Trump Republicans gut Social Security oversight, forcing out staff & swiping data

The Trump administration has systematically dismantled independent oversight of the Social Security Administration, forced out thousands of the agency’s most experienced employees, and granted political operatives access to Americans’ private benefit data.

The moves, unfolding over the past year with little public notice, leave the program that provides retirement and disability benefits to roughly 70 million Americans vulnerable to delays, data breaches, and potential benefit disruptions, reneging on a promise to senior citizens.

Internal government reports have been altered to obscure worsening phone wait times, inspectors general have been fired, and a new nationwide processing system is being rushed into place without congressional approval, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed by advocates tracking the agency.

“There is no meaningful check on the Trump administration’s Social Security sabotage,” said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group that has sued the administration over data access. “That will not change until the November elections.”

The Social Security Administration did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The agency’s inspector general issued a report days before Christmas last year that found roughly 25 million calls to the agency’s 800 number ended without callers receiving service. The report also noted that wait time metrics excluded the time callers spent waiting.

After agency political appointees reviewed the findings, the inspector general’s office modified the report to remove a finding that Americans were waiting up to two hours to reach a representative, according to people familiar with the changes who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

Trump fired inspectors general at 19 agencies shortly after taking office, including at Social Security. Watchdog groups say the dismissals have created a chilling effect, making career staff reluctant to publish unflattering findings.

The Supreme Court has reinstated the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to private Social Security data, which had previously been blocked by a lower court.

According to court filings in an ongoing lawsuit, DOGE operatives had agreed to share this data with an unnamed advocacy group aiming to overturn election results in several states, said Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works.

“Thanks to Donald Trump and the Supreme Court, Elon Musk’s DOGE minions have access to our private Social Security data,” Lawson said. “So does anyone they choose to share it with — and anyone who can hack the unsecured server they’ve stored it on.”

The administration has also forced out thousands of the agency’s most experienced employees, according to union officials and personnel records. Staffing levels at the Social Security Administration were already at a 50-year low before Trump took office in 2024, even as the number of beneficiaries reached an all-time high.

To address the resulting backlog, the administration announced plans to cut field offices in half and shift to a nationwide processing system. Under the plan, a person in Richmond, Virginia, seeking survivor benefits after a loved one’s death might be helped by an employee in New Orleans.

But the plan creates significant legal and practical problems, critics say. Social Security eligibility often depends on state laws governing common-law marriage and workers’ compensation.

Staff in one state cannot reasonably become experts in the laws of all 50 states, Altman said. The plan also fails to address federal requirements that applicants provide original documents such as green cards or driver’s licenses — documents most people cannot mail across the country.

“This plan is massively inefficient and will create numerous problems,” Altman said. “The reason for this poorly thought-through idea seems to be the self-inflicted problem of an understaffed agency. There’s a much better solution: Reverse last year’s cuts and fully staff our Social Security field offices.”

The Social Security trust fund is projected to reach exhaustion in 2032, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Once depleted, the agency will only be able to pay roughly 70 percent of promised benefits unless Congress acts.

The CBO’s 10-year baseline assumes full benefits will be paid, but that conflicts with the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits government spending that exceeds available funds.

Between 2032 and 2036 alone, scheduled retirement benefits will exceed available funds by more than $2.8 trillion, according to calculations based on CBO data.

Congressional Democrats have sought to investigate the data leaks and deteriorating service, but Republicans have blocked every effort.

Without subpoena power, Democrats cannot compel testimony or documents.

“If Democrats take control of at least one chamber of Congress, they will gain subpoena power — and the ability to start holding those who are undermining Social Security accountable,” Altman said.

For now, the agency continues to process benefits. But former employees describe an agency in disarray, with experienced staff gone, oversight neutered and a political operation treating the 90-year-old program as raw material for goals unrelated to retirement security.

The full extent of what DOGE has done with the data — and who else has received it — remains unknown. The court filings did not identify the advocacy group or the DOGE operatives involved.

“We need to know exactly who has our data and what they are doing with it,” Lawson said. “And those who have committed illegal acts must be prosecuted.”