MW Social Security rule reversals, office closures, cost cuts: Here's what's happening now

By Alessandra Malito

A Social Security 'war room,' threats to shut the agency, worker buyouts and a restraining order - here's a timeline of what has taken place so far this year

The Social Security Administration is about to get a new commissioner, but that's only the latest of a series of changes at the agency since the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

Frank Bisignano, the chief executive officer of fintech company Fiserv $(FI)$, is on the path to confirmation as the next Social Security Administration commissioner. The Senate Finance Committee advanced the nomination after his hearing at the end of March, and he is now awaiting scheduling of the final vote. If he assumes the role, he'll inherit an agency that has undergone numerous changes in less than 60 days' time, including those made by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that it says are focused on ridding Social Security of "fraud, waste and abuse."

Social Security has been in the spotlight since the beginning of the year. In January, President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which eliminated two provisions that had limited the amount of some beneficiaries' checks, but the biggest moves this year have happened under the Trump administration. DOGE, led by Elon Musk - who also owns the social-media platform X and is the chief executive of Tesla $(TSLA)$ - has dissolved two departments within the agency, begun offering staff buyouts and early retirements and gone back and forth on various new processes, including those for identity verification and for applying for Social Security numbers for newborn babies.

Here's what has happened at the Social Security Administration since the start of the new year. This article will be updated with the latest Social Security news.

Jan. 5: President Biden signs the Social Security Fairness Act

Early this year, near the end of his term in office, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, a law that ended the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset rules, both of which reduced benefits for retirees who received certain public pensions. More than 3 million people, including public-school teachers, firefighters and law-enforcement officers, will see their benefits increase under the change. The law also provided for a year's worth of retroactive benefits.

Feb. 16: Elon Musk says millions of dead people are still receiving benefits

Musk wrote on X that people in their 100s, 200s and older were receiving benefits. "Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security," he posted, along with a chart that purported to show the number of people in those age brackets receiving benefits.

Feb. 19: Leland Dudek takes over as acting commissioner

After reportedly refusing to hand over sensitive Social Security data to DOGE workers, Michelle King, the previous acting commissioner, stepped down. Leland Dudek, a longtime midlevel Social Security employee, was appointed as acting SSA commissioner until Bisignano is confirmed.

In a statement after taking the role, Dudek said he would be transparent and that the SSA's priority continued to be paying beneficiaries "the right amount at the right time," as well as providing critical services. He also said DOGE personnel could not make changes to the agency systems, benefits payments or other information and would not have access to data regarding court-ordered temporary restraining orders. "I am confident that with DOGE's help and the commitment of our executive team and workforce, that Social Security will continue to deliver for the American people," he said.

Dudek also addressed Musk's claims regarding people over the age of 100 receiving benefits. "The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits," he said, according to an Associated Press report.

Feb. 21: Social Security cuts research cooperative and shifts responsibilities

The agency announced it was terminating the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium cooperative agreement, under which it partnered with researchers who focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in Social Security-related policy. Terminating the agreement will save the agency $15 million in fiscal 2025, it said.

SSA put out a second statement on Feb. 21 saying it was moving tasks that had been under the Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight to other parts of the agency, which it said would "streamline layers of management, increase data sharing with essential Social Security components, and speed the opportunities to identify fraud, waste, and abuse and implement needed solutions."

Feb. 24: Social Security cuts the Office of Transformation

At the beginning of the week, the SSA said it was shuttering the Office of Transformation, which critics of DOGE noted was the department responsible for improving the program's administration, including its technology. The department was created under the Biden administration.

Feb. 25: Social Security cuts Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity

A day after it announced the elimination of the Office of Transformation, the SSA said it was closing the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and that it would reassign the office's tasks - which included processing Equal Employment Opportunity complaints and "statutorily required functions" - to other areas of the agency.

Feb. 25: Social Security expedites retroactive and adjusted payments to millions of beneficiaries

The SSA said it was already beginning to pay out retroactive benefits and increased monthly benefit checks to individuals who had been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.

The SSA had previously said it could take a year for people to see these changes, but Dudek said in a statement that timeline would only apply to "complex cases that cannot be processed by automation."

"The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible," he said.

Feb. 27: Social Security offers workers options to leave

In an effort to restructure the agency, the SSA announced it was offering employees numerous ways to leave, including voluntary separation or early retirement. Workers could also sign up to be reassigned from what the agency deemed non-mission-critical positions to mission-critical ones. The deadline for voluntary reassignment and for voluntary separation, which would pay out up to $25,000 depending on the employee's General Schedule, or GS, level, was March 14. The deadline for voluntary early retirement, or VERA, is Dec. 31.

The agency also said there could be involuntary reassignments.

Feb. 28: Social Security announces a goal of cutting 7,000 workers - and refutes a rumor

After reports swirled that the SSA planned to cut as much as 50% of its workforce, the agency announced it had a goal of cutting the number of employees from 57,000 to 50,000, a 12% reduction. In its announcement, the agency said the rumor of a 50% reduction was false.

"Social Security anticipates that much of the staff reductions needed to reach the target of 50,000 will come from retirement, VSIP, and resignation," the SSA said. VSIP stands for voluntary separation incentive payments, which are lump-sum payments offered to workers as an inducement to leave a job. "Additional reductions will come from reduction-in-force (RIF) actions that could include abolishment of organizations and positions," it said.

The SSA also said it was downsizing its regional office structure from 10 regions to four.

"These steps prioritize customer service by streamlining redundant layers of management, reducing non-mission critical work, and potential reassignment of employees to customer service positions," it said.

March 3: SSA lists measures it says are aimed at cutting costs

As part of the stated mission to identify fraud, waste and abuse, the SSA said it had identified numerous ways to cut costs, including on information technology, contracts and grants, non-public-facing real estate, security guards, printing and postage, and travel. "For too long, SSA has operated on autopilot," Dudek said.

March 4: Millions of retroactive payments commence for certain beneficiaries

The SSA surprised millions of beneficiaries by starting to pay out retroactive benefits to those affected by the Social Security Fairness Act.

As of March 4, the SSA had paid out more than $7.5 billion in retroactive payments to more than 1.1 million people, with an average retroactive payment of $6,710.

"President Trump made it very clear he wanted the Social Security Fairness Act to be implemented as quickly as possible," Dudek said in a statement. "We met that challenge head on and are proudly delivering for the American people."

March 4: President Trump addresses Congress

In his first speech to Congress since his inauguration in January, President Trump repeated the false claim that the SSA was sending payments out to thousands of dead beneficiaries.

"We're also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors and that our seniors and people that we love rely on," Trump said.

The president went on to list the numbers of people in their 100s, 200s and older who he claimed were still receiving checks from the agency. "We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby," he said, referring to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

March 5: SSA addresses false claims about dead beneficiaries

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April 30, 2025 21:47 ET (01:47 GMT)

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