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'Welcome to the Oligarchy Era': Social Security Administration Switches Communications to Musk's X
"This flagrant conflict of interest stands to serve the interests of Elon Musk while the American people are robbed of fair access to THEIR Social Security Administration," said one former agency leader.
Apr 11, 2025
The Trump administration faced a fresh wave of criticism on Friday in response to reporting that the Social Security Administration is cutting its communications staff and will shift from using press releases to billionaire Elon Musk's social media platform X.
Musk, the richest person on Earth, is notably also the de facto leader of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is leading the administration's effort to gut the federal bureaucracy—though the billionaire faces a rapidly approaching 130-day limit for how long he can serve as a "special government employee" under federal law.
"Elon Musk is forcing seniors onto X to learn about and get news about Social Security," Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, which advocates for universal healthcare, wrote on the platform Friday. "The only person this benefits is Elon Musk. Welcome to the oligarchy era."
Martin O'Malley, who led the agency during the Biden administration, also
responded to the reporting on X, saying, "This flagrant conflict of interest stands to serve the interests of Elon Musk while the American people are robbed of fair access to THEIR Social Security Administration and the benefits they worked so hard to earn."
During a Thursday call with employees, SSA Midwest-West (MWW) Regional Commissioner Linda Kerr-Davis said that instead of making announcements via press releases or "Dear Colleague" letters, "the agency will be using X to communicate to the press and the public—formerly known as Twitter," according to Federal News Network. "This will become our communication mechanism."
"If you're used to getting press releases and Dear Colleague letters, you might want to subscribe to the official SSA X account, so you can stay up to date with agency news," Kerr-Davis told agency workers. "I know this probably sounds very foreign to you—it did to me as well—and not what we are used to, but we are in different times now."
Federal News Network also detailed her comments on reassigning workers to minimize the need for layoffs at the agency:
The reassignments will lead to major staffing cuts to regional offices. Kerr-Davis said the MWW regional office has about 550 employees now, but will only have about 70 employees under the new "skinny regional office" model.
"Won't losing subject-matter experts lead directly to fraud, waste, and abuse? Yes," Kerr-Davis told employees. "Things are going to break, and they're going to break fast. We know that, but hopefully we'll be able to get some support."
Kerr-Davis added that the reassignments will be a "welcome addition" for understaffed field offices. But in many cases, reassigned employees will work in less senior positions.
"I can only imagine how this shift might make them feel, after years of dedicated service in their prior roles. They are used to being experts in their field, and we're asking them to take on new responsibilities," she said. "For some, it's going back to work they used to do a long time ago, which may look very different."
Kerr-Davis' comments were also reported Friday by Wired, which noted that she did not respond to a request for comment. However, Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson, said: "This reporting is misleading. The Social Security Administration is actively communicating with beneficiaries and stakeholders."
"There has not been a reduction in workforce," Huston told Wired. "Rather, to improve the delivery of services, staff are being reassigned from regional offices to front-line help—allocating finite resources where they are most needed. President Trump will continue to always protect Social Security."
HuffPost pointed out Friday that "in recent weeks, queries to the SSA press line have produced responses from White House spokespeople instead of Social Security spokespeople."
The SSA has not published a press release on its website since March 27, but has been sharing updates on its X account, @SocialSecurity, in recent weeks—the latest post, from Wednesday, addresses the rollback of a planned identity verification policy and related phone service cuts.
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees president Lee Saunders said in a Friday statement that "retirees, disabled individuals, and the millions of beneficiaries who rely on Social Security should not need an X account to receive updates on the program."
"Moving all Social Security communications to Elon Musk's personal social media platform is a blatant effort to gain more users and pad X's profits," the union leader charged. "This move should ring alarm bells everywhere. Social Security belongs to the hardworking taxpayers who have paid into the program, not an unelected billionaire like Musk."
"This administration has made their desire to gut and then privatize Social Security clear. Shuttering the program's regional offices and moving all communications to a single, unaccountable, insecure, for-profit social media company is just the next step in their scheme to enrich billionaires with our tax dollars," he added. "This is exactly why we need to keep Musk and his DOGE cronies out of the Social Security Administration, and we're not going to give up this fight."
