At the last minute, the Social Security Administration has announced it won’t be cutting phone services for seniors—a policy it had previously claimed would go into effect on Monday. Now, the agency has shifted its position, claiming it will “allow all claim types to be completed over the telephone.”
“Telephone remains a viable option to the public,” the agency said in an email to Gizmodo, claiming that the “anti-fraud team implemented new technological capabilities” that made phone service possible again.
When reached for comment by Gizmodo, White House spokesperson Liz Huston said the following: “President Trump has repeatedly promised to protect social security and uproot waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government. The Social Security anti-fraud team has worked around the clock in person to improve technological capabilities and they are now able to identify fraud on claims filed over the telephone. Under President Trump’s leadership, the Social Security Administration is taking bold steps to transform how they serve the public – improving frontline customer service, modernizing their technology, protecting beneficiaries and securing the integrity of their programs.”
Additionally, the government claimed that beginning on April 14th, all SS claims can be completed over the phone. According to the White House, new software has been installed that allows the SSA to perform anti-fraud checks on retirees’ accounts. People who are flagged by this new system will still be required to undergo an in-person ID proofing check. There will be no disruptions to service, the government claimed.
The announcement earlier this year that SSA would nix its phone operations spurred much public outcry, as it would have potentially forced millions of seniors to visit dwindling field offices to collect retirement benefits. The agency subsequently backtracked slightly, claiming it would maintain phone services for retirees with disabilities. The chaos at the agency, as well as its recent unpopular policy shifts, have largely been blamed on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Recent protest movements—specifically the “Hand’s Off” protests—linked DOGE’s influence and the newly created dysfunction at the agency.
Earlier this year, DOGE announced lease terminations for dozens of SSA field offices across the country. Those closures, paired with the agency’s attempt to nix phone services, could have seriously hampered retirees’ ability to get in-person help with their benefits. As Reuters points out:
The SSA had estimated that canceling the phone option would prompt 75,000 to 85,000 more people per week to seek the help of a person at field offices, leading to roughly 4 million additional office visits annually. Research released on Tuesday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, found that 6 million seniors live more than 46.6 miles, round trip, from a Social Security field office, highlighting the potential burden on a demographic that may struggle to file claims online.
Just because the agency says it will maintain phone services doesn’t mean the program isn’t still in trouble. Critics maintain that changes ushered in under DOGE still pose a threat to the retirement system’s integrity. Indeed, according to recent reports from the Washington Post, DOGE has sought major layoffs at the SSA, which already has a historically small workforce. And last week, many retirees were wrongly informed they would no longer receive benefits. DOGE has also announced other unpopular initiatives, such as its mission to re-write the SSA’s “entire codebase” in a matter of months—a move that critics worry could lead to serious digital dysfunction.
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