The DOGE Impact Tracker
The human toll of Trump-Musk's 'efficiency' initiative
Staffing Cuts Lead to Extended Waiting Times for Social Security Recipients
In the wake of the Social Security Administration slashing 12% of its workforce earlier this year, the agency’s field offices have struggled to adjust to their new normal with overburdened workers and frustrated recipients, reports the New York Times:
When Rebekah Walker noticed she was short on her July rent, it quickly became clear that her monthly disability payment never arrived from Social Security, as it had for the past 16 years.
The agency claimed in an online message that she had been overpaid by $48,609.60 — and she needed to pay it back.
Until she could prove otherwise, she was cut off.
Ms. Walker, who has complex heart abnormalities and one functioning lung, headed to her local Social Security office for answers, waiting about 30 minutes before they turned her away. The earliest appointment slot wasn’t for two weeks.
Seniors in Philadelphia Have Trouble Getting Social Security Offices on the Phone Due to Budget Cuts
Due to DOGE, the Social Security Administration set up a new phone system on May 9 — and seniors in Philadelphia told The Philadelphia Inquirer that they’re having trouble reaching their local offices. One of them is Marcia Chestnut, a 62-year-old former housekeeper:
In February, Chestnut — who lives with various disabilities — received a notice from the SSA saying her benefits would be cut off by April.
To find out why, Chestnut phoned her local SSA office in Germantown every weekday for two months. She’d get put on hold for four hours or longer, then the calls would be disconnected.
“Live people don’t answer,” she said. “You’re not getting anybody who’ll talk to you.”
Chestnut, who ultimately lost her Social Security benefits and is fighting to reinstate them, said lots of her senior friends who are among Philadelphia’s approximately 400,000 recipients of Social Security benefits feel helpless dealing with the new SSA system phone, conceived by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Cutbacks at Social Security Field Offices Leads to Frustration, Long Lines
Due to staff cutbacks proposed by DOGE staffers at the Social Security Administration, at least three dozen field offices lost more than a quarter of their staff, reports the New York Times. That resulted in long lines at offices overwhelmed by members of the public due to new requirements that they file for benefits in person or online rather than over the phone:
During one of his last weeks in charge, [former Social Security official Leland] Dudek drove around the Midwest by himself visiting offices that had been hit especially hard by cuts.
At a Milwaukee field office, Mr. Dudek stopped a woman driving out of the parking lot, a moment witnessed by The Times.
“Were we able to take care of your needs today?” he asked.
“Not at all,” the woman replied.
Mr. Dudek apologized as she drove away.