AFSCME, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Alliance for Retired Americans are fighting DOGE's access to sensitive personal data at the SSA in federal court.
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Here Comes Trump's Privatization of the Social Security Administration
"After years of hard work and a lifetime of contributions, our seniors shouldn't have to worry about Republicans meddling with their Social Security," said one House Democrat.
Mar 04, 2025
A leaked email from acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Leland Dudek on Tuesday sparked a fresh wave of warnings about U.S. President Donald Trump and government-gutting billionaire Elon Musk privatizing the agency.
The Bulwark, an anti-Trump conservative news outlet, obtained Dudek's March 1 email to staff, which reportedly says in part that "we need to revitalize SSA operations by streamlining activities, outsource nonessential functions to industry experts, and reinstating human judgment and common sense into every decision at every level."
While Dudek did not elaborate on what outsourcing "nonessential functions" will look like, according to The Bulwark, Martin O'Malley, who led the agency under former President Joe Biden, warned that it could involve automation and the use of artificial intelligence to replace call centers staffed by people trained to help seniors and other beneficiaries sort out complex problems.
O'Malley also said that SSA employees he knows report a "toxic" work environment. He told the The Bulwark that "they are driving people out there with a viciousness that I believe will collapse the agency," which could result in an "interruption of benefits."
"We have a 50-year low in staffing while the baby boomer generation is swelling their ranks," O'Malley said. "That's the underlying reality here, and these guys appear hell-bent on breaking it. It seems they really want to break Social Security."
The former SSA commissioner isn't alone in expressing serious concerns about Dudek, the president, and Musk, head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is leading the Trump administration's attack on federal agenices.
Responding to The Bulwark's reporting on the Musk-owned social media site X, House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said that "after years of hard work and a lifetime of contributions, our seniors shouldn't have to worry about Republicans meddling with their Social Security. This is an attack on our nation's seniors—plain and simple."
Also weighing in on X, Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) declared that "in no way, shape, or form, should we privatize any aspect of Social Security."
Concerns have mounted following a series of events last week, including a wave of Social Security Administration leaders retiring and the agency telling staff that it would be implementing an "organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions." The SSA confirmed a goal to have only 50,000 workers, which requires forcing out 7,000 people.
"With that came an announcement that the agency will consolidate its current 10 regional offices down to four, as well as reorganize headquarters," Government Executive reported. "And Elon Musk's DOGE operatives have canceled the leases for 45 field offices across the country, as well as the Office of Hearings Operations in White Plains, New York."
House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member John Larson (D-Conn.) this week led a letter to Dudek signed by over 150 of the chamber's Democrats, who warned that office closures and layoffs "will devastate SSA's ability to serve the public and deliver Social Security payments, inflicting backdoor benefit cuts on the American people."
"Social Security helps approximately 70 million beneficiaries—including seniors, people with disabilities, children, and their families—put food on the table, pay the rent, heat their homes, cover medical bills, and more," the House Democrats wrote. "Shuttering field offices and gutting SSA staffing has nothing to do with 'governmental efficiency.'"
Like O'Malley, they cited the already low staffing level that has led to customer service issues at the SSA. They stressed that office closures "and gutting staff would only deepen the crisis, chaos, and confusion. If the Trump administration is serious about efficiency in delivering benefits to the American people, it would ensure that SSA has the staff and offices needed to serve the public."
Senate Democrats are also sounding the alarm. Government Executive noted that during a Monday press conference, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) accused Trump and Musk of "taking a wrecking ball" to the SSA while Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) warned that their actions are "a prelude to privatization."
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Official Installed by Trump Moves to 'Demolish' Social Security Administration
"This is nothing more than a backdoor benefit cut and an insult to Americans who have paid into the system and earned their Social Security—all to pay for trillions in new tax cuts for the wealthy," said Democratic Rep. John Larson.
Feb 27, 2025
The acting leader of the Social Security Administration reportedly instructed managers earlier this week to draw up plans for a 50% cut to the agency's workforce, a push that advocates and lawmakers said would result in the gutting or total closure of local field offices—and likely benefit disruptions.
