Senator Bernie Sanders issued a warning about potential changes to Social Security implemented by the Trump administration on the program’s 90th anniversary this week.
A Social Security Administration (SSA) spokesperson told Newsweek on Friday: ” As Commissioner Bisignano has repeatedly emphasized, ensuring the long-term financial health of these trust funds remains a top priority. The Social Security Administration is committed to working with Congress and other stakeholders to protect and strengthen these vital programs, ensuring that millions of Americans can continue to rely on Social Security for a secure retirement and support in times of disability—both now and in the future.”
Why It Matters
August 14 marked the 90th anniversary of Social Security, relied on by millions of Americans who receive retirement, survivor and disability benefits. About 74 million people receive benefits administered by the SSA, the agency said in July.
While the program remains broadly popular among Americans, the program has faced questions about whether it could become insolvent as soon as the 2030s without significant reform. Many Americans are concerned about potential cuts to the program or that individuals who are paying into Social Security may not receive benefits when they reach the age of retirement.
What To Know
Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, sounded the alarm about changes to the program in a video posted to X on Thursday.
He warned that individuals like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire who led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) before his falling out with Trump, have been “working overtime to try to dismantle Social Security and undermine the confidence that the American people have in it.”
“Since Trump took office, his administration has fired at least 7,000 employees at the Social Security Administration, shut down Social Security field offices and made it more difficult for seniors and the disabled to receive the benefits they have earned over the telephone,” he said.
SSA field offices lost nearly 5 percent of their staffs between March 2024 and March 2025, according to union data from the AFGE Social Security General Committee. Some states, however, saw more than 10 percent of SSA workers leave in that time.
Sanders also ripped claims by DOGE that millions of Americans who had been marked deceased, some up to 360 years old, were still receiving benefits as an “unmitigated lie.”
“Our job today is to stop any and all efforts to destroy Social Security,” Sanders said, touting new legislation that would reverse Trump administration cuts to the SSA and prevent the closure of field offices.
Trump released a statement Thursday pledging to defend Social Security, “rewarding the men and women who make our country prosperous, and taking care of our own workers, families, seniors, and citizens first.”
He wrote that his efforts to “aggressively” root out waste and abuse, which includes “stopping payments to the deceased and eliminating benefits for those who do not legally qualify,” will strengthen the program.
“These measures will save American taxpayers billions of dollars every year and ensure that future generations receive the benefits they spent their lives paying into. At the same time, I am making the Social Security Administration more efficient, more responsive and more effective than ever before—reducing wait times and delivering the payments the American people worked hard to earn,” Trump wrote.
A YouGov poll released in March found that 54 percent of Americans believed Social Security cuts would have a negative effect on their financial security. Only 13 percent said it would have a positive effect, while 16 percent said it would have no effect. The poll surveyed 3,567 adults on March 12.
What People Are Saying
Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent: “In a world of complexity and uncertainty, Social Security has done exactly what its name implies. It has provided rock bottom security for our nation’s elderly and disabled.”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, on X: “Right now, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are quietly creating problems for Social Security so they can later hand it off to their private equity buddies.”
Elon Musk told Fox News in March: “What we’re doing will help their benefits. Legitimate people, as a result of the work of DOGE, will receive more Social Security, not less.”
What Happens Next
Social Security remains a challenge that Americans will face over the coming years as lawmakers work to prevent the program from going insolvent.
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