience is often a launchpad for a career in public service. Now, members waiting to see if they get the chop are worried their careers will falter.

"They should not be dumped out unceremoniously into a job market that is not prepared to receive them," said Curt Ellis, the CEO and cofounder of FoodCorps, a nonprofit that works with about 150 AmeriCorps members each year. A current AmeriCorps staff member said the competition in the job market "is just going to be insane for everyone."

Business Insider spoke to nine early-career AmeriCorps and Peace Corps members and full-time agency or partner organization staff about what the cuts mean for their futures.

The White House confirmed to BI that roughly 75% of full-time AmeriCorps employees were placed on administrative leave this week. The agency reportedly shut down a program that focuses in part on disaster preparedness, sending home all members and placing them on administrative leave. There's no clear timeline for when employees could return to work or be fired.

An administration official said that the staff shake-up comes because "AmeriCorps failed eight consecutive audits and is entrusted with over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars every year." Representatives for AmeriCorps did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Peace Corps rep said the agency is in "full compliance with executive orders and other presidential actions."

'I don't know what I'm going to do'

Though most of the members BI spoke with had not been cut at the time of writing, all said they're bracing for the possibility

"The writing is on the wall," a 24-year-old Peace Corps member in the South Pacific said.

"The whole AmeriCorps community that I'm involved with is just anxious about if cuts do happen, how do we pay our bills?" a 26-year-old AmeriCorps member working in Texas said. "How do we keep moving forward with our lives?"

For many, AmeriCorps seemed like a solid entryway to a stable career path — the 26-year-old said they thought of it as a "stepping stone" to a permanent job.

Meredith B., a 28-year-old AmeriCorps member in Boston, said she took her job, in part, because of a shaky labor market. "I said, 'Oh, I'll work for the government in an almost unrelated position that still employs my skills. This will be safe.'"

"They're willing to hire people who don't have much experience, and they teach you all the skills you need in a very open environment where it's OK to make mistakes and not know what you're doing," a 22-year-old AmeriCorps member in North Carolina said. "By the end, you have those skills to go into whatever other career you're trying to go into."

Now, members are wondering whether their months, or in some cases years, of service will still set them up for success.

"I wish I knew," the Peace Corps member said about his contingency plan if his job gets cut. "It's rough because a lot of the off-ramps I would've had previously have now either been cut or have been severely negatively affected."

He wanted to work for the federal government or a nonprofit organization that received now-slashed federal funding. He's worried that the few government jobs that are available will go to older people with more experience and degrees.

"They are being flooded by very, very well-qualified government workers that I cannot compete with. So right now I don't know what I'm going to do."

Meredith B. said that she doesn't have any sort of safety net, like many other people her age. All of her belongings were ruined in Hurricane Helene — what she has left fits in the two suitcases she brought with her to Boston.

"That's all the things I own in this world now, except I bought a pair of pants recently," she said.

A path forward, suddenly blocked

A former worker at the agency who served under Obama, Trump, and Biden also said AmeriCorps set young people up for a career in service.

"I've seen it time and time again," they said. "That service connected them to a lifetime of continued commitment and impact."

It's not just future jobs that hang in the balance — many members of AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps use education grants from the programs to pay off student loans or get another degree. Libby Stegger, the founder and executive director of Civic Bridgers in Minnesota, which partners with AmeriCorps, said she doesn't know what would happen to members' education awards if funding is cut.

"That is something that is very appealing to folks of all ages, and especially to folks who are early career," she said of the education grants. "Particularly for people who might otherwise not have access to those kinds of education funding opportunities, that is a tremendous benefit."

The 26-year-old AmeriCorps member said he "wouldn't even consider" grad school if his education award gets cut, and the Peace Corps member said going to grad school with the money had been key to his long-term goal of working in the federal government.

Cuts are also rippling down to students who are still in high school or college. Elizabeth Baz, 18, applied to AmeriCorps for a gap year.

