In over thirty years of working on the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its programs at the White House Office of Management and Budget and now the Urban Institute, I have never been more concerned about the agency than I am today. 1/9
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These cuts could easily delay or disrupt COLAs due to admin backlogs, system errors, and lack of personnel to resolve issues. COLA calculations are supposedly automated but require human oversight to update accounts and process payments correctly. DOGE better hope it all works out.
If you could put these into talking points, advocates can make sure that this is told to both the disability community and elder community @aarp & #disability
It’s clear the Trump Administration has decided to dramatically downsize the Social Security Administration. First probationary employees were dismissed.
Now, as of February 27, the SSA acting Commissioner told SSA it will implement an “agency-wide organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions” and ALL employees have been offered incentives to leave the agency, retire early or be reassigned.
These new incentives violate the Trump Administration’s earlier guidance that provision of Social Security benefits shouldn’t be adversely impacted by downsizing efforts. With 86% of SSA’s workforce in front-line positions, these moves guarantee that Social Security benefits will be impacted.
The sweeping nature of the incentives to resign make the ultimate consequences impossible to predict – either by me or SSA’s leadership. A non-strategic downsizing means SSA could lose staff in crucial positions. What if the employees who know how to transmit benefits data to Treasury leave?
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Staytuned...