Expert Claims You Might Miss Your Social Security Payment Thanks to DOGE

It’s generally understood that Social Security’s main trust fund will lose the ability to pay out full benefits at some point in the mid-1930s. According to last year’s version of the report, that moment is now projected to arrive in 2035. 

This does not mean Social Security will be fully bankrupt or cease to exist at that time, but rather that it will lose the ability to pay out 100 percent of benefits unless Congress takes some action between now and then to change its funding formula. 

However, the recently departed commissioner of the Social Security Administration is sounding the alarm about the agency missing payments much sooner than that. 

The First Missed Social Security Payment?

Social Security, since its creation during the New Deal in the 1930s, has never missed a payment, even through World War II and countless economic recessions. 

But now, Martin O’Malley, who served as Social Security Administration Commissioner in the Biden Administration, is raising the alarm that Social Security could see its first-ever payment interruption long before 2035. 

And it’s thanks to DOGE. 

In an interview with CNBC, O’Malley predicted that “you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” possibly even within the next 30 to 60 days. 

O’Malley, the former mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland, pointed to staff cuts at the Social Security Administration, as well as IT outages that have resulted from those cuts. 

Inside SSA 

Acting SSA Commissioner Michelle King, a career employee of the agency and O’Malley’s successor following his resignation last year, resigned in the early days of the Trump Administration, reportedly as part of a disagreement over DOGE’s approach to sensitive information. 

Frank Bisignano, CEO of Fiserv, is Trump’s nominee to lead SSA, although he is still awaiting confirmation. Leland Dudek, who the Wall Street Journal reported in late February had “covertly helped DOGE,” is the newest acting head of the agency. 

In late February, SSA announced that it was planning “agency-wide organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions” and that, like in many areas of the government, it was offering workers the chance to take early retirement or separation. 

On Monday, the program announced that it plans to cut about 7,000 workers out of a total of 57,000 workers. The agency disputed previous reports that it planned to cut 50 percent of its workforce. 

A Trump/Musk Split on Social Security? 

Trump had claimed, in early February, that DOGE would “not touch” Social Security, although he did vow to eliminate undocumented immigrants from the program’s rolls. The notion that any “illegals” are receiving such benefits, however, has been strongly disputed. 

Trump has also vowed to “draw the line” on Social Security cuts when it comes to budget negotiations with Congress. 

However, the man who some consider the second most-powerful man in the government feels differently about Social Security. 

A Ponzi Scheme? 

Elon Musk, appearing last week on Joe Rogan’s podcast, described Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” and “one big pyramid scheme.” 

This is something of an old charge, based on the notion that people pay into the program, and other people take money out. The Hoover Institution was arguing the same thing back in 1999. 

However, it differs from a Ponzi scheme in several ways. Ponzi schemes tend to involve lying to the people paying in, while Social Security is open and upfront about how its funding model works. And while Ponzi schemes tend to collapse quickly, Social Security is nearly 100 years old. 

This follows Musk’s previous claim that people who are 130 years old are receiving Social Security benefits, but that wasn’t true- the claim turned out to be based on a misreading of a coding error. 

At Their Own Risk 

Social Security is one area where the hubris of the second Trump Administration could come back to bite them. That’s because Social Security is one of the most popular government programs, something depended upon by large swathes of Americans.

Social Security Check. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Should payments be distributed in any way, political consequences for those seen as responsible seem very possible. 

About the Author: Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.