- Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley, who headed the agency during the Biden administration, urged people to start saving money now because benefits could be interrupted in the next one to three months. He told CNBC that changes DOGE is making to the agency have already caused IT system outages, which he predicted will become more frequent until there is a “system collapse.”
The federal government has never failed to deliver Social Security payments on time, but a former commissioner warned that could happen soon as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency makes changes and cuts staff.
Martin O’Malley, who led the agency during the Biden administration, told CNBC on Saturday that cuts have already led to IT outages, which he predicted will become more frequent and last longer each time until there’s a total failure.
“Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits. I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days,” O’Malley said, adding that “people should start saving now” before payments stop.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) and the U.S. DOGE Service didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The warning comes as the SSA announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of the Trump administration’s broader push across the federal government to slash staffing levels and trim costs.
But even ahead of those cuts, SSA has already seen a number of departures at senior levels, including regional commissioners and top leadership.
Acting Commissioner Michelle King, who had worked at SSA for three decades, resigned last month after she reportedly refused to grant DOGE access to sensitive Social Security records.
Leland Dudek was named acting commissioner but was soon placed on administrative leave for cooperating with DOGE.
“I confess. I bullied agency executives, shared executive contact information, and circumvented the chain of command to connect DOGE with the people who get stuff done,” he wrote in a since-deleted LinkedIn post that was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
Trump has tapped Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano to serve as SSA commissioner.
Union officials representing SSA workers also told CNBC that staff cuts may impact Americans filing new claims as those often require manual processing, especially as many older applicants are less likely to submit electronic claims.
Charles Blahous, a senior research strategist at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center and a former public trustee for Social Security, told Fortune it’s unclear whether the SSA staff cuts are more likely to result in an interruption of benefits or an increase in improper payments.
That’s because claims for Social Security disability payments involve more hands-on work compared to retirement benefits, which are more efficient, he explained.
“It’s not obvious to me where the choke point will be,” Blahous said in an email. “If the reduced staff err on the side of making sure all claims are processed, improper payments will likely rise. If instead the reduced staff prioritizes preventing improper payments, the risk of processing delays would increase.”
Musk had previous sparked concern about his plans for the safety net after he said tens of millions of dead Americans are receiving Social Security checks—a claim the Associated Press debunked.
And on Friday, he added to fears when he called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and described the federal government as “one big pyramid scheme.”
In October, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan watchdog, said Trump’s policies would hasten the demise of Social Security’s trust fund.
It predicted that the Social Security Board of Trustees would start cutting benefits by 2031 instead of 2034 because the fund that covers the deficit between outlays and revenue would run out of money sooner.
Meanwhile, O’Malley predicted there will be growing concern among Americans about Social Security benefits, which have long been seen as a “third rail” in U.S. politics.
“I think many people throughout the country are going to start bringing a lot of heat to members of Congress who have been facilitating, supporting, aiding, and abetting the breaking of their Social Security and the interruption of benefits that they work their whole lives to earn,” he told CNBC. “These are earned benefits.”