The American Prospect first reported the request from Leland Dudek, whom Trump installed as SSA commissioner earlier this month after the agency's former head resigned following a clash with Elon Musk's deputies over their attempts to access highly sensitive personal data. At the time he was elevated to the helm of SSA, Dudek was under investigation for allegedly sharing information with Musk's team improperly.
According to the Prospect, the deadline for SSA managers to comply with Dudek's request for mass-firing plans was Wednesday afternoon.
"The decision could target one of the government's most prominent public-facing initiatives: SSA field offices, where seniors, people with disabilities, and survivors whose parents have died can sign up for benefits and get information," the outlet noted. "In an email to the Prospect, SSA would not confirm any reductions in its workforce beyond the abolition of two small internal offices announced this week... Sources have speculated to the Prospect that the terminations are being done piecemeal to avoid headlines of tens of thousands of jobs lost."
"Laying off half of the workforce at the Social Security Administration and shuttering field offices will mean the delay, disruption, and denial of benefits."
Nancy Altman, president of the progressive advocacy group Social Security Works, said in a statement Wednesday that Dudek's push for large-scale staff cuts shows the Trump administration and Elon Musk want to "demolish" SSA.
"Contrary to what Elon Musk and his acolytes may believe, AI chatbots are no substitute for in-person service from a human being," said Altman. "Americans apply for Social Security benefits at the most vulnerable times of their lives. Moreover, many people who seek information may have trouble articulating or even knowing what questions they need to ask."
"If Musk's plan goes through, it will deny many Americans access to their hard-earned Social Security benefits. Field offices around the country will close. Wait times for the 1-800 number will soar," Altman warned. "DOGE claims to be concerned about fraud, but the best way to detect fraud is through face-to-face contacts with humans who can detect suspicious responses and can read body language. It's not too late to stop this disaster. We urge everyone to call their members of Congress and tell them that local Social Security offices must stay open and fully staffed."
In the wake of the Prospect's story, Government Executive reported that five of the eight regional SSA commissioners "whose offices oversee and support the agency's frontline offices across the country" have decided to leave their posts at the end of this week amid the Trump administration's onslaught against the federal workforce.
"Their departures come amid rumors of impending staff cuts at SSA, where the workforce is already at a 50-year low and has toiled amid a customer service crisis born of lack of funding," Government Executive noted. "Decades of congressional neglect have seen the agency's administrative budget, which for decades sat at 1.2% of benefit outlays, shrink to under 1%."
The outlet added that "regional commissioners aren't the only ones leaving SSA. An unknown number of other employees are also leaving the agency, which shuttered its civil rights and transformation offices this week."
Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor who served as SSA commissioner under the Biden administration, wrote late Wednesday that "Social Security is being driven to a total system collapse."
"I give the DOGE kids and co-President Musk 30-90 days before they crater it to the point of interruption of benefits," O'Malley added.
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), a champion of Social Security and vocal supporter of expanding benefits, said in a statement that "Donald Trump pledged no cuts to Social Security on the campaign trail, but now he and Elon Musk have plans to do exactly that."
"Let me be clear—laying off half of the workforce at the Social Security Administration and shuttering field offices will mean the delay, disruption, and denial of benefits," said Larson. "This is nothing more than a backdoor benefit cut and an insult to Americans who have paid into the system and earned their Social Security—all to pay for trillions in new tax cuts for the wealthy. This has nothing to do with 'governmental efficiency.'"
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Schumer Endorses Veteran Progressive Organizer Ben Wikler for Chair DNC
The Senate leader called the Wisconsin Democratic Party chair "one of the best organizers in the country" and said he "knows how to win."
Jan 02, 2025
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler on Thursday said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's endorsement of him for a top national leadership role is evidence that the veteran senator, while firmly an establishment politician, "knows the enormous stakes of this moment."
The most prominent lawmaker to endorse a candidate in the race for Democratic National Committee chair, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that following the party's bruising losses in the November elections, Democrats in power "should view this moment as a challenge."
"We must listen to the American people, learn from the results, and move forward stronger," said Schumer. "That's why I am enthusiastically supporting Ben Wikler to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee."
Schumer highlighted Wikler's successes since he began leading the Wisconsin Democrats, which he's done since 2019. In November, his fundraising and state-wide organizing helped secure a victory for Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) despite Vice President Kamala Harris' loss in the state in the presidential election. The party also flipped 14 seats in the state legislature.
