John,

I’m sure others also had conversations over this weekend about our worries over the economy—and what it means for our own families.

As I look at rising costs for essentials and the current and future impact of the administration’s economic policies (while trying to think through how to afford college costs for my own kids!), I’m scared. And, I’m alarmed about the threats the Trump administration poses to core services.

They want us to believe that massive cuts in federal workers will have no effect on the services people rely on. But in just the last two months, cuts at critical agencies are directly impacting many in our communities.

Saturday, millions gathered in large cities and small towns across the country to say “Hands Off!” our health care, Social Security, and much more. Deborah wrote to you yesterday about cuts in the Department of Health and Human Services. But that’s not all.

At the Social Security Administration 7,000 staffers have been cut, and 6 out of 10 regional offices are being closed, leading to a worsening of services—call wait times have more than doubled, people with disabilities will need to wait likely a year or more for their claims to be reviewed, and website crashes are putting up barriers between us and our earned benefits.^1,2,3 Errors have also led to people going without benefits altogether.⁴

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The Social Security Administration announced that applicants or those making changes to their benefits information would no longer be able to do so by phone—they would have to do it online or in person, despite office closures and long waits to make appointments, and despite 61% of seniors not having broadband internet at home. And, this is an issue for children and adults with disabilities along with our growing senior population.

As the Washington Post reported this morning: “many of the 7.4 million adults and children receiving monthly benefits under the anti-poverty program known as Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, confronted a jarring message that claimed they were ‘currently not receiving payments’” for almost two days last week alone.⁵

These attacks are particularly painful for people in rural areas and those waiting, on average, almost 8 months for Social Security and SSI disability claims to be processed.⁶ The outcry about this has led to allowing people seeking disabilities benefits to continue to submit their information by phone—a partial backtracking by the administration. That shows how important it is to expose the harm and to fight back. Please help us do more.

We’re demanding Congress stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s attacks on our government agencies and our communities. Stand with the millions of seniors and people with disabilities impacted by their attack on core services—and join the public outcry about the gutting of these programs.

Donate today to fight back against these attacks on our families and communities.

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Thank you for your support and activism in this critical moment.

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Trump's changes to the Social Security Administration have many seniors alarmed
² Long waits, waves of calls, website crashes: Social Security is breaking down
³ Downsizing Staff Will Make It Harder to Receive Social Security Payments
⁴ Here’s a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle, with plenty to say
⁵ Social Security website keeps crashing, as DOGE demands cuts to IT staff
⁶ SSA: Disability determination processing time

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Earlier this week Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. laid off 10,000 full-time employees from departments across the agency including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Agencies overseeing Head Start, heating and cooling assistance, services for seniors and people with disabilities, and other essential social services were hit hard. These full-time employees are on top of the 10,000 employees who were forced out last month.¹

Adding confusion to the already chaotic firings initiated by RFK Jr and Elon Musk, RFK said that some of those firings were a mistake.² But as of Friday, it was unclear who, if any, of those 10,000 fired HHS employees would be asked to return.

The entire staff for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) was fired.³ One FDA official referred to Tuesday’s firings as “a bloodbath”.⁴

Health officials in the city of Milwaukee announced this week, that due to cuts at the CDC, the city has to halt its response to lead found in the city’s drinking water.⁵

Now, in addition to cutting staff who are critical to keeping our communities healthy and safe, the Trump administration is recklessly cutting funding being used to cope with the measles outbreak in Texas, substance use and mental health treatment, and public health preparedness around the country.⁶

Together, we’re fighting back against this administration’s gutting of essential agencies.

Rush a donation of $5 today to power our advocacy and activism, demanding Congress defend our communities and assert its Congressional authority by putting a stop to this madness.

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This isn’t cutting “government waste,” this is a deliberate purging of departments and agencies that people in the U.S. rely on to live and help keep us safe.

These attacks on the American public cannot continue. Our coalition and supporters have sent hundreds of thousands of letters to Congress urging them to fight back against this authoritarian reign of chaos.

Donate $5 to fight back and keep up the pressure on Congress to defend our communities from Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s reckless cuts.