Yes, exactly. And the Trump
Admin has also moved to undermine independence of administrative law judges, most of whom hear disability appeals at SSA. Different level of adjudication, but similar concerns.
www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
OP nailed it: I think the stated goals make sense but have doubts about the Administration’s motives & competency.
We should keep an eye on CDR outcomes, but the published data are lagged—only thru 2024 right now.
This is why Congressional oversight is so important! www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/...
More on state disability determination services here: wapo.st/4salJGs
I have a lot of questions about how & why SSA is doing this. Who’s staffing it? How are they being trained? Will they be under pressure to rush or to remove more people from benefits? Will the huge federal staff cuts & removal of union/civil service protections affect their decision-making?
Conceptually, I think it's a fine idea to move continuing disability reviews from state DDSs to a federal unit. There are real problems with the state DDS model, like inconsistency in decisions & timeliness.
That said, the devil’s in the details—and we are living through a devilish era.
WIRED named the DOGE operative accused here of planning to take Social Security data to his new job. It's John Solly, and he works for the government contractor Leidos, a company that has millions in contracts with SSA.
read more here:
That's a really good point--telework seems compatible with a "digital first" agency that has a nationalized service model!
I think the public--especially people with barriers and complex situations--really do benefit from hands-on, in-person service. Telework can be part of that, of course.
Great new article on our report on barriers to access in Social Security disability programs.
Read all the way to the end. The closing quote from @ksavin.bsky.social is a banger.
Accessing disability benefits at the Social Security Administration has gotten more difficult since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to new qualitative research.
www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...
The latest Democratic affordability proposal–this one from Senator Van Hollen– was previewed in the Washington Post by @jeffstein.bsky.social this morning. While we don’t have all the details, it seems like a case of good intentions but some problematic results www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
We've been tracking nearly 200 lawsuits against the Trump administration over its attempts to leverage federal funding to impose the president's agenda.
The most startling pattern: The administration seems entirely undeterred when it loses in court.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
SSI supports 7.4M low-income seniors & people with disabilities but outdated rules and low benefits leave millions in poverty.
Our new paper from @socio-steve.bsky.social and @jacklandry.bsky.social models what would happen if Congress modernized SSI. The results are striking. 🧵👇
Full report:
As the laid off Middle East News Editor, I concur. Management eliminated the positions of every single staff correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East.
Must-read new report!
It's excellent work, providing crucial insight into how service to Social Security applicants and beneficiaries deteriorated over the past year.
It's especially important now that SSA leadership has removed most customer-facing metrics from public view.
I love that the one Trump policy from #SOTU that people don't hate is actually a Biden policy.
What to know about Trump retirement accounts www.axios.com/2026/02/27/t... #axiosmarkets
Your work has been so helpful! I think at this point roles & themes are most useful.
Oh thank you! I missed that. We will definitely take that into account for next year’s update. I think they’re doing great work.
Social Security benefits play a vital role in reducing poverty in every state & lift more people above the poverty line than any other program.
Without Social Security, 23.5 million more adults and children would live in poverty, according to our updated analysis.
www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
A: Yes
"Customer services at Social Security have become worse by many key measures since Pres. Trump began his second term, as thousands of employees were fired or quit & hasty policy changes & reassignments left inexperienced staff to handle the aftermath."
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
love you, Bobby! ❤️
trump is calling for banning congressional stock trading, but he leaves out the key detail: the reason there's a standstill right now is democrats want it to apply to trump and the white house, but trump issued a veto threat over that.
Though Trump claims he'll "always protect Social Security," his Admin indiscriminately pushed out 7K+ SSA workers — the largest staffing cut in agency history — compromising access to earned benefits for seniors, bereaved families & people with disabilities. #CBPPSOTU
www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
Speaking of tax increases, tariffs are a MASSIVE tax increase. #CBPPSOTU
Let's be clear about who the Republican megabill helped and hurt. #CBPPSOTU
The President boasts of "no tax on tips", but this expires in 2028.
He boasts of "no tax on overtime," but it is taxed, and the break expires in 2028.
He boasts of "no tax on social security," but it is taxed, and his break expires in 2028.
He also passed tax cuts for the rich. They're permanent.
Fact check: the OBBBA did NOT eliminate taxes on Social Security.
In fact, it does nothing to help lower- and middle-income seniors--but it does harm Social Security's financing. #CBPPSOTU
www.cbpp.org/blog/contrar...
When home values rise that means prices have gone up. But, if you care about housing affordability, then you are screwing buyers.
You can't do both. #CBPPSOTU
Trump: "In one year, we have lifted 2.4 million Americans -- a record -- off of food stamps" (In other words, Republicans cut food stamps)
Flashback to last year's State of the Union: Trump falsely claimed that 10s of millions of dead people were getting Social Security.
But of course this year he won't claim victory--or even even acknowledge that wild claim--because it was false all along. #CBPPSOTU
We’ll be giving real-time commentary and analysis of tonight’s speech so be sure to follow along using #CBPPSOTU. And check back for more analysis on the President’s budget in the coming weeks.
