• 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."

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• 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.

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• AARP reports a surge in calls from retirees concerned about Social Security benefits.
• Seniors are worried about the Trump administration's budget cuts at the Social Security Administration.
• Office closures and staffing cuts could strain the agency as baby boomers retire and demand rises.

Anxious retirees have been phoning AARP in droves about their Social Security benefits.

A spokesperson said that since February 1, the nonprofit has received roughly 2,000 calls a week on the issue, and "by far the number one" concern is about disruptions to checks.

"They're really struggling to get by and Social Security is their lifeline," Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president, said of older Americans who rely on Social Security benefits to make ends meet. "It's something they paid into their entire working lives from their very first paycheck until their very last."

The spike in calls is double AARP's usual volume and is happening in response to the Trump administration's workforce reductions within the Social Security Administration. Though Trump has promised his administration won't touch benefits, retirees have reason to be concerned about the service they'll receive from the agency.

Last month, wait times for calling Social Security averaged around an hour and 44 minutes, and Social Security administrators warned that customer service is going to get worse.

For example, one change requires beneficiaries to present identification in person rather than online to prevent fraud. However, the agency also announced it would be closing some field offices, a move that could present further challenges to seniors and disabled Americans who don't have access to transportation or live in remote areas.

Business Insider previously spoke to Social Security employees who said the agency was already overwhelmed before the White House's DOGE office came on the scene. Staffing has reached its lowest levels in 50 years — and demand for the agency's services is only growing as a wave of baby boomers hit retirement age.

"There's about 10,000 people turning 65 every single day in this country," Sweeney told BI. "And there's more every day than the day before. And yet the staff at Social Security is going down."

Nearly 73 million Americans receive Social Security benefits. Around 40% of older Americans rely solely on monthly checks for their retirement income, according to the National Institute for Retirement Security. The number of Americans over the age of 65 is projected to steadily increase to 80 million in 2040.

Judith Murray, 64, is one of them. Murray previously told BI that she lives on $1,311 a month in Social Security and a $1,174 monthly SNAP allotment in central Illinois. It's barely enough to cover essentials in a seven-person household, which includes some of her children and grandchildren and her fiancé, who recently lost his job.

Any delays in Social Security payment would jeopardize Murray's ability to pay for housing and groceries — and she is already already behind on bills and doesn't have any savings. Murray said that, due to a disability, she's been relying on Social Security for several decades.

Whether it's a supplement to retirement savings or a sole source of income, Social Security is one of the most popular federal programs with 87% of Americans saying it must remain a priority even with budget deficits.

Frank Bisignano, a seasoned finance executive, fielded questions from Democrats during Tuesday's Senate Finance Committee hearing as Trump's pick to head the Social Security Administration.

Bisignano vowed to continue operating the agency to serve the American people "to ensure that every beneficiary receives their payments on time, that disability claims are processed in the manner they should be."

When asked if he had plans to denationalize the service, he said no.

"I've never thought about privatizing. It's not a word that anybody's ever talked to me about," the Wall Street veteran continued. "I don't see this institution as anything other than a government agency that gets run for the benefit of the American public."

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• Social Security offices could see longer lines due to short staffing and limited phone service.
• A new in-person ID requirement may make it harder for some Americans to claim Social Security.
• The Trump Administration said they are making changes to the SSA to prevent benefits fraud.

Lines at your local Social Security office are about to get a lot longer — if it survives a wave of closures brought on by funding cuts under the Trump administration.

And the Social Security field offices that do stay open are in for a flood of visitors after the short-staffed government agency limited phone service for beneficiaries. That might be bad news for elderly Americans relying on Social Security checks without reliable transportation or internet.

In a memo obtained by Business Insider, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Operations Doris Diaz told SSA staff on March 13 that recent reductions in phone service could lead 75,000 to 85,000 additional visitors a week to show up at local field offices in order to file Social Security claims. The memo came before the agency announced it was changing its identity-proofing procedures in an effort to reduce fraud risk, which will, in part, require some beneficiaries who cannot use online systems to come into field offices to confirm their identities.

