John,

Ninety years ago today, on August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, radically changing how Americans afford retirement. Before Social Security, roughly two-thirds of seniors lived in poverty. Today, roughly 10% of older Americans live in poverty—still too high, but a dramatic, life-changing improvement from 90 years ago.

But now, even as Social Security is the most popular and successful social insurance program in American history, it is under attack like never before.

This year, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have pushed out 7,000 Social Security expert staffers and replaced them with an AI chatbot. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the chatbot isn’t working, and people can’t get through on the phone. Now, the Trump administration is reassigning some of the remaining staff away from in-person offices and to the overwhelmed phone lines.¹

The Social Security Administration has always provided the world-class service that Americans deserve, helping people navigate the most consequential financial decisions of their lives. Because of Trump and Musk, the 10,000+ Americans who retire every day are more on their own than ever before. So are the millions of people with disabilities, survivors, and children who rely on Social Security’s modest benefits every month.

We need to fight back.

On Social Security’s 90th birthday, send a message to Congress demanding they save the Social Security Administration.

The Social Security Administration is far more efficient than its counterparts in private pensions. Social Security spends less than 1% on administration―as opposed to as much as 15% at private companies. And it’s funded from the same Social Security trust fund that we pay into with every paycheck. We deserve better than cuts and intentional mismanagement.

Seniors' health care is at risk too with these cuts, with SSI (Supplemental Security Income) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Income) benefits also administered through the Social Security Administration. This sabotage of the SSA affects all of us.

Join us in calling on Congress to save the Social Security Administration by restoring full funding, rehiring its staff, and giving Americans the Social Security system that we’ve paid into all of our lives.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Efforts to Shrink Social Security’s Phone Wait Times are Putting a Strain Elsewhere