After former Republican Gov. Scott Walker and his party "dismantled workers' rights and voting rights, rigging Wisconsin to keep the GOP in power through the courts and the legislature," Schumer said in his statement, "Ben didn't despair. He rolled up his sleeves and helped unify the Democratic Party and reignite Wisconsin Democrats from the grassroots up. This year's election shows the results."
He called Wikler, a former senior adviser to the progressive grassroots group MoveOn, "one of the best organizers in the country... a proven fundraiser, [and] a sharp communicator."
"Most importantly, he knows how to win," said Schumer.
Wikler announced his candidacy to chair the DNC in early December, weeks after President-elect Donald Trump won the White House race and Republicans took control of the House and Senate in the upcoming Congress.
To win future elections, Wikler said at the time, "we've got to make sure that we are reaching people with the message that we are on their side and fighting for them."
Wikler has also received the endorsements of MoveOn and the centrist advocacy group Third Way.
Members of the DNC are set to vote on the chair on February 1, following four candidate forums in January.
At the forums, Wikler is expected to speak along with fellow contenders including 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, and the chair of Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, Ken Martin.
Martin was considered an early frontrunner in the race, winning endorsements from 100 out of 448 DNC members early last month.
He also has a strong fundraising and organizing background, having led the DFL since 2011, when the party was struggling to get out of debt. The party has not lost a statewide race since 2006, and is now in a strong financial position.
Martin's messaging has been similar to Wikler's since the race started, with the Minnesota leader calling on Democrats to emphasize that they—not Republicans—are fighting for workers' rights and policies to make families' lives easier.
"The majority of Americans now believe that the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor, and the Democrats are for the wealthy and the elite. That's a damning indictment on our party, and clearly our brand as Democrats," Martin told NPR in late December. "We're fighting for people, people who are working harder than they ever have before."
Days after the two Midwestern leaders entered the race, Greg Sargent of The New Republic interviewed them both, along with O'Malley, about what the Democratic Party can do to counter the "information gap," which has been worsened by the $20 million Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk "dumped into a brazen pro-Trump propaganda campaign" run by a "shadowy outfit called the RBG PAC."
Wikler offered "the most concrete agenda for dealing with" the problem, said Sargent. The Wisconsin leader said Democrats "must appear far more on right-leaning political shows—not just Fox News but also podcasts and YouTubes and streamed interviews and the like—especially in nonpolitical spaces," in order to "disrupt the right-wing narrative about Democrats."
Wikler also said the party must invest resources in building an "independent, progressive media ecosystem," where leaders would do "high-profile interviews... with the express goal of elevating and empowering it, something the GOP does with Fox News."
Responding to Schumer's endorsement on Thursday, Wikler said that as chair of the DNC, he would "show voters that we are the party of working families everywhere by choosing fights that show who we are for—and who Trump and the GOP are for."
"As Trump and the GOP again seek a multi-trillion-dollar tax cut for billionaires and big corporations, paid for by working people," he said, "Democrats can make clear that we're against those seeking to rig the country for those at the top, and for a country that works for working families."
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Wyden Says Trillions in Taxes Dodged by Ultra-Rich Could Fund Social Security Until 2100
"The ultra-wealthy are avoiding nearly $2 trillion in taxes every 10 years," said Sen. Ron Wyden. "That's where we ought to go to start making progress."
Sep 11, 2024
The Democratic chair of the Senate Finance Committee said during a hearing Wednesday that instead of tossing Social Security's sacred guarantee "in the trash" by cutting benefits, lawmakers should crack down on mega-rich tax dodgers as a way to keep the New Deal program fully solvent for decades to come.
"The ultra-wealthy are avoiding nearly $2 trillion in taxes every 10 years," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said during a Senate Budget Committee hearing. "That is enough to keep Social Security whole till the end of this century."
"That's where we ought to go to start making progress," Wyden added.
The senator's remarks came during a hearing titled "Social Security Forever: Delivering Benefits and Protecting Retirement Security," which featured testimony from Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O'Malley and several expert witnesses.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who presided over the hearing, used his opening remarks to blast GOPproposals to raise the retirement age, a change he said would "especially hurt low-income retirees."
