Disguised as a measure for increased efficiency, the Trump administration is actively dismantling the Social Security Administration (SSA), jeopardizing vital benefits that prevent millions of Americans from falling into poverty and endangering political stability for both the White House and congressional Republicans.
Insiders from the Social Security Administration and the agency’s former commissioner, Martin O’Malley, have conveyed to Rolling Stone and American Doom that the cuts implemented by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are likely to lead to significant failures, potentially leaving some of the 73 million Americans reliant on Social Security benefits without their checks.
The current dismantling efforts, particularly in reducing staff and closing public-facing offices, will hinder Americans’ ability to apply for benefits in a timely and seamless manner, further delaying the processing of disability claims.
Thus far, DOGE has shut down several Social Security field offices, dismantled internal departments that are essential for technology and the online systems utilized by Americans to access and apply for benefits, and is reorganizing the agency units responsible for identifying and addressing inefficiencies such as incorrect payments. Meanwhile, an undisclosed number of employees are being offered early retirement incentives and other buyout options as acting commissioner Lee Dudek and DOGE threaten broad layoffs — all part of a plan to reduce the workforce by 12 percent, which equates to approximately 7,000 employees.
The chaotic restructuring within the agency, as reported by an employee to Rolling Stone and American Doom, aligns with Musk’s “zero-based budgeting” approach, which emphasizes drastic cuts before evaluating what should be restored following emerging failures. An agency executive recounted being informed by DOGE’s lead at the SSA that their goal is “not about solving problems or enhancing service — merely about reducing property, headcount, and uncovering fraud,” said the employee. The executive was told that unless they had a “$50 billion idea,” DOGE would not be interested.
O’Malley and others assert that current actions within the SSA eliminate any doubt regarding Trump and Musk’s intentions to diminish the agency’s capability to deliver benefits. The lingering question is whether they will succeed.
Caught in this precarious political landscape are congressional Republicans, recently advised by the National Republican Congressional Committee to avoid town hall gatherings that would invite scrutiny on Musk’s layoffs and budget cuts. O’Malley mentioned that at least one Republican congressmember is very aware of the potential backlash that could arise should the agency and its benefits falter.
“They have no clue about the public outcry they’re bracing for,” the congressperson conveyed to O’Malley.
The SSA and the White House have not responded to requests for comments concerning this situation. Employees mentioned in this piece are granted anonymity to express their concerns freely.
O’Malley emphasizes that it is now up to the citizens to pressure Republican lawmakers to halt the agency’s degradation.
“The pressing question in our democratic republic is — will you allow them to destroy your Social Security?” he stated to Rolling Stone and American Doom. “To govern is to choose. And for now, the people are still in control of this country.”
The work of DOGE within the SSA is being spearheaded by three individuals with seemingly no experience related to the agency’s functions, according to an employee speaking to Rolling Stone and American Doom: Akash Bobba, a 22-year-old engineer with previous internships at Meta and Peter Thiel’s Palantir; Steve Davis, a Musk deputy experienced in cutting costs at Musk’s enterprises; and Citrix executive Tom Krause, who previously led DOGE’s efforts to access sensitive Treasury Department payment systems.
Employees indicate that DOGE and Dudek are implementing cuts without adequate regard for the consequences on millions of Americans receiving benefits. DOGE has already shut down at least 10 field offices in various states and is currently listing lease terminations for around four dozen additional locations, as reported by UJ. They have also disbanded the Office of Transformation, which was dedicated to a government-wide initiative focused on modernizing agency technologies and services for the public. O’Malley mentioned that DOGE has announced the closure of the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity — a crucial space where SSA employees (30% of whom are African-American) file discrimination complaints among others. Furthermore, DOGE is restructuring the Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight, which plays a vital role in identifying and decreasing incorrect payments to beneficiaries — precisely the type of inefficiencies DOGE claims to aim to address, according to O’Malley, who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016.
