ON 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOCIAL SECURITY, SCHUMER ANNOUNCES NEW LEGISLATION TO PROTECT & INVEST IN SOCIAL SECURITY; AS ‘DOGE’ CUTS & CHAOS THREATEN THE SERVICES NEARLY 320,000 CAPITAL REGION SENIORS RELY ON — NEW BILL WILL REVERSE CUTS, KEEP LOCAL OFFICES OPEN, REDUCE WAIT TIMES, AND MAKE GETTING MONTHLY CHECKS EASIER FOR NEW YORKERS
‘DOGE’ Has Fired Thousands Of Social Security Workers, Creating Massive Strain On Workforce- Creating Chaos At Top Levels, Amid Website Crashes, Overwhelmed Phone Lines, & Confusion Over Plans To Close Local Offices
Schumer Says We Need To Be Investing To Reduce Wait Times & Hiring Workers To Make Social Security More Efficient– Announces New Bill To Counter Social Security Cuts & Chaos
Schumer: We Must Protect & Invest In Social Security For Capital Region Seniors
On Save Social Security Day of Action, the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, standing with seniors and Social Security workers from across the Capital Region, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced his push for new legislation to counter Trump’s cuts to Social Security. As ‘DOGE’ continues damaging cuts and counterproductive administrative changes to the Social Security Administration (SSA), creating chaos & confusion as thousands of employees are laid off, service levels are diminished for seniors, threatening office closures.
The new bill The Keep Billionaires out of Social Security Act would invest in preventing Social Security field office closures, hiring new staff, protecting beneficiaries’ data from ‘DOGE’, and making long-needed modernizations & upgrades to reduce wait times and improve access for the vital program that nearly 320,000 Capital Region seniors & beneficiaries rely on.
“Capital Region seniors worked hard their whole lives, paying into Social Security, and deserve easy access to the benefits they earned. But ‘DOGE’ cuts are creating chaos and breaking Social Security, firing thousands of workers, while seniors are stuck with long wait times, overwhelmed phone lines, and websites that keep crashing. If no one can take your call, if the website keeps crashing, if they fire the staff that processes your claims, if they make it impossible for you to get the help you need, that’s a cut to your Social Security benefits, and I won’t stand for it,” said Senator Schumer. “We need to protect and invest in Social Security. That is why I am announcing that I will be pushing new legislation with Senate Democrats to reverse these Trump cuts, hire more workers, stop local offices from closing, and make Social Security more efficient for our seniors. Instead of dismantling the Social Security Administration, we need to invest in Social Security and make it easier for seniors in the Capital Region to get their benefits. Our seniors worked hard their whole lives for their Social Security benefits, and we are going to make sure it is protected, not cut.”
Schumer said that Social Security is one of the most successful government programs in our nation’s history—without Social Security, nearly 40 percent of people over age 65 would be living in poverty. In the Capital Region, nearly 320,000 beneficiaries receive more than $550 million in Social Security payments every month. In Warren County, more than 21,000 beneficiaries receive nearly $40 million in Social Security payments every month.
Schumer explained that for too long, the SSA has been underfunded, but now, amid ‘DOGE’ cuts, the Social Security system is breaking, with former Social Security Administrators and experts saying additional cuts could collapse the system. ‘DOGE’ has fired 12% of workers, more than 7,000 staff, and Axios estimates there has been a nearly 20% reduction in field office staff from March 2024, meaning fewer people to take appointments with beneficiaries, process claims, and answer the phones.
Already, beneficiaries have seen repeated website crashes, overwhelmed phone lines, and long wait times for appointments. With fewer field office staff due to DOGE cuts, people’s calls are being rerouted to staffers who are unable to help with the caller’s case. There has also been mass confusion as ‘DOGE’ listed offices, including one in the Southern Tier, for closure and then seemingly backed off weeks later after public pressure.
In response to Trump, Schumer said that, in September, Senate Democrats will introduce legislation to increase investment in Social Security & reverse these cuts. Specifically, the bill will:
- Stop field offices from closure and increase staffing, reversing previous cuts and prohibiting closures without congressional approval. It would boost staffing levels to help reduce wait times and ensure beneficiaries can continue to make appointments in person and speak with live representatives on the phone, not robotic call services.
