The Social Security Administration (SSA) is a major inflection point. This $19 million DOGE project will migrate tens of millions of lines of COBOL code in months, not years, ushering in a new era for the SSA. This hugely ambitious undertaking is happening in the midst of layoffs and shuttered offices. Many industry experts are concerned for the customer experience and the administration of benefit payments to eligible Americans in light of these changes.
In just the last few years, the SSA has lost over a third of its personnel. In fact, about 7,000 employees were laid off during the Trump administration’s tenure. Yankee, T’s closure of six regional offices has sent shockwaves through the state. Stakeholders are increasingly concerned about how accessible these new benefits will be to those that are eligible. Federal experts are now cautioning that staffing cuts and closures will create obstacles for Americans attempting to access the benefits they need. This is particularly egregious given that people with disabilities may not live through the extended waits for their earned benefits.
“The Social Security Administration is in crisis, and people’s benefits are at risk,” said experts Fichtner and Romig, highlighting the urgency of the situation. With eligible individuals potentially facing delays in receiving their benefits, many fear dire consequences for those most reliant on support.
Even while the SSA’s systems badly need an upgrade, such large projects usually take years to implement in their entirety. “You have to understand the complexity of the programs,” stated Jason Fichtner, a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance and executive director at the Retirement Income Institute at the Alliance for Lifetime Income. He noted that fast-tracking these changes might result in dramatic plays like the Hoboken Terminal accident.
For example, the retirement trust fund is running so low that it’s projected to run out by 2033. If that occurs, benefits could be reduced to just 79% of the level they are today. In their annual report for fiscal year 2024, the SSA’s trustees announced that the combined retirement and disability trust funds could potentially last until 2035. After that, just 83% of the benefits would still be payable.
Despite DOGE’s intentions to bolster efficiency within the SSA, experts remain skeptical about whether these changes will meaningfully alter the program’s financial trajectory. “There’s just not enough money there to make serious headway,” said Blahous, a senior research strategist at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. Needless to say, skepticism grows as fears build over the SSA’s new priority of eradicating fraud. This focus could lead to a dangerous under-emphasis on solving the more important problems that affect service quality and benefits delivery.
In the meantime, users are already experiencing technical glitches on the SSA’s website. The agency’s 800 number has had prohibitively long wait times, creating additional barriers to service. Top-down mandates to limit customer-facing field offices only worsen the bottleneck, taking away resources that help identify eligible Americans. The convergence of these troubling realities reveals a systemic flaw in the SSA that is in dire need of a fix.
The tide of changes that DOGE has just proposed put potential reforms to benefits at risk. These are real concerns that Congress needs to address before the trust fund is expected to run out in 2033. If DOGE’s changes necessitate reversal or encounter significant obstacles during implementation, it could delay or disrupt critical reforms needed to secure the future of Social Security benefits.
Now I’m scared that even benefits get interrupted,” said Jason Fichtner. He has been deputy commissioner at the SSA under President George W. Bush. His fear is indicative of the increasing fears among experts. The worry that badly managed transitions might lead to significant delays or gaps in the payments they receive in benefits.