"I was really hoping that AmeriCorps would kind of help me just get my life together and help me gain some more self-discipline and more life skills," she said. Baz said she still plans to take a gap year but doesn't know yet what she'll do.

The AmeriCorps member in North Carolina said it's upsetting to think that younger people won't have the same opportunities she did. The AmeriCorps member in Texas said his service made him feel more American, and he worries his family won't have that same experience.

"I have here on my desk a picture of my little nephews," he said, choking up. "And I think about all the work that we're doing now is to potentially have that same space for them to also experience whenever they're my age."

By Thursday night, Walker-Price had made it home to Virginia, but he had trouble sleeping in the quiet. He had gotten used to the sounds of his AmeriCorps colleagues, who had become more like family.

"We planned on being with AmeriCorps for 10 months," Walker-Price said, "and just being sent home immediately, now it's like, what am I going to do?"

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via email at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• IRS Direct File is the nation's first free tax filing system, meant to ease the pain and fees of complex filings.
• Employees who worked on it are worried that DOGE wants to kill the two-year-old program to save money.
• A Treasury Department official told BI it was a failed program and said its fate was up in the air.

The future of IRS Direct File looks grim as a DOGE official eyes cuts and the Treasury Department dismissed the free tax filing system as a failed program.

Sam Corcos, a DOGE official and one of the group's public faces, has expressed skepticism about IRS Direct File, according to a recently departed federal employee. Corcos has said he thinks it should be shut down, according to two people who were told about his thinking by others close to him.

A senior Treasury official told Business Insider it was a failed and disappointing program used by a small fraction of the nation's taxpayers. No decisions have been made about its future, the official added.

The uncertainty has disappointed people who believe Direct File is emblematic of the very things that DOGE is supposed to be building.

Its purpose is to offer a tech solution to file taxes directly to the US government quickly, bypassing fees to for-profit software companies. A December 2024 IRS report found that taxpayers spent around $160 and eight hours preparing their taxes.

"On the one hand, you have a broader ambition through the DOGE to automate IRS operations and create a more online IRS that would justify the significant reductions in force that are underway," Danny Werfel, who served as IRS commissioner until January, said. "On the other hand, you have a very strong contingency in Congress and an industry who believes that this activity should be the exclusive domain of the private sector."

Critics of the tool say it's too costly, and wasn't implemented legally. Representatives for H&R Block and Intuit, which makes the popular tax prep software TurboTax, said that free tax preparation has been available to Americans for years.

It's not clear whether the views of DOGE or Corcos will affect Trump administration policy. Elon Musk, DOGE's de facto face, claimed in February he had "deleted" a government agency that helped build Direct File; that came months after he had reportedly eyed creating an app Americans could use to file their taxes.

The Treasury senior official's characterization of the program appears to diverge from previous statements about its future. During confirmation hearings, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent committed to preserving the program through the 2025 tax season.

The program presents a DOGE dilemma: While it's a potential budget item to be cut, and still getting off the ground, it's also an automated and efficient tech tool. Advocates say that saving or even bolstering it could exemplify the DOGE way — if it's allowed to stay afloat.

Scale it or kill it?

About a fifth of American taxpayers — or 32 million people — are eligible to use Direct File this year, and the program's advocates are eager to get the word out.

Last year's pilot program saw high satisfaction ratings. Just under 141,000 people used Direct File to do their taxes, and 90% of them rated their experience "excellent" or "above average," an IRS report showed. Eighty-six percent said it increased their trust in the IRS. A December 2024 survey by the Urban Institute of more than 7,000 adults found that 73% of tax filers are interested in using Direct File — but 68% of filers said they didn't know enough about the program to feel comfortable using it.

One Treasury official pointed to their favorite user feedback quote from someone who used it to complete their return: "I don't cry when I do my taxes using Direct File."

The IRS expected between 920,000 and 3.7 million users this year. The agency hasn't reported usage so far, and said data on its website traffic can't be compared to last year because of a change in how the data was collected.

