Donald Trump’s Budget Breaks His Promise to Protect Social Security

The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, on the Trump administration’s FY 2026 budget blueprint:

“Donald Trump ran for President on a promise to protect Social Security. This budget breaks that promise.

It keeps funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA) flat, which is a de-facto cut since SSA’s fixed costs, such as field office rents, go up every year by over $600 million.

Furthermore, it forces SSA to spend more money on so-called “program integrity” — clawing back money from Americans who have been overpaid through no fault of their own — which creates extreme hardship, including homelessness.

The truth is that Social Security is extremely understaffed, which is increasing backlogs and wait times. This budget will make those backlogs and delays worse. It will make mistakes — including the Orwellian nightmare of being inadvertently declared dead when you are not — harder to fix.

This budget’s cuts to Social Security are right in line with Elon Musk’s DOGE, which has pushed out over 7,000 SSA workers, including some of the most experienced and highly trained. Many Social Security field offices have lost half their staff, even as DOGE is forcing millions more people a year to visit those offices. What good are earned benefits that Americans can’t access?

Despite these massive cuts, as well as cuts to other essential programs like Meals on Wheels, the Trump administration continues to lie that it is protecting seniors and Social Security. No one should believe them.”