“It would be outrageous if the Trump Administration, either due to incompetence or nefarious planning, is already disrupting, or threatening to disrupt, Social Security payments for the most vulnerable citizens in the country.”

President Trump has repeatedly said his administration will not cut Social Security benefits, but agency employees are leaving and threats of deeper staff cuts loom.

Warren and her two Senate colleagues said constituents who receive Supplemental Security Income, a federal antipoverty benefit, reported last week that after logging into their accounts on the Social Security website, they found a message saying that they are “currently not receiving payments.” Their payment histories and other data had also disappeared, the lawmakers wrote. The glitches were only temporary for some people.

“Some of these constituents have informed us that the issue was quickly resolved and that their profiles now accurately reflect that they are recipients, but it is unclear if these problems have been fully resolved,” the letter read.

Warren and her colleagues said any disruption to the Social Security system “could have devastating impacts” for the 7.4 million American adults and children who receive SSI payments, about 40 percent of whom live below the poverty line.

SSI beneficiaries have little to fall back on if their monthly benefits were to be paused or delayed, as recipients cannot have more than $2,000 in their bank account at a given time (or $3,000 for couples) to qualify, according to Warren and her colleagues.

The letter included a series of questions about the disruptions and operations at the Social Security Administration, including whether the problems are linked to aggressive cuts at the agency by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.

In a press release accompanying the letter to Dudek, Warren said the inquiry marks the first investigation of her Social Security War Room that she created with other Senate Democrats. The group, her office said, represents “a coordinated effort to protect Americans’ Social Security from Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s efforts to gut the agency.”

The Trump administration’s cost-cutting efforts have imposed a downsizing that has led to 7,000 Social Security job cuts with potentially thousands more to come at an agency that serves 73 million Americans. The new demands from DOGE include a 50 percent cut to the technology division responsible for the website and other electronic access.

Many of the network outages appear to be caused by an expanded fraud check system imposed by the DOGE team, the Washington Post reported. The technology staff did not test the new software against a high volume of users to see if the servers could handle the rush, the newspaper reported, citing current and former officials.

The website saw a surge in visitors as nervous recipients sought to confirm the existence of their benefits and download their statements.

The problems could continue next week when new identification measures take effect that will require customers applying for benefits to authenticate their identity online, part of the administration’s campaign to root out allegedly fraudulent claims. Those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency’s “my Social Security” online service, will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process, officials said.

Material from Globe wire services was used in this report.