Though the concept is popular and early usage signs are encouraging, awareness is a big issue. Many Americans heard about the tool for the first time after Musk's post about the deletion.

Some people took that to mean that the program was being axed, and former government employees said Musk's post undercut the IRS's messaging that the program would be permanent. Google search volume for "direct file" peaked the day after Musk's post.

Some people inside and outside the government said the IRS could do more to help spread the word. While the agency has mentioned Direct File in several press releases, sometimes alongside the Free File program that gives middle- and low-income people free access to private-sector tax prep tools, it hasn't hosted any calls with the media on Direct File since October 2024. Finding it from the IRS homepage can take multiple clicks.

"If you give a program some time, growth will increase and then something like that can take off," said a Treasury official who wasn't authorized to speak to the media. Referring to the move from paper returns to filing electronically, they added, "Imagine if they had killed e-file in 1989 or 1988 before it really even was able to get going. This is a program where we've seen people really satisfied."

Direct File began in 2022 when Congress committed $15 million to study a way to file taxes directly with the IRS online, without complicated tax forms. Within a year, a prototype was ready. Dozens of tech workers from the IRS and other federal offices teamed up to build Direct File, which went live last year for a limited number of taxpayers.

"We effectively launched a startup in the IRS," said a person who worked on the program.

'Unnecessary, problematic, costly, and illegitimate'

Republican critics of the program have said the agency overstepped its legal authority when it decided to make Direct File permanent.

"The IRS does not have unlimited resources and should focus on improving information technology systems, data privacy, and long-standing customer service issues," Sens. Mike Crapo and John Barrasso wrote in a July letter to Werfel, the former IRS commissioner. "It should not be focused on unilaterally expanding its own power, without congressional approval, through a permanent government tax preparation scheme that is unnecessary, problematic, costly, and illegitimate."

They have also said the program could cost billions of dollars, although the inspector general who covers the IRS reported last month that it identified $33.4 million in spending related to running the program last year, a number it said "may not capture all the costs."

Despite public confusion, there are signs that interest in the program is growing as tax day approaches: The number of active users on directfile.irs.gov over the week ending on April 7 was about 8% of the total number of people going to the IRS homepage, compared to about 5% for the 90 days before.

"On the one hand, lots of people using and liking Direct File would help protect the program," said Vanessa Williamson, a researcher at the Brookings Institution.

On the other hand, she said, "We're really in uncharted waters in terms of how decisions are being made at a federal level."

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via Signal at 314-971-1627 and julianakaplan.33, or email at [email protected] and [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• 41 Social Security offices are cutting 25-58% of workers under DOGE's budget reductions.
• The agency faces increased customer service demand as retirees worry cuts will affect benefits.
• This comes as Trump hopes to combat fraud and cut costs at the SSA.

A Social Security customer service office in Wisconsin is cutting more than 58% of its workers in the coming weeks. It's one of 41 field offices where staff is being reduced by more than a quarter due to Trump's budget cuts.

That's fewer people to answer phones, handle in-person appointments, and process paperwork at a time when retirees flood the agency's phones and visit offices in droves due to concerns that the White House's cost-saving efforts will imperil their benefits.

Business Insider obtained and viewed the list of offices, which was on the Social Security Administration's website as of Sunday but is no longer visible. SSA has over 1,000 locations, but the White House's DOGE commission plans to close over 25 of them. Already, around 6 million seniors are 45 miles or more away from one.

"The times when you do have to go to the Social Security office are when, oftentimes, something really bad has happened to you," Bill Sweeney, AARP's senior vice president for government affairs, told BI. The nonprofit has also reported record call volumes from older Americans worried about their monthly checks.

Short-staffing at field offices comes alongside major changes for Social Security. In accordance with the Trump administration's cost-cutting goals for federal agencies, the SSA announced it would cut 7,000 employees out of a total of 57,000 — which would place the Social Security workforce at a historic low. New in-person identification requirements have offices bracing for a steep influx of visitors. As of April 9, nine field offices have also reverted to phone-service only, but those locations don't appear to have direct overlap with the offices facing a 25% or more staff reduction.

