Warren, Schumer, Wyden, Senate Democrats Demand Social Security Watchdog Investigate Impact of DOGE’s Social Security Cuts
Washington, D.C. – In their latest move to defend Social Security, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), led Senate Democrats in writing to the Acting Inspector General (IG) of Social Security, requesting a report into how the recent cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts have affected Americans who rely on Social Security.
In the last two months, DOGE has moved to dramatically reduce the workforce of the Social Security Administration, including through laying off staff, pressuring employees to resign, and closing regional offices. This includes staff that work in field offices, who directly support Social Security beneficiaries, and that maintain and protect the SSA’s online systems millions rely on to access their benefits—which have been plagued with technical difficulties and service blackouts since DOGE initiated its takeover of SSA.
“These actions have already created a chilling effect among the agency’s workforce, with several senior SSA officials with centuries’ worth of institutional knowledge and experience having already left the agency,” wrote the senators.
“Collectively, this will undoubtedly lead to disruption in benefit payments and increasing barriers for Americans to access their Social Security benefits,” the lawmakers continued.
The senators requested the IG’s review include the agency’s organizational restructuring, closure of field offices, and moves to reduce its workforce to determine whether it has affected the agency’s ability to provide quality customer service. The senators also requested the IG’s office provide recurring quarterly updates on the impact of the agency’s reorganization and workforce reductions on customer service.
“We are concerned that this hostile environment will foster burnout, low morale, higher attrition, and worse productivity among employees,” the senators wrote.
This call for an investigation is part of Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, a coordinated effort launched this month to fight back against the Trump administration’s attack on Americans’ Social Security. The War Room coordinates messaging across the Senate Democratic Caucus and external stakeholders; encourages grassroots engagement by providing opportunities for Americans to share what Social Security means to them; and educates Senate staff, the American public, and stakeholders about Republicans’ agenda and their continued cuts to Americans’ Social Security services and benefits.
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