23-04-2025
SSA Worker: Why DOGE Could Be ‘Sabotaging' Social Security — and How That Affects You
Social Security has long been considered the untouchable 'third rail' of American politics. But a seasoned Social Security Administration (SSA) employee predicts that the upheaval resulting from recent restructuring initiatives implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is intended to 'destroy Social Security from the inside.'
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In an interview with The Daily Beast1 published on April 8, SSA claims technical analyst Rennie Glasgow said, 'We're being pushed to ensure that we cannot perform effectively and efficiently, so that they can privatize.
'I'm almost certain that the goal is privatization for this agency because there's a lot of money they want to get their hands on,' he said.
Glasgow, a 15-year veteran of SSA and vice president of Local 3343 of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents SSA workers, noted that the SSA is remarkably cost-efficient, spending just 1% of its budget on employee costs. In fact, the total administrative costs from both of Social Security's trust funds is less than 1%, according to the SSA.2
Glasgow's suspicion stems in part from workforce reductions that have increased wait times for phone help and in-person assistance. Exacerbating the delays are daily system outages that render staff at Glasgow's Schenectady, New York, office unable to help individuals who might already have waited several hours for their turn at a window.
Also concerning is DOGE's demand for secure access to SSA databases — a move Glasgow said circumvents strict controls on beneficiary information and essentially allows DOGE to make up its own rules as it goes.
Glasgow is not the only one who suspects that the DOGE-induced chaos is part of a concerted effort to discredit Social Security program operations. Earlier this month, Alex Jacquez, a former National Economic Council senior policy advisor and current chief of policy at Groundwork Collaborative, told Fortune,3 'My view is that the ultimate goal here is what has been the holy grail for Republicans for decades now, which is to privatize the Social Security Administration and privatize Social Security.
'There's already a long list of things that Elon [Musk] and the administration have basically floated as being services that they want the private sector to take over,' Jacquez said.
President Donald Trump says his administration won't touch Social Security, and Frank Bisignano, Trump's nominee for SSA commissioner, has denied hearing or thinking of plans for privatization.4 However, Musk is a vocal critic of Social Security. He has called the program a Ponzi scheme and made unsubstantiated accusations, often amplified by Trump, that the SSA is engaging in fraud5 — despite a 99.97% payment accuracy rate for Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, according to the Office of the Inspector General.6
As Glasgow noted, customer service is already suffering under the weight of cutbacks. That could get worse amid regional office closures and the loss of field and hearing offices due to lease terminations. But if his suspicions about privatization are correct, the restructuring could have a significant impact on Social Security benefits as well.
Under the current system, Social Security payroll taxes go into trust funds that invest the money in U.S. Treasuries, which offer predictable but low returns compared to the stock market. Privatization would allow beneficiaries to invest some or all of their payroll withholdings. Proponents say these investments could result in larger nest eggs because of higher returns.
Privatization opponents point out that Treasuries are extremely safe because they're backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. That safety allows the SSA to guarantee your Social Security retirement benefits. Stock market returns, on the other hand, are unpredictable and never guaranteed, so your retirement benefits couldn't be guaranteed, either.
It's important to remember that Social Security is only meant to replace about 40% of income at full retirement age, which is currently 67. However, a survey by The Senior Citizens League7 found that two-thirds of America's seniors rely on Social Security benefits for more than half of their income, and nearly half of seniors rely on it for 76% to 100% of their income. While higher benefits would have obvious advantages, they'd come at the expense of the safety net millions of seniors rely on to ensure that their most basic needs are met after they leave the workforce.
Sources
The Daily Beast, 'I Know Musk's Secret Blueprint to Destroy Social Security from The Inside.' (April 9, 2025)
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Social Security Administration, 'Social Security Administrative Expenses.'
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Fortune, 'Elon Musk's DOGE is undermining the Social Security Administration's technology and operations, former White House official says.' (April 1, 2025)
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ABC News, 'Trump SSA pick not seeking to privatize Social Security, will meet people 'where they want to be met.'' (March 25, 2025)
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NPR, 'Former head of Social Security says Elon Musk and DOGE are wrong about the agency.' (March 24, 2025)
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Payment Accuracy, 'Annual Improper Payments Datasets.'
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The Senior Citizens League, 'Two-Thirds of Seniors Rely on Social Security for More Than Half Their Income.' (Nov. 5, 2024)
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This article originally appeared on SSA Worker: Why DOGE Could Be 'Sabotaging' Social Security — and How That Affects You