Whitehouse, the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, acknowledged that some Republicans have pushed back on the notion that the GOP wants to cut Social Security benefits. But if Social Security benefit cuts "really are off the table," the senator said, "that leaves only one other option to prevent insolvency: raise revenue."
"There is no third option. And that means it's time to get to work identifying smart, fair ways to raise revenue, fund the Social Security Trust Fund, and preserve and protect benefits," Whitehouse continued. "Fortunately, there are solutions that would both extend Social Security solvency indefinitely with zero benefit cuts and make our tax system fairer, like my Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act."
At today's @SenateBudget hearing, @SenWhitehouse slams Republican plans to slash $1.5 trillion from Social Security.
Whitehouse plans to strengthen Social Security by requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share! pic.twitter.com/nWRJt3hUWp
— Social Security Works (@SSWorks) September 11, 2024
Wednesday's hearing came in the heat of a presidential race in which Social Security has featured prominently, with Democrats warning that GOP nominee Donald Trump would push for deep benefit cuts if he's elected to another White House term.
During Tuesday night's debate, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris made the only mention of Social Security, vowing to protect the program that lifted 28 million people out of poverty last year.
Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said in a statement following the debate that while Harris reinforced "her commitment to Social Security and Medicare," Trump "was mum on the topic."
"At least when Trump has nothing to say, he cannot compound his many conflicting and confusing statements about Social Security and Medicare—from calling Social Security a 'Ponzi scheme' to saying he's 'open' to 'cutting entitlements' and proposing to eliminate some of the taxes that fund Social Security," said Richtman. "Tonight's debate underlines the fundamental reality that one candidate in this race will truly protect Social Security and Medicare—and that is Kamala Harris."
According to the latest trustees report, Social Security is positioned to fully pay all benefits and administrative costs until 2035 and is 90% funded for the next quarter century.
Progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups have argued for years that the best way to ensure Social Security's long-term solvency is clear: make the wealthy pay their fair share into the program. Due to the payroll tax cap, millionaires stopped contributing to Social Security just 60 days into 2024.
"Warren Buffett stops paying into Social Security 30 seconds into the new year," O'Malley said during his testimony at Wednesday's Senate hearing, "and the people that clean these buildings pay in all through their paychecks."
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What Should Congress Give Social Security for its 88th Birthday?
Lawmakers should approve Biden’s choice for SSA commissioner and his request for additional funding, then vote to expand the popular program.
Aug 14, 2023
On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law. Eighty-eight years later, our Social Security system is among the most successful and popular government programs in history.
Nearly every worker pays premiums (Federal Insurance Contributions or FICA) for Social Security. In return, they receive insurance benefits when they retire, become disabled, or lose a family breadwinner.
Social Security is secure, efficient, and the most important source of retirement income for the vast majority of Americans. Social Security does have one major flaw, though: Its benefits are too low.
Too many Americans fear that they must work until they die, because they will not be able to retire without a drastic decline in their standard of living. The solution is to expand Social Security.
The average Social Security benefit is only $1,700 a month—considerably lower than in peer nations. That is not enough for working families to enjoy a secure retirement or make ends meet when tragedy strikes in the form of serious and permanent disabilities or death.
It’s not surprising that our nation is facing a retirement income crisis. Too many Americans fear that they must work until they die, because they will not be able to retire without a drastic decline in their standard of living. The solution is to expand Social Security.
Fortunately, President Joe Biden ran on a promise to expand Social Security, and congressional Democrats have introduced multiple bills to do so. One of these is the Social Security 2100 Act, which is sponsored by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and co-sponsored by more than 175 of his fellow House Democrats. Another is the Social Security Expansion Act, which is sponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
These bills, as well as numerous other expansion proposals, have much in common. They would keep Social Security strong for generations to come, averting the modest shortfall in its trust fund that some politicians have used as an excuse to demand benefit cuts. They would increase benefits for everyone, with additional targeted increases for low-income beneficiaries, family caregivers, the very old, and others. Additionally, they would update the annual cost-of-living adjustment to reflect the real expenses beneficiaries face and prevent benefits from eroding.