- Boost funding for Social Security to $5 billion annually to create the modern Social Security Administration our seniors deserve, making long-needed upgrades and providing grants to improve technology, reduce claim backlogs, and enhance customer service.
- Improve access for beneficiaries by reversing Trump cuts, increasing support to protect beneficiaries, and restoring limits on benefit clawbacks that could otherwise drastically reduce benefits for seniors who have done nothing wrong.
- Protect your Social Security data. The bill imposes civil and criminal penalties for improper access to sensitive Social Security records and blocks unauthorized access from groups like ‘DOGE’ or other political interference in people's Social Security.
At Social Security Administration offices across the Capital Region, short staffing has already impacted services. Local offices are being pressured with long wait times and inadequate time available to process pending claims. Now, field office staff have to answer the 800# phone lines because the Social Security Administration has fired so many of their staff, with no plans to hire new staff. This initiative is adding stress to local staff and making seniors’ ability to receive quality service more difficult. In addition, Social Security is no longer taking applications over the phone, so people have to call and make appointments. Seniors in the Capital Region seeking assistance over the phone have reported wait times of over two hours and only reaching robots that can’t redirect seniors to appropriate assistance.
“It is a struggle to maintain efficient service to the millions of residents that depend on the Social Security Administration. Recently, SSA instituted a system of reassigning employees from your field offices to staff the national 1 800 number and answer calls. This was done without any plan or consultation to ensure critical work is not left behind. Today, Upstate New York residents are being faced with longer wait times in our offices and two months waiting to even get an appointment,” said Rennie Glasgow, AFGE Local 3343 Vice President. “The Schenectady Social Security office lost nine (30%) staff earlier this year due to DOGE staff cuts. The remaining staff is trying to grapple with three times the work they did before.
And now the agency introduced call sharing, which is another burden that will see you calling your local office here in Glens Falls but may get someone in Buffalo or Utica on the phone. DOGE is and always will be harmful to the American people and more so to the millions that we serve.”
“While we celebrate the generations that Social Security has lifted out of poverty, we also must continue our advocacy to ensure the program is strong for future generations. One concern that impacts older residents significantly is a need for timely access to knowledgeable SSA staff, both in responding to phone calls and at appointments at regional offices. Delays due to staffing shortages have been unacceptable. Additionally, there is an expected shortfall in Trust Fund revenue expected in 2032 that must be fixed by Congress to provide full earned benefits. We look forward to working with Senator Schumer to address this issue,” said Maria Alvarez, Executive Director, New York StateWide Senior Action Council.
This comes as Trump officials refer to Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme.” Earlier this summer, Trump’s Treasury Secretary said they had created a “backdoor for privatizing Social Security.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik said his mother wouldn’t call and complain if she didn’t receive her Social Security benefits. In addition, Trump’s ‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’ is expected to cost the Social Security program more this year, depleting its funds even more quickly. Schumer said these cuts will inevitably make it more difficult for Social Security beneficiaries to receive their hard-earned benefits, and that we need to be investing more, not less, to make Social Security to make it more efficient and easier for seniors.
A county-by-county breakdown of Social Security beneficiaries in the Capital Region can be found here for SSI and Old Age, Survivors, and Disability benefits:
|
County |
Social Security Beneficiaries Receiving Monthly Checks or SSI |
Total Payments Per Month |
|
Albany |
71,244 |
$128,273,000 |
|
Columbia |
17,974 |
$32,741,000 |
|
Fulton |
16,544 |
$25,348,000 |
|
Greene |
14,096 |
$24,151,000 |
|
Montgomery |
15,297 |
$23,563,000 |
|
Rensselaer |
39,444 |
$68,359,000 |
|
Saratoga |
58,098 |
$110,519,000 |
|
Schenectady |
39,067 |
$65,418,000 |
|
Schoharie |
8,963 |
$14,813,000 |
|
Warren |
21,360 |
$37,410,000 |
|
Washington |
17,458 |
$28,147,000 |
|
TOTAL |
319,545 |
$558,742,000 |
Social Security has been a crucial piece of the social safety net since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the law creating it in 1935, and it was designed to be self-sufficient. It has a dedicated revenue source from payroll taxes, which workers split with their employers.
###