Debra Sutherland, 71, relies on Social Security as her only source of income. And oftentimes, it’s barely enough to cover her essentials.
Sutherland and two other baby boomers said that, since Elon Musk and the White House’s DOGE Commission have championed federal cost-cutting, they’re worried about the future of Social Security. They shared their suggestions for Musk, which include strengthening the program’s funding, improving customer service availability, and simplifying the technology.
“I do not want to sound blunt, but the only way to make Social Security better is to remove Elon Musk,” said Sutherland, adding “There is not a day that I wake up and wonder when the government is going to mess with the only income I receive.”
Sutherland and her counterparts’ concerns come as the Social Security Administration’s infrastructure is wearing thin thanks to recent budget cuts and a rapidly growing pool of beneficiaries. Musk and DOGE have targeted the SSA, leading the agency to begin reducing its workforce by 7,000 employees. The move will put SSA staffing at a historic low and has already contributed to dwindling customer service.
Additionally, the Trump administration’s new in-person ID requirements — set to go into effect on April 14 — will also mean that some beneficiaries will have to physically go to SSA field offices to have their claims approved. In an interview with Fox on March 28, Musk said that DOGE’s efforts are a means to modernize the agency and combat fraud: “Legitimate people, as a result of the work of DOGE, will receive more Social Security, not less.”
Musk and Trump have both vowed to stop benefits fraud, which accounted for about 0.84% of payments deemed improper by the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General between fiscal years 2015 and 2022. Musk has also said he wants to prevent people living in the US illegally from claiming benefits — something they are unable to do, despite contributing payroll taxes.
The White House told BI last week that “the previous fraud strategy has failed, and as a result, necessary changes are coming.” The SSA said that the agency’s five-day return to office policy will help prevent customer service delays.
Boomers want the White House to prioritize Social Security funding
Diane Campbell, 68, lives in Virginia and primarily relies on her Social Security income to afford essentials. She said many older adults like her are anxious about Social Security funding — and would like to see a more concrete plan from the federal government about protecting the program for future decades.
“Cutting all of this stuff is not going to make it better,” she said, referring to staff cuts at the SSA. “We need to make sure that there’s funding, then we can start working on how to utilize the funding.”
Campbell is one of 73 million people who receive Social Security income. Beyond retirement benefits, Social Security also offers aid to people with disabilities and households living near the poverty line.
At $1.5 billion a year, Social Security is among the federal government’s biggest expenditures. But as more baby boomers claim benefits, the program’s funding is struggling to keep up. Without Congressional action, economists have warned that the benefits could start shrinking by the mid-2030s. Trump has previously floated that he may remove all taxes on Social Security, a policy that could save some seniors money in the short term but would drain the fund faster.
Campbell said that people with a higher income should pay more in taxes toward Social Security, a strategy that would help boost funding. In 2025, workers will pay Social Security tax on the first $176,100 of wage income. Per the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan economic policy organization, eliminating the payroll tax cap would increase revenue for Social Security by $3.2 trillion over 10 years.
SSA customer service delays cause anxiety for some boomers
Robert Zeidler, 72, lives in Arizona and relies on Social Security to pay his bills. Recently, he said he had an issue with his direct deposit and spent weeks trying to get help via Social Security’s 1-800 customer service number and his local field office. He said he was waitlisted multiple times by the phone line but was required to book an appointment over the phone in order to meet with someone at the office.
“There’s no shortcut to having people manning the phones,” Zeidler added.
Zeidler said the recent cuts to the SSA will make it harder for older Americans like him to claim benefits. While it’s not yet clear if these changes will result in delayed checks, older Americans like Zeidler feel the stakes are high: it would “hurt substantially,” he said.
With DOGE cuts, Social Security’s customer service system is strained. The agency had an average call wait time of one hour and 39 minutes in March, and received over 265,000 calls from beneficiaries. This compares to fiscal year 2024, when the average wait time was one hour, one minute. It’s not clear when full reduction-in-force will be complete at the SSA, or what departments employees will be cut from.
At the same time, local field offices are bracing for an influx of visitors. Acting Deputy Commissioner for Operations Doris Diaz told staff in a memo on March 13 that reductions in phone service and new ID requirements could lead to an additional 75,000 to 85,000 visitors a week across all offices. SSA employees have told BI that many local field offices are already strained by staff shortages, and may not be able to handle increased demand. This comes as about 50 field offices are set to close due to DOGE cuts.
Many older Americans struggle to navigate technology and paperwork
Older adults have told BI that it can be challenging to wade through the government paperwork necessary to claim Social Security. Both Campbell and Zeidler said that they feel fairly tech-literate, but they worry about peers who are less adept at navigating the Social Security website. Musk has said DOGE wants to “modernize” the SSA, but hasn’t provided further details.
“You have to go through some major hoops to get anything done,” Zeidler said of the current SSA customer service system.
Other low-income older Americans have previously said that balancing Social Security claims with other government aid programs like SNAP and Medicaid can be stressful — especially since most have different application portals and eligibility paperwork. The MySSA portal has also seen outages in the last week, temporarily preventing beneficiaries from accessing their accounts.
“Whatever cuts they’re making or whatever they’re doing — I’ve dealt with Social Security before, and I never had these long wait times,” Zeidler said.
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