The SSA previously told BI that a recent return-to-office mandate will help ease customer service challenges. The Trump administration told BI changes at the SSA are because the president is a "responsible steward" of taxpayer dollars. Trump said new policies that the SSA will alleviate benefits fraud, which made up 0.84% of total improper payments between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, per the SSA's Office of the Inspector General. He has said that he will not cut benefits.

"The unnecessary loss of field office staff will place greater workload pressure on the remaining employees, which will further depress morale and likely induce more employees to leave, and so on," Rich Couture, the federal worker union's SSA General Committee spokesperson, told BI. "High attrition will lead to higher wait times and processing delays for beneficiaries, and will increase the risk of field office closures due to lack of staffing."

Staff reduction efforts also mean employees who remain at the agency are being asked to consider voluntary reassignments to "mission critical" positions at field offices and call centers. On April 3, employees received an email from the Human Resources department at the SSA. The email, which was viewed by BI, said staff had until April 7 to volunteer: "More than 1,000 of your colleagues have already stepped up to support our mission — but we need more of you to join them." It is not yet clear how many employees accepted the offer or what positions they will fill.

Low staffing is causing anxiety for beneficiaries

As field office staffing falls, demand for SSA services — or a desire to ensure benefits are secure — has taken hold among some recipients. The agency has seen its daily calls rise by 50,000 from February to March, and the agent busy rate, which tracks how many callers hear a prerecorded disconnect message when they want a representative, has skyrocketed. In a March 28th agency meeting shared publicly, a Social Security operations worker said 665,000 people visited field offices the week before — a "significant" influx of potentially concerned recipients. Recurring website outages are also making it difficult for beneficiaries to get help.

For seniors, this means a chicken and egg scenario: Concerns about Social Security are leading them to call in more and show up more, potentially leading to more work for a dwindling workforce. That could exacerbate anxiety all around.

When visiting a field office, people are "already stressed out," Sweeney said.

"Having to spend hours and hours fighting with the phones and having to drive long distances to an office just to prove things that you can prove over the phone — it just adds a lot of insult to injury here."

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via Signal at alliekelly.10 and julianakaplan.33, or email at [email protected] and [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• AARP says Social Security's service is deteriorating and urges the agency to rethink coming changes.
• The share of callers to SSA who got a prerecorded disconnect message surged between February and March.
• SSA faces staff cuts and office closures affecting service as the number of beneficiaries increases.

AARP is sounding the alarm on deteriorating service at the Social Security Administration and is calling on the agency to rethink the coming changes to identity verification that could lead to even more frustration for seniors.

In a letter to Leland Dudek, the SSA's acting commissioner, Nancy A. LeaMond, AARP's executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer, said that the nonprofit "continues to receive thousands of calls and messages from older Americans who are concerned about their Social Security."

LeaMond said AARP is "deeply troubled" by what it called "a startling and sudden decline in customer service," citing a skyrocketing rate of "agent busy" messages. That metric tracks the percentage of callers who got a prerecorded disconnect message. In February, the busy rate was 1.5%. In March, it shot up to 28.4%.

"I can't remember a case where we've had this many of our members calling about problems at Social Security," Bill Sweeney, AARP's senior vice president for government affairs, told BI.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, along with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ron Wyden, also sent a letter to Dudek on Monday, which BI obtained. The letter asked Dudek to address recently reported website crashes, beneficiary account errors, and service delays.

"This alarming episode raises fresh questions about operations at SSA and the effects of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)'s attacks on the agency, which you have helped facilitate," the senators wrote.

The letters come as the SSA faces staffing cuts, policy changes, and field office closures under the Trump administration. The agency announced in March that it plans to slash its 57,000-person workforce by 7,000 employees — which would place staff numbers at a historic low, despite the growing pool of Social Security beneficiaries.