Such actions are being taken when the SSA is operating at its lowest staffing levels in 50 years and facing a surge in new benefit applications as baby boomers retire. Now, Dudek and DOGE intend to further downsize the agency, targeting a reduction of about 7,000 workers.
Taxpayers will bear the financial burden of these employees’ departures as many within SSA are offered buyouts and settlement packages, particularly those close to retirement. O’Malley warns that this will not only divert taxpayer money that could fund benefits and operational expenses but will also drain the agency of experienced and knowledgeable veterans at a critical time when SSA’s workforce is at a historic low amid an influx of new retirees.
“This represents the most significant operational waste in the entire history of Social Security,” O’Malley states. “Moreover, they bypass the necessary knowledge transfer that would be standard in any tech firm. In Silicon Valley, if you offered these buyouts without an established plan to retain institutional knowledge, the board would dismiss you.”
Top concerns voiced by the two employees who spoke with Rolling Stone and American Doom include the fear that the agency’s dissolution may prevent millions of Americans from receiving their benefit checks — a failure that has not occurred in the SSA’s 90-year history.
“Dudek’s strategy is bound to impact services,” said one SSA employee, who has spent five years in various federal agencies.
O’Malley reflects on Dudek’s past as a lower-level technology worker and expresses astonishment at Dudek’s ascent into such a powerful role and his aggressive endorsement of DOGE and Trump’s agenda.
“Dudek was far from being part of the Senior Executive Service; he was several levels below as a data analyst,” O’Malley recounts. “I was astonished, even appalled, at the choice to position someone of his inexperience as a replacement for Michelle King. Even more shocking is how ruthlessly he has become a tool for harming people and dismantling the agency.”
King resigned from her position in mid-February after refusing to grant DOGE unrestricted access to Social Security data and systems, which included sensitive personal information of millions that could deny citizens their benefits. Around the same time, Dudek was offering that access, which he later mentioned in a now-deleted LinkedIn post.
“I admit I pressured agency executives, disseminated executive contact details, and circumvented the chain of command to connect DOGE with those who could get things done,” Dudek wrote in a LinkedIn post in mid-February.
Shortly after Dudek’s admission and with King out of the picture, DOGE proceeded to its tasks. The initial move was to secure access to SSA’s data and technology systems, which a whistleblower has referred to as the “protected information” of millions of Americans. In an affidavit submitted last Friday in a lawsuit against the SSA, whistleblower Tiffany Flick described the frantic early weeks of the Trump administration as DOGE aimed for access to numerous SSA systems. DOGE’s request included “everything, even source code,” according to Flick’s affidavit.
Flick expressed concerns that DOGE’s access and interference with SSA systems “could result in delays in benefit payments or even prevent payments altogether.”
Perhaps an even greater risk than the unrestricted access sought for Bobba, the 22-year-old engineer, was that DOGE appeared not to fully grasp what they were pursuing, Flick noted in her statement. DOGE was seemingly hunting for information related to fraud, including unsubstantiated claims of payments sent to persons over the age of 100, Flick stated. Flick, who has decades of experience at SSA, assessed DOGE’s approach to fraud as being based on a “misguided interpretation of SSA’s data and programs.”
On March 1, Dudek sent an email entitled “our road ahead.” The two Social Security employees described this email as cryptic, suggesting a future for the privatization of certain agency functions.
“We must revitalize SSA’s operations by streamlining activities, outsourcing non-essential functions to industry experts, and reintegrating human judgment and common sense at every level,” Dudek articulated in the email.
The term “industry experts” was interpreted by an employee, who has five years of federal service, as a sign of potential privatization of various agency tasks.
Dudek argued in his email that President Biden effectively compromised the agency’s independence when he dismissed former SSA commissioner Andrew Saul, a Trump appointee who refused to resign.
“President Biden terminated Andrew Saul, fundamentally altering the agency’s independence,” Dudek explained. “With that choice, the autonomy our employees previously enjoyed was disrupted. Now, under President Trump, we adhere to established precedent: We serve at the president’s discretion. Only the courts or Congress can intervene.”
