The “key accomplishments” of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office have been emphasized by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Since the Trump administration took office in January, the agency, which distributes payments to some 70 million Americans each month, has experienced numerous changes. Work being done throughout the federal government by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is responsible for many of these developments.
“Working with the Department of Government Efficiency, SSA has charted a new course for the agency that prioritizes enhancing customer service, reducing waste, fraud, and abuse, and optimizing its workforce toward direct public service,” the SSA stated of the changes.
However, a number of the modifications have drawn harsh condemnation from Democratic politicians, retired and disabled American advocacy groups, and former SSA officials.
SSA has announced 13 major achievements, including “modernizing telephone services” and “workforce optimization,” implementing “enhanced fraud prevention,” updating its death records, and expediting the payment of retroactive benefits and monthly increases mandated by the Social Security Fairness Act.
Over $14.8 billion in retroactive payments have been paid to over 2.2 million people impacted by two provisions that were repealed by a congressional legislation earlier this year, according to the Social Security Administration, which said it has made “significant strides” in implementing the Social Security Fairness legislation.
Affected beneficiaries were previously informed that the administration of backdated payments and renewed benefit amounts could take up to a year.
More than 3,000 employees have left the agency, according to SSA, and another 2,000 have been transferred to locations that need more workers.
The SSA and other federal government agencies were encouraged by the Office of Personnel Management in February to submit “reorganization plans” and get ready for “reductions in force.”
As part of its efforts to combat fraud, the agency also announced that it has “implemented enhanced fraud prevention tools for claims filed over the telephone.”
A prior proposal to stop processing benefits and payment adjustments over the phone was heavily criticized. After declaring that it would only need in-person appointments for people with anomalies identified on their account, the SSA later partially reversed the provision.
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Additionally, it gave an update on its efforts in updating SSA death data.
The SSA stated in the announcement that “updating the records of individuals who are implausibly old to be living is an important anti-fraud measure.”
Millions of records have already been updated, and DOGE has already indicated that the job should be finished in the upcoming weeks.
The effort started when Elon Musk, the de facto leader of DOGE and the driving force behind Trump’s massive government expenditure cuts, asserted in February that millions of people over 100 years old may be receiving Social Security benefits, many of whom would be long dead.
Later, the SSA explained that the numbers had been misread and that among the millions of entries Musk cited are those of people who do not get benefits but whose records do not include a reported date of death.
Critics have criticized the significant changes made during the first 100 days of the Trump administration, and DOGE’s operations have also been the target of legal action.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction earlier this month to prevent DOGE from gaining access to private data that the SSA has.
The ruling forbids DOGE, its agents, and its staff from granting access to systems that hold personally identifiable data, including addresses, bank and tax records, medical records, Social Security numbers, and other personally identifiable information.
President Joe Biden’s predecessor as the agency’s commissioner, Martin O’Malley, has stated time and time again that DOGE projects and workforce reductions pose a threat to benefit delivery.
Earlier, he warned that staff reductions would “cascade into a collapse of the entire system and an interruption for some time of benefits.”
Concerns have also been voiced by Democratic senators, including former President Biden. Biden claimed that the current government had “taken a hatchet” to the SSA in his first significant address since he left office in January.
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Long wait times for phone and in-person services, SSA website crashes, and some recipients being mistakenly reported dead have also been reported in recent weeks.
Frank Bisignano, the president’s nomination, is expected to succeed Dudek, who has been in charge of the reforms put in place during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
By a vote of 14–13 on April 2, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee moved forward with Bisignano’s nomination. No date has been set for the final voting.