The White House and DOGE also aim to close more than 25 offices across the country.

The SSA was spared from President Donald Trump's first round of federal workforce reductions this year. The president has previously said he "will not cut one penny" from the program.

Changes to Social Security's ID verification could make customer service even worse

SSA announced that it would require some beneficiaries to confirm their IDs in person if they need to update their bank information or file new claims. The new policy is expected to start in mid-April. It was originally set to begin at the end of March, but the SSA extended the deadline and introduced some tweaks.

SSA leadership said in an internal memo seen by Business Insider that offices could expect an additional 75,000 to 85,000 visitors a week in the coming months.

AARP has urged the agency to halt the changes or to extend the timeline to better communicate the new policy. Nearly 73 million Americans receive Social Security benefits.

The new requirement is part of the Trump administration's stated effort to reduce benefits fraud, though fraud is exceedingly rare, making up 0.84% of total improper payments between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, per the SSA's Office of the Inspector General. The White House told BI in a statement last week that "the previous fraud strategy has failed, and as a result, necessary changes are coming. "

The SSA did not immediately respond to Business Insider's comment request, but Sweeney said that SSA had acknowledged receipt of the letter.

"I think it's disrespectful if you've worked your whole life in this country, and you're supposed to be getting this money that you've earned — and you have to jump through all these hoops and all this red tape," Sweeney said.

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via Signal at julianakaplan.33 and alliekelly.10, or email at [email protected] and [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Americans are flooding Social Security offices and phones over benefit concerns and identity measures.
• New identity verification rules and staff cuts fueled fears of benefit disruptions.
• Advocates warn of a feedback loop worsening call volumes and public anxiety.

Seniors are calling Social Security in spades and showing up en masse to field offices, as many fret about the future of their benefits.

Some are concerned about new identity measures, and others fear that their benefits could be affected. Taken together, this is creating a new problem: People who are worried about delays are straining the Social Security Administration's customer support systems with an influx in calls and appearances at field offices. That all comes as the agency has said it wants to reduce staff by 7,000 of its 57,000 workers.

In February, Social Security's 800 number received around 8.6 million calls; by March, it had received nearly 10.5 million calls. All told, the average number of daily calls per month rose by about 50,000 from February to March. March's average was 483,549, up from 312,533 a year before.

A Social Security operations worker said in a March 28th agency meeting that 665,000 people visited field offices in the week prior, which was "significant."

"Why are they coming? They're nervous," the worker said, who was identified as Ian, said. He said that visitors are coming in and requesting certified copies of their documents, which cost $100, and can usually be accessed online. He said that mySSA, the online portal, used to see around 2,500 users a week; now, that's up to 5,500.

"They're afraid of our systems going down. That's what they're telling us," he added.

When Business Insider's Allie Kelly tried to contact Social Security's 1-800 number last week, she was greeted with a voice message telling her that wait times were over 120 minutes — and then she got hung up on. Under 40% of callers reached a representative in March, according to SSA data, down from around 59% a year prior.

Social Security did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

"With a resounding mandate from the American people, President Trump is moving quickly to fulfill his promise of making the federal government more efficient," White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement. "He has promised to protect Social Security, and every recipient will continue to receive their benefits."

The influx of calls and visitors comes after public uncertainty around the program. Social Security is still providing benefits , but some advocates and beneficiaries have raised concerns over new guidelines for identity verification.

Under that guidance, new beneficiaries would have to verify their identities either online or in-person. Advocates sounded alarms that the new process could leave behind seniors without access to the internet or the ability to come in person. The new guidelines were ultimately tweaked, with the identity proofing now set to start April 14 and applicants for Medicare, disability, and SSI exempted from the in-person requirement.

"The Trump Administration's rash statements and actions on Social Security are triggering widespread worry and stress, particularly among older and disabled people," Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the left-leaning think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said.

That cascade of worry is being felt beyond phone lines and field offices: At the end of March, the AARP told BI that the nonprofit has been receiving around 2,000 calls a week about Social Security benefits, with potential disruptions to checks coming in as "by far the number one" issue.

