The Social Security Administration has delayed controversial plans to cut phone services for retirees by two weeks and ditched a proposal that would have forced some disabled and elderly people to visit a physical location to claim benefits.
“We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” Leland Dudek, the acting SSA commissioner, said in a statement announcing the abrupt policy turnaround on Wednesday.
His about-face came after the agency was blasted by retirees, advocates and Democratic politicians for its sudden and chaotic rollout of the new policies.
Only last week, Dudek announced that anyone applying for benefits or updating their bank deposit information could no longer do so by phone, and would have to verify their identity online or in person.
Beginning April 14, the SSA will still mandate that retirees, widows, and children who cannot make their applications online visit a field office in person.
However, Dudek said applicants for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, and Supplemental Security Income, the latter of which makes payments to seniors with little to no income, will be allowed to continue making applications by phone.
Dudek, appointed by President Donald Trump, has been tasked with implementing cuts under the direction of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Last week, he was reprimanded by a federal judge for “making threats about shutting down operations” at the agency, which pays out $1.4 trillion in benefits to 73 million Americans every year.
After Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander temporarily blocked Dudek from giving DOGE access to individuals’ personal data at the SSA, he claimed he might have to halt the agency’s operations.
He later backed down from the threat.
“Dudek’s leadership has been the darkest in Social Security’s nearly 90 year history,” said the advocacy group Social Security Works, in a statement. “He has sown chaos and destruction.”
Meanwhile, the SSA is planning to lay off at least 7,000 people from its 60,000-strong workforce, and moved to close dozens of offices around the country as a result of moves by DOGE.
Musk has spent recent weeks spreading baseless conspiracy theories alleging widespread fraud in benefits payments. In fact, a mere 0.3 percent of Social Security payments are deemed “improper,” and in most cases those are the result of mistakes or delays.
According to an NBC News report, some White House officials have grown concerned with Musk’s inaccurate, blustering attacks on benefits programs.
Frank Bisignano, Trump’s nominee to permanently oversee the agency, told lawmakers Tuesday that he plans to review any changes put in place at the urging of DOGE.
When Dudek’s policy changes come into effect on April 14, they could still put tremendous pressure on vulnerable Americans and the Social Security system.
When the changes were first announced, Nancy LeaMond, an executive vice president at the American Association of Retired Persons, said the cuts to services “by phone will result in more headaches and longer wait times to resolve routine customer service needs.”
Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works, said the changes “will make it far harder for the American people to claim their earned benefits. It could even cause major delays, and ultimately collapse the system, by overwhelming the field offices.”