It's unclear if beneficiaries will see a delay in checks hitting their bank accounts — but the stakes are high for older and disabled Americans. Over 73 million people claim Social Security, many of which rely on it as their primary source of income. Economists, policy analysts, and former and current SSA staff members told BI that the policy changes could be an insurmountable obstacle for seniors, making it harder for some to receive the checks they need to afford housing, groceries, and other basics.

"It's going to further strain people's ability to access their earned benefits," Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said. The agency already had an average call wait time of one hour and 44 minutes in February 2025 and received an average of around 307,000 calls.

BI has heard from nearly 4,000 older adults in recent months, many of whom don't have adequate retirement savings and rely on their monthly checks to afford essentials like housing, groceries, and healthcare. Some retirees told BI that they are anxious about the impact that federal funding cuts will have on their monthly checks.

"There are a lot of people — we're laying in bed awake at night wondering if we're going to make it through this month and if we're going to have enough money to pay bills," said one 68-year-old relying on Social Security. "And if not, we wonder: What can we give? What can I do without?"

Changes could make it harder for people to claim Social Security, staff say

The mounting customer service crisis at the SSA comes as the Trump Administration and the White House's DOGE office have fired thousands of federal workers — some of which were reinstated due to a judge's ruling earlier last month. Social Security has said its staffing target is 50,000 workers — 7,000 less than its current 57,000, which is already near a historic low. Romig called the cuts to those staff numbers "a perfect storm for Social Security beneficiaries."

Staffing disruptions at the SSA have already led to the closure of some local field offices and longer call wait times for beneficiaries hoping to file a claim with customer service. With a requirement that some beneficiaries confirm their identity in person, these wait times will likely worsen.

Some older Americans may also struggle to meet the in-person requirement. Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the left-leaning think tank Groundwork Collaborative, said that as more "hoops and barriers" are implemented, seniors with the least means will likely be impacted the most. That includes seniors without access to the internet, those in rural areas, or those who are disabled and don't have access to transportation. "Of course, those are disproportionately going to be the ones who rely on Social Security for nearly all of their income."

Americans' reliance on the Social Security program is expected to grow in the coming decades.

"There's about 10,000 people turning 65 every single day in this country. And there's more every day than the day before. And yet the staff at Social Security is going down," AARP senior vice president Bill Sweeney said.

Economist Ben Glasner of the Economic Innovation Group told BI that any delay in Social Security payments could "jeopardize seniors' ability to meet their needs," making it difficult for low-income retirees to pay bills and increasing levels of food and housing insecurity. Older Americans living in rural areas tend to rely most on government aid and could be most vulnerable, he added.

The Trump Administration has said that changes in Social Security policy could help prevent benefits fraud — a phenomenon that is extremely rare, with only 0.84% of payments deemed improper by the SSA's Office of the Inspector General. DOGE has recently made efforts to crackdown on dead people claiming benefits. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a podcast interview last week that a hypothetical delay in Social Security checks might catch those guilty of fraud because they would make "the loudest noise screaming, yelling and complaining."

Assistant White House Press Secretary Liz Huston told BI in a statement that Trump has pledged to be a "responsible steward" of taxpayer dollars and "the previous fraud strategy has failed, and as a result, necessary changes are coming." A representative for the SSA said that the agency's five-day return to office policy will ensure that "maximum staffing is available to support the stronger in-person identity proofing requirement."

Still, SSA employees are concerned that in-person identification requirements and short staffing could cause chaos for beneficiaries. Staff said they also haven't received guidance on how to answer older Americans' questions.

A current SSA worker said that they've received essentially "no information" on the new policy.

"There has been zero communication on this since that press release," they said. They said a coworker was currently fielding phone calls from beneficiaries about the new change, with nearly every call related to recipients asking if they needed to come into a field office.

"People are calling and we have no more info than that press release," they said. "We look like idiots."

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