These are commonsense proposals that enjoy broad support from Americans across the political spectrum. Indeed, 83% of Democrats, 73% of independents, and 73% of Republicans want to expand Social Security and pay for it by making the wealthy contribute more. Yet not a single Republican member of Congress is signed on to a bill expanding Social Security benefits.
Instead, Republicans in Congress support cutting Social Security and ultimately ending the program as we know it. This is laid out in the budget proposal from the Republican Study Committee (RSC), a group that counts about 70% of House Republicans as members.
The RSC budget would raise the retirement age to 69, which is mathematically equivalent to a 13% benefit cut. It would also decimate middle-class benefits that workers have earned and paid for. The Republican goal is to turn Social Security into a flat, poverty-level benefit so that it loses political support and can be destroyed.
Nor is the RSC budget the only Republican plan to cut Social Security. Every major Republican presidential candidate, including former President Donald Trump (if you go back to 2000), is on the record supporting Social Security cuts. Republican politicians are ignoring the will of their voters in favor of protecting their wealthy donors.
Republicans have also been waging a quiet war on the Social Security Administration (SSA), the agency that administers the program. Since 2010, largely Republican-controlled Congresses have slashed its budget by 17%, even as the number of beneficiaries grew by 22%. This has forced the agency to lay off thousands of workers, close field offices, and reduce hours.
The SSA needs adequate funding and strong leadership. Biden has nominated former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to serve as SSA commissioner. Biden has also requested a 10% increase in funding for the SSA. The best 88th birthday gifts Congress could give Social Security are to swiftly confirm O’Malley and to grant Biden’s funding request.
Congress should then take up legislation to expand Social Security. If Republicans refuse, Democrats should make Social Security a major issue in next year’s election and urge voters to support the party that is working to expand, instead of cut, their earned benefits.
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Advocates Applaud Nomination of Martin O'Malley to Lead Social Security Administration
"At a time when Social Security is under attack from Republicans in Congress, O'Malley is the fighter that the American people need at SSA's helm."
Jul 26, 2023
President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley to head the Social Security Administration, a move that advocates applauded given his
record of supporting Social Security expansion and opposing calls to raise the retirement age.
"At a time when Social Security is under attack from Republicans in Congress, O'Malley is the fighter that the American people need at SSA's helm," said Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works. "SSA has not had a Senate-confirmed commissioner nominated by a Democratic president since 2001. During that time, congressional Republicans have starved SSA of resources, resulting in backlogs and long waits. With staffing the lowest it has been in a quarter of a century, SSA's hardworking and dedicated public servants are overworked and underpaid."
If confirmed by the narrowly Democratic Senate, O'Malley would replace Acting SSA Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi, who took over the agency after Biden fired former President Donald Trump's commissioner, Andrew Saul, in 2021.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, O'Malley released a proposal that called for expanding Social Security benefits by requiring Americans who earn over $250,000 a year to contribute more to the program. Currently, the Social Security payroll tax only applies to the first $160,200 of earnings.
"We are confident that O'Malley, working closely with President Biden, will fight not only for expanded benefits and against cuts, but also for opening new field offices and against closing existing ones," Altman said. "Social Security Works looks forward to fighting for O’Malley's rapid confirmation and then working with him to protect and expand our Social Security system."
Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, also celebrated O'Malley's nomination, saying in a statement that "SSA needs a strong commissioner now more than ever."
"With 10,000 Americans turning 65 each day, the workload increases every day and the budget has been woefully inadequate to meet the needs of seniors, people with disabilities, and all American families," said Fiesta. "There is no time to waste. We urge the Senate to confirm Gov. O'Malley without delay."
O'Malley's nomination comes as SSA is facing a staffing crisis that has left employees feeling demoralized and exhausted, resulting in high turnover and longer wait times for people applying to receive benefits—problems that would likely get worse if the House GOP's proposed cuts to SSA's budget become law.
Julie Tippens, legislative director of the American Federation of Government Employees, warned last week that House Republicans' proposed $183 million in cuts to SSA's budget for the coming fiscal year would "devastate" the agency.
"More than 10,000 Americans die, and another 5,000 Americans are forced to declare bankruptcy, every year while waiting for their disability hearing," Tippens said. "More cuts to SSA will result in a rapid increase of wait times, force SSA offices to close in many communities, and reduce service hours to the public."
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