U.S. Rep.Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) is introducing legislation to restore thousands of jobs at the Social Security Administration, arguing that mass federal layoffs ordered by the Trump administration have left constituents waiting hours for basic benefit assistance.
Service Collapse on the Ground
Stevens said the staffing cuts have created an untenable beneficiary-to-staff ratio. “Michiganders are waiting hours and hours to get answers to questions and access their benefits,” she said Thursday in an Instagram post.
Her proposal would restore staffing to pre-Trump levels, directing most new hires into customer service and direct beneficiary support roles. The agency shed more than 7,400 employees last year, including 1,387 contact representatives. Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have separately pressed SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano to explain a chaotic reshuffling of staff from claims processing and technology units to phone lines, with some workers receiving only hours of training. The agency simultaneously advertised for new call center hires in several cities, a pattern lawmakers called the opposite of efficiency.
SSA’s own inspector general found roughly 25 million calls in fiscal 2025 ended without service, and callback waits far exceeded the headline figures the agency publicized.
Solvency Crisis Adds Urgency
The legislative push comes as Social Security faces a deepening actuarial imbalance. The program’s trust fund is projected to reach depletion by 2032–2033. At that point, payroll tax revenue would cover only 75 to 80 percent of scheduled benefit outlays, potentially triggering automatic cuts of 23 to 28 percent, according to Congressional Budget Office projections.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has warned that the fiscal shortfall could force a 25 percent benefit reduction or require borrowing that pushes the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio to levels comparable to Venezuela. Cassidy has proposed a $1.5 trillion prefunded investment account to address long-term solvency. BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) CEO Larry Fink echoed those concerns in his 2026 annual letter, warning Social Security could “break its promise” without structural reform.
Disclaimer: This content was produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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