Office closures and Social Security cuts: New York senator Schumer’s stark warning
Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader of Congress’s upper chamber, has hit out at cuts to the Social Security Administration.
The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, has taken aim at the “cruelty” of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), amid federal spending cuts targeting the Social Security Administration (SSA).
In February, it was announced that the SSA is to reduce its workforce from 57,000 to 50,000. What’s more, the DOGE has listed several dozen Social Security offices across the United States for closure.
“Imagine the cruelty of the richest man in the world”
“Elon Musk and DOGE are trying to drive Social Security into the ground,” Schumer, a Democratic senator for New York, told a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday.
Referencing Musk’s recent assertion that federal entitlement programs are “the big one to eliminate”, Schumer said: “Imagine the cruelty of the richest man in the world, who’s trying to sell his Teslas on the White House lawn, telling tens of millions of seniors that he wants to ‘eliminate’ their benefits.”
Describing Musk as “utterly clueless” about what Social Security means to senior citizens who depend on the payments “for their foods or their medicines”, the senator added: "He has no empathy, and that lack of empathy will create immense suffering for people who aren’t as fortunate as he’s been.”
The cruelty of the richest man in the world telling tens of millions of seniors that he wants to “eliminate” their Social Security.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 13, 2025
That their checks are part of one big scam.
Elon Musk is clueless about what it means to rely on that check to buy food and medicine.
Democrats…
“How cruel. How mean”
Schumer also responded to recent reports that the DOGE has pressured the SSA to eliminate its phone services, declaring: “They’re trying to cut telephone services that help the elderly and disabled people get their benefits. How cruel. How mean.”
However, the SSA has insisted that it is “inaccurate” that the agency will be cutting all its phone lines.
In a statement this week, the SSA clarified that it is only eliminating claimants’ ability to change their bank details over the phone. “All other SSA telephone services remain unchanged,” the agency said.
“We’re going to see an interruption of benefits”
News of staff cuts at Social Security come despite the SSA’s former head, Martin O’Malley, complaining in an interview with HuffPost earlier this month that the agency “has been operating at a 50-year low in staffing”.
Indeed, O’Malley warned that the DOGE’s bid to reduce the Social Security’s workforce may lead to a situation where the agency is unable to process all benefits payments on time.
“I think for the first time in 90 years, we’re going to see an interruption of benefits,” he told HuffPost. “I hope that doesn’t happen, but I believe it will.”
How many people get Social Security benefits in the U.S.?
As of January 2025, just over 73 million Americans claimed retirement, disability or retirement benefits from the Social Security Administration.
According to SSA figures, retired workers receive around $2,000 per month on average.
Disabled workers are paid just under $1,600 a month on average, the SSA says.
Recipients of survivors benefits - which are distributed to eligible surviving family members of Americans who worked and paid Social Security taxes before their death - are paid around $1,500 per month on average.
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