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the leading Democrat on the Social Security Subcommittee, characterized Dudek’s email as “peculiar to say the least.” Larson stated to Rolling Stone and American Doom that the field office closures and layoffs of customer service personnel “won’t enhance ‘efficiency’— it will result in the delay, disruption, and denial of Americans’ entitled benefits.”
IN THE MIDST OF field office closures, staff reductions, and buyout offers, Musk and Trump have criticized the agency through social media and public statements. Initially, Musk posted on X with misleading claims that millions of Americans over the age of 100 were wrongly receiving benefits, including 1.3 million aged over 150. Subsequently, Trump echoed these assertions, absurdly stating in his recent Congressional address that individuals noted as being 300 years old were receiving checks from Social Security systems.
Trump alleged that over 18 million Americans aged 100 and older were receiving Social Security support. Contrary to this assertion, agency figures indicate there are merely 89,000 Americans aged 99 and older receiving payments.
On February 19, Dudek himself clarified that Trump and Musk’s statements were erroneous.
“When Elon Musk and his DOGE associates, who lacked understanding of the data, floated the ridiculous assertion that tens of millions of deceased individuals were receiving benefits, I thought we had dismissed it with humor,” O’Malley remarks. “Yet Trump persisted with it, even suggesting people aged 300 were receiving checks. Initially, I thought Musk might have not informed him of their mistake, but now I suspect it’s part of a broader deception.”
With Republican lawmakers either sidestepping the matter or tacitly supporting DOGE’s initiatives— even as it infringes on their authority— some Democrats have proposed legislation aimed at protecting the SSA. However, unless they can persuade Republicans to diverge from the party line, and possibly anger Musk and Trump, these proposals may struggle to progress.
Last week, O’Malley joined congressional Democrats in a press conference to unveil a collection of bills designed to safeguard the agency and the benefits it administers. These bills would prevent the closure of field offices and block DOGE from acquiring data on Americans receiving Social Security benefits. Additionally, Larson introduced a resolution demanding the Trump administration respond within 14 days to inquiries regarding DOGE’s actions within the agency.
Larson has also called for a hearing regarding DOGE’s activities within the SSA, yet he notes that Social Security Subcommittee chair Ron Estes (R-Kan.) has not replied to this request. Estes chose not to address inquiries for this article.
“Republicans have previously attempted to cut benefits and privatize Social Security, and instead of enhancing ‘efficiency,’ it appears they’re heading in that direction once more,” Larson commented to Rolling Stone and American Doom. “Republicans must join us to exercise proper oversight and demand substantial answers for their constituents, instead of yielding the power of the legislative branch to Musk, Trump, and their DOGE associates.”
Amid the turmoil of DOGE’s overhaul of the SSA, a pervasive culture of fear has taken hold within the agency, according to employees. One staff member, who possesses over 12 years of experience with the agency, stated they felt compelled to speak out to highlight the unjust portrayal of the SSA and its workers by Trump and Musk.
“If no one speaks out, the public remains unaware and cannot converse with their congressional representatives to exert pressure on them,” the employee expressed.
The closures of offices, terminations of probationary workers, and offers of buyouts to individuals both at and below retirement age are not solely fostering fear within the SSA; insiders indicate that these actions are driving the agency to the brink of widespread failures. O’Malley concurs, stating that DOGE, Dudek, and the Trump administration “are deliberately steering the agency towards collapse so they can claim it’s inept.”
O’Malley expresses distress over witnessing the agency’s decline, recalling his tenure there, which saw it recognized as one of the most efficient and popular government programs in history. Confronted with an increasing number of new benefit applications juxtaposed against a historic low in employee strength, O’Malley likens the SSA to an aging battleship during his year-long leadership.
“Last year, we managed to turn that battleship around, albeit with only three inches above the waterline,” he notes. “These individuals seem intent on sinking it.”
This piece has been published in collaboration with American Doom, a newsletter that focuses on right-wing extremism and other threats to democratic integrity. If you have any tips, please reach out to Justin Glawe via Signal at justinglawe.20.