Tracey Gonniger, the managing director of economic security and housing at the advocacy group Justice in Aging, said she thinks that the agency could face a worsening feedback loop.

"You have higher call volume because you created higher call volume, and then you cut back on staff and then created more caller volume. They just keep on making the situation worse, and then people are panicking and probably then calling more because they're like, what's going on?" Gonniger said. "It's this weird effect of making it worse, and then cutting back and then making it worse, and then cutting back on services and making people lose faith in the system; it's really bad."

Workers on the ground are feeling that firsthand. One Social Security employee told BI that they had to talk down someone on the phone who was fearful that Elon Musk would take their checks; they ended up having to assure them and send them documentation they were due benefits.

The recipient was "clearly having an episode," the worker said. "Very sweet, very scared."

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via Signal at julianakaplan.33 or email at [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• With tariffs, federal budget cuts, and student loan limbo, Americans are delaying financial decisions.
• 6 Americans told BI how economic uncertainty is shaping their family, jobs, budgets, and retirement.
• While the US is not in a recession, indicators are showing some signs of weakness.

Babies, homes, retirement, and business ventures — all major moves Americans have told BI they're putting on hold as the US reels from economic uncertainty.

Tariffs are set to raise prices on everything from groceries to cars, and sweeping cuts to federal spending have many concerned about their livelihoods. Federal student loan limbo is also leaving millions wondering how they will pay off their debt.

"I feel like I just got done building a life out here," said a Washington DC 28-year-old who resigned from her government job and may have to move due to finances. "I was actually trying to own a home."

Some are even worried about a recession. While the US isn't in one yet, a major indicator of consumer sentiment hit a three-year low in March, and consumer spending was weaker than expected last month. Meanwhile, a closely watched inflation metric has seen its highest jump in a year. Economists have said these conditions are making people less likely to make major purchases and take financial risks.

While some Americans also told BI they support Trump's recent cost-cutting measures and don't plan to make any adjustments to their jobs or savings, six shared stories about holding off on major milestones.

A millennial is weighing starting a family amid student loan uncertainty

Florence Thompson feels stuck. The 39-year-old wants to buy a home and have a baby, but she's not sure what her future monthly student-loan payments will look like. She said she hopes they'll stay in the low hundreds.

Thompson is enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. Trump is taking steps to limit eligibility for the program, which could bar some borrowers from future relief.

Thompson is also on the SAVE plan, created by President Joe Biden to give borrowers more affordable monthly payments. Since July, she and 8 million enrolled borrowers have been stuck in forbearance after SAVE was blocked in court. Thompson has not been able to make payments or earn PSLF credit while the lawsuit plays out. Now, Thompson isn't sure when she will have to add loan payments back into her budget — and how much those payments will be. The Trump administration's recent decision to dismantle the Department of Education has heightened this uncertainty, she said. It's complicating her plans to buy a home and start a family.

"I have the money to pursue IVF, I have the money to buy a home," Thompson said. "But it's like the sword hanging above your head where you don't know when your monthly costs are going to increase and by how much. It's just a real uncertainty, and I know people are in much more difficult positions than myself. It's just not fair, not right."

Until she knows what will happen with her student debt, Thompson is conflicted. "It's really causing me to have to save money rather than spend it on the things that I'd like to spend it on," she said.

A federal employee left a $100,000 salary on the table and is worried about the future of her career

Ashley Shannon submitted her resignation letter last month. The 28-year-old was an attorney in her second year at the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Prisons. She said her job felt meaningful — her work helped combat mass incarceration disproportionately impacting Black and brown people.

But, as news flooded in about the firings of federal probationary workers, Shannon made the tough decision to leave her role.

"Higher up in the agency, they pretty much told us it's either you leave or you're going to likely get fired and pushed out," she said.

