While U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said this week that a missed Social Security payment wouldn’t phase his mother in law, that’s probably not the case for millions of Americans who rely on the system they paid into for years.
“She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month,” said Lutnick in an episode of the “All In” podcast released Thursday, as cited by The Hill. “A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining,” the billionaire said.
President Donald Trump, his ally (and one of the richest men in the world) Elon Musk, and now Lutnick have all recently discussed alleged fraud within the Social Security Administration. However, according to Axios, the administration’s plans to deal with what is a small amount of fraud (an estimated 1% of the SSA’s spending) may actually encourage more fraud that it prevents.
At the same time, a significant number of Americans rely on Social Security checks as a main source of income, and would certainly hurt if a check didn’t show up on time. According to the SSA, Social Security benefits represented about 31% of the income of people over age 65 in the U.S. as of last December. It also said that nearly 40% of men and 44% of women over age 65 rely on SSA for 50% or more of their income.
Last May, a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that about one in every five U.S. residents (67 million people) collected a Social Security check last February. One fifth of the beneficiaries received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or were young survivors of deceased workers.
That report also found that benefits are more modest than people realize. As of February 2024, average Social Security retirement benefit in February 2024 was about $1,862 per month, or less than $23,000 annually. Still, the checks’ arrival keep millions out of poverty every year – including 1.4 million children in 2022.
“Without Social Security benefits, nearly four in 10 adults aged 65 and older would have incomes below the official poverty line, all else being equal, according to our estimates based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2023 Current Population Survey,” said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “Social Security benefits lift more than 16.5 million older adults above the official poverty line, these estimates show.”
Trump has said multiple times that he does not intend to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. Lutnick also said during the podcast appearance that the government doesn’t “have to take one penny from someone who deserves Social Security, not one penny for someone who deserves Medicaid, Medicare.”
However, at least one man has lost his benefits since the efforts of the new administration began. The Seattle Times reported last week that an 82-year-old man in the city was erroneously declared dead by the SSA and subsequently lost his benefits.
Even before Trump was inaugurated, experts were concerned that economic policies Trump had proposed increase the risk of impending Social Security insolvency, according to a report issued last month by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. As these concerns grow, an aging population, rising healthcare costs and stagnant wage growth in the U.S. have contributed to skyrocketing dependence on government programs funded by taxpayer contributions such as Social Security, Audacy reported earlier this year.
Now, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has published a list of nearly 800 real estate leases for federal offices the organization is looking to not renew and there was talk of the department shutting down the agency, per The Hill. Already, the Trump administration is working to dismantle the Department of Education and DOGE has initiated mass layoffs and near gutting of multiple federal departments.
In a Friday statement, SSA Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said the agency would not shut down.
“Today, the Court issued clarifying guidance about the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) related to DOGE employees and DOGE activities at the Social Security Administration (SSA),” he said. “Therefore, I am not shutting down the agency. President Trump supports keeping Social Security offices open and getting the right check to the right person at the right time. SSA employees and their work will continue under the TRO.”