SCHUMER ANNOUNCES NEW LEGISLATION TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY; AS ‘DOGE’ CUTS CREATE CHAOS, THREATENING SERVICES NEARLY 200,000 CENTRAL NY 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, Hurting Services 11K Seniors In Cortland Rely On - With 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 & Protect
Schumer: Protect & Invest In Social Security For Central New York Seniors
Standing with seniors and Social Security workers from across Central NY, 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 to the Social Security Administration (SSA), creating chaos & confusion as thousands of employees are laid off and 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, and making long-needed modernizations & upgrades to reduce wait times and improve access for the vital service that nearly 200,000 Central NY seniors & beneficiaries, including over 11,000 in Cortland County, rely on.
“Central NY 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 Central New York 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 Central New York, nearly 200,000 beneficiaries receive nearly $340 million in Social Security payments every month. In Cortland County, more than 11,000 beneficiaries receive nearly $20 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 the Hudson Valley, ‘DOGE’ closed a local office and said it has no plans to reopen it.
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 Central NY, short staffing has already impacted services. The Social Security Administration recently began reassigning employees from local field offices, including in New York, to staff the national 1-800 number without implementing any plan to compensate for the critical work they left behind. CNY residents who rely on social security are growing more frustrated due to wait times and staffing shortages at local field offices. The Syracuse office recently lost two employees, and workers there say they are already struggling to keep up with current demand. Call sharing also causes issues for the local field offices because SS recipients may no longer get to speak to someone at their local office, but instead are transferred to another office that isn’t familiar with their case and can’t access their claim.
“The policies enacted by DOGE and the anti-employee approach from the Social Security Administration have had a deeply harmful impact on the services millions of Americans rely on,” said Shawn Halloran, AFGE Local 3342 President. “We cannot repair the service crisis without bold action to increase access to benefits and accessibility to the public, hiring adequate staff so our elderly and disabled are not restricted to AI, and safeguarding SSA records. We are thankful for Senator Schumer's efforts, his new bill is essential to this effort. “
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 Central New York 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 |
|
Cayuga |
20,257 |
$33,987,000 |
|
Cortland |
11,267 |
$18,352,000 |
|
Madison |
17,457 |
$30,082,000 |
|
Onondaga |
115,492 |
$202,308,000 |
|
Oswego |
32,934 |
$53,972,000 |
|
TOTAL |
197,407 |
$338,701,000 |
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.
“Generations of NAACP leaders – from Charles Hamilton Houston to Roy Wilkins to my late husband Van – fought tirelessly to create a fair and just Social Security system that works for everyone. In the decades since, Social Security has become a lifeline for African American senior citizens and families through retirement and disability – a monthly check to help keep the lights on, a roof overhead, and medicine in the cabinet,” said Linda Brown Robinson, WNY Region Director, NYS NAACP. “This is not the first time Social Security has been under attack. Last time, the NAACP and our partners helped safeguard the program by launching the “Save Our Social Security” campaign, and we won. This time, we are ready to do it again. We need a stronger, more efficient Social Security system that works for seniors. Not a system mangled by cuts, or a private system that works for corporations and billionaires. I am proud to stand in support of Senator Schumer’s new legislation to safeguard Social Security, increase investment in the program, and reverse the cuts threatening senior’s access to Social Security here in Central NY and all across New York State.”
“As Cortland’s Community Action Agency, the Cortland County Community Action Program, Inc., better known as CAPCO, stands in strong support of efforts to protect and strengthen Social Security, Medicare, and other protections for our senior citizens. CAPCO serves over 5,000 unique individuals annually, including over 1,300 senior citizens, using our whole of family approach to compliment these programs and help ensure all generations have the support and resources needed to thrive,” said CAPCO Executive Director Greg Richards. “CAPCO thanks thank Senator Schumer for coming to our community to fight for Social Security, and we applaud initiatives like his new bill to prevent the closure of field offices, increase staffing, and ensure beneficiaries can access live, in-person support. Investments to modernize the Social Security Administration and improve customer service, such as technology upgrades to reduce backlogs, are long overdue and essential to preserving the dignity and well-being of older adults. CAPCO remains committed to advocating for policies that safeguard benefits, enhance access, and protect the personal data of our seniors. Never have these basic protections been under such threat, so we stand with the Senator and all those we serve in support of our valued & integral senior citizens living in communities across Central NY.”
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