The career paths for Black women in private-sector law are more limited than in the federal workforce, and Shannon had been excited to build a career in the public interest. She had been making $100,000 a year and was building her life in Washington DC — hoping to buy her first home soon. Now, Shannon has been unemployed since March 5. If she can't find a job by the end of April, she will have to move back to Chicago to live with her parents.

"That is a very defeating feeling as a very new attorney," she said. "I would have to move back in with my family, find another job, and pretty much restart my entire life."

A Gen Zer moved back in with her parents to save up for an international move

Last fall, Bri O. moved back in with her parents. The 23-year-old works a finance job in Charlotte, North Carolina. She didn't picture spending her young adult years in her childhood home, but said it's her best option to save money.

Bri knew she wanted to live abroad at some point in her life — it's an opportunity to experience new cultures and she has her eyes set on Spain. However, she said Trump's return to the Oval Office has accelerated her timeline: She's now trying to save $50,000 by 2026 so that she can move out of the US, maybe permanently.

As a young, queer woman, Bri said she doesn't feel safe living under the Trump administration, especially if she someday chooses to get married or start a family. The government "enacting policies against us in the queer community is having an effect on our lives," she said.

She said she's sacrificing some of her independence by living with family right now, but it's worth it for her finances. Being at home is allowing her to put the money she would be spending on rent and other expenses into savings for her eventual move.

"I'd love to stay in the country where all my friends and my family are," she said, adding, "It's disheartening that I'm leaving because of fear."

A Gen Xer isn't sure she can retire early anymore

Margarita Sdoukos, 49, thought she was going to retire early. She was confident that she and her husband would have a strong enough nest egg to stop working in six years. Due to living below their means, savvy investments, and careful saving habits, the couple felt financially comfortable.

Now, Sdoukos isn't sure she will ever fully retire. The Illinois resident told BI that she and her husband have lost "tens of thousands" of dollars in the stock market since Trump took office in January, and they're shifting to safer investments for their 401(k), even if they are less lucrative. She cashed out her teacher's pension and placed it in an IRA due to "uncertainty in the government." She's concerned about potential changes to Social Security, and now expects to continue working for as long as possible.

"We don't even think about retirement right now," she said.

A business owner is anxious about her next step

Jessica Deseo, 40, has been in the design industry for nearly two decades. She's a California-based, first-generation immigrant and mother who is balancing her own LLC with her role as a 1099 employee for a fellow creative.

With economic policy changing quickly under Trump, Deseo is at a crossroads with her career: go solo with her business or balance her job and freelancing.

"I'm right in the middle of figuring that out, and it's really, really hard," she said.

Deseo said she wants to put energy and money into growing her own business, but it comes with sacrifices. She's worried that potential clients won't have the extra budget to hire her as a freelancer and said that going out completely on her own would be an even bigger financial risk. Right now, she's being cautious about spending and saving as much as she can.

"You see the economy around you and you're just like, 'Jesus, everyone is getting laid off,"' she said.

A baby boomer is putting off a move and saving some Social Security income

Kathy Heller, 67, hoped to move out of her studio apartment in Pennsylvania and buy a new house. However, due to recent changes in the stock market and her fears about the future of Social Security, she said that may no longer be possible.

"I've been wanting to move for the last couple of years, and I just can't now," Heller said. "Everything's changed."

Heller, who worked as a legal secretary, ate through some of her retirement savings while caring for her husband, who was ill for two decades. She works nearly full-time as a real estate agent to supplement her over $3,000 monthly Social Security survivor benefits. She said she's had to wait for four hours on the phone to contact a Social Security representative, and she said she's worried about what her finances may look like a few months from now, especially if Social Security is disrupted in any way.

"My plan is to save $1,000 a month out of my Social Security check, but I live alone," Heller said. "If you don't have savings or a monthly income, you're screwed now."

Have a tip? Contact these reporters via email or Signal at [email protected] or alliekelly.10; [email protected] or julianakaplan.33; [email protected] or asheffey.97; [email protected] or @jdeng.20; or [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.