Trump breaks promise not to cut Social Security

In an apparent breach of President Donald Trump’s oft-repeated campaign promise not to cut a penny of funding to the Social Security Administration, the Trump administration announced on Feb. 28 that it will make significant cuts to the program. 

While the planned actions will not directly affect the amount of money provided to Social Security beneficiaries, critics warn they will strain an already understaffed agency and make it harder to access the benefits tens of millions of people have already paid for through payroll taxes.

What the Social Security Administration does

The Social Security Administration’s main function is to administer retirement, disability, survivor and family benefits for more than 73 million Americans. It also is responsible for issuing Social Security numbers and cards and for the Medicare enrollment process.

A staff of about 57,000 employees operates a toll-free phone hotline and about 1,200 field offices across the United States, where people can request assistance with enrollment and any problems they encounter. Each year, the agency handles 137 million phone calls and 30 million in-person visits. 

Maria Freese, senior legislative representative at the nonpartisan nonprofit National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said in a phone interview that even current staffing levels are insufficient: “You have 10,000 baby boomers turning age 65 every day, so demand is growing, and yet staffing levels, even before they started getting rid of people, were already at a 50-year low. So that’s why you have had problems with long waiting lines on the 800 number, challenges in getting in to see a Social Security field office — they’re not even taking walk-ins anymore.”

What Trump promised to do

Throughout his campaign, Trump vowed not to make any cuts to Social Security or Medicare whatsoever. 

“President Trump has made absolutely clear that he will not cut one penny from Medicare or Social Security,” the Republican National Committee’s 2024 platform states. “American Citizens work hard their whole lives, contributing to Social Security and Medicare. These programs are promises to our Seniors, ensuring they can live their golden years with dignity. Republicans will protect these vital programs and ensure Economic Stability. We will work with our Great Seniors, in order to allow them to be active and healthy. We commit to safeguarding the future for our Seniors and all American families.”

In December, Trump told NBC News that his plans to cut federal spending would not have an impact on either program. “We’re not touching Social Security, other than we might make it more efficient, but the people are going to get what they’re getting. And we’re not raising ages or any of that stuff.”

“Social Security will not be touched, it will only be strengthened,” Trump said at a Feb. 7 press conference. “We’re not going to touch it, other than to make it stronger.”

What the Trump administration is doing

The Social Security Administration announced in a press release on Feb. 28 that it was indeed being cut. “Consistent with recent executive orders issued by the White House, the Social Security Administration will continue to implement efficiencies and reduce costs, with a renewed focus on mission critical work for the American people,” it said. “The agency plans to reduce the size of its bloated workforce and organizational structure, with a significant focus on functions and employees who do not directly provide mission critical services. Social Security recently set a staffing target of 50,000, down from the current level of approximately 57,000 employees.”

The release also noted the administration would get rid of six of the regional offices that supervise the field offices. “SSA has operated with a regional structure consisting of 10 offices, which is no longer sustainable. The agency will reduce the regional structure in all agency components down to four regions,” it said. “These steps prioritize customer service by streamlining redundant layers of management, reducing non-mission critical work, and potential reassignment of employees to customer service positions.”

The Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s website identified dozens of SSA offices whose leases it has terminated or soon will, including facilities in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Wausau, Wisconsin; and Okemos, Michigan.

In a Feb. 28 fact sheet, Democrats on the Senate Committee on Appropriations predicted: “Closing field offices will force people to drive hours farther to get the basic services they are entitled to. For many–particularly beneficiaries who are disabled or who live in rural areas–the closures could mean losing out on assistance from SSA–and even benefits altogether.”

Neither the White House nor the Social Security Administration immediately responded to requests for comment.

Freese warned that reassigning staff to handle casework may mean fewer people can obtain the benefits to which they are entitled, especially given that it takes years to fully train caseworkers.

“It has nothing to do with efficiency. They keep saying ‘a bloated agency.’ That agency is not bloated,” Freese said. “They are taking an agency who has never missed a payment, who has done excellent work, even though their staffing levels have been shrunken over the years. They’re going beyond cutting to the bone. I mean, this is now cutting people who are needed to do important work. Unless their ultimate goal is just to deny everybody’s claims, and then it doesn’t take a whole lot of staff and people or a whole lot of training to do that. So we can’t help but wonder if what this is all about is to gut the Social Security program itself.”

How will this affect Michigan?

As of December 2023, about 2.3 million Michiganders received Social Security benefits, according to SSA data.

The agency operates 48 local offices in the state.

With fewer staffers and offices, people across Michigan will likely have a harder time obtaining assistance.

“What you have is the most vulnerable people that we have, that are on Social Security benefits, having to go further and further away to try to see an actual person in order to get their benefits,” said Freese. “And so they would end up, over time, and not very long time at all, having people who are elderly and who are disabled, who can’t get their benefits done electronically, but having to travel further and further distances in order to be able to get their benefits, whatever issue they have with the agency resolved.”

In a statement provided to the Michigan Independent, Michigan Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said: “This is just another example of how the Trump Administration and DOGE’s reckless cuts are hurting Michigan communities. Social Security offices are a lifeline for so many in our communities — from seniors who depend on monthly payments to someone who needs help replacing a Social Security card. As elected officials, we must do everything we can to ensure our constituents have someone in their community who can help get to the bottom of any issue that may come up. Closing regional offices and firing local staff is simply irresponsible and could interrupt the Social Security services that so many Michigan residents depend on to pay their bills and support their families. I’ll fight back against these changes to ensure Michiganders can continue to rely on the Social Security Administration.”

The Social Security Administration announced on Feb. 21 that it was terminating a $15 million program to study retirement and disability policies. University of Michigan President Santa Ono told university faculty in a Feb. 26 letter that the institution had “received legal notice from a federal agency instructing us to stop work on a multimillion-dollar project,” according to the news site Bridge Michigan, and that this and other coming cuts “could have significant repercussions on the university’s budget.”