The Social Security Administration hasn't missed sending out benefits checks in the more than 80 years that it's been doing so, but that may be about to change amid recent moves by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to slash spending at government agencies, according to a former head of the SSA. "Ultimately, you're going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits," O'Malley told CNBC on Monday of the agency he used to lead. "I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days"—meaning Social Security checks could stop coming by mid-April, notes the Daily Beast.
O'Malley, who also served as Maryland's governor from 2007 to 2015, noted that, due to staff cuts, there'd already been occasional IT system outages at the SSA—outages that could soon increase in frequency and scope, until the whole thing ultimately crumbles. Scheduled office closures will also likely worsen things. O'Malley, who stepped down from the SSA commissioner role in November to (unsuccessfully) run for chair of the DNC, was followed by Michelle King—who in turn stepped down from the top spot last month after refusing to grant DOGE access to sensitive information at the SSA.
The Hill notes that almost 73 million Americans receive monthly Social Security checks, including 56 million elderly people. "The American public needs to understand that one of their major social safety nets is in dire jeopardy," Jill Hornick, a union official at the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1395, tells CNBC. "It'll take a while for the effects to be felt, but they're coming." She anticipates that individuals who are already in the automated SSA system won't see as many delays as those filing new claims, which have to be processed by a dwindling staff. In the meantime, O'Malley's advice to the American people, per CNBC? "Start saving now." (Elon Musk has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," and Democrats are pushing back.)
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