Social Security Activist on DOGE’s Cuts: ‘People Will Die’

Under Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the Social Security Administration has sought to downsize and reorganize its operations. This week, the agency made the highly controversial decision to nix identity verification over the phone. The policy shift threatens to force millions of seniors (many of which have poor mobility) to travel to field offices to receive their benefits. At the same time, DOGE has been closing SSA field offices across the country, making it increasingly difficult to access those offices. Organizations like Social Security Works are organizing to fight the changes, and they hope to spur a groundswell of activism that can convince the government to reverse course. Still, the group’s executive director, Alex Lawson, thinks that the SSA’s recent policy change will have immediate and disastrous impacts on the agency’s ability to deliver retirement benefits to Americans. “We know exactly how it will impact benefits,” Lawson said. “There will ... Read full article.