The former head of the Social Security Administration has warned that proposed cuts to the agency could cause the entire system to “collapse,” disrupting benefits payments for millions of Americans.
“Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse, and there will be an interruption of benefits,” Martin O’Malley, former Social Security commissioner during the Biden administration, told CNBC. “I think that will happen within the next 30 to 90 days.”
“People should start saving now,” he advised.
O’Malley, a Democrat who was governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015, claimed that proposed funding and staffing cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have already caused chaos at the agency.
More than 72.5 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, with nearly 90 percent of those over the age of 65 relying on the program. In its more than 80-year history, the program has never failed to send payments.
The White House and the SSA did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on O’Malley’s remarks.
As part of Musk’s government-slashing campaign under DOGE, the SSA notified employees last week that it would be undergoing “significant workforce reductions” as part of a “agency-wide organizational restructuring.”
While an anonymous source within the agency told the Associated Press that the system could cut up to half of its workforce, the SSA denied this claim, saying in a statement Feb. 28 that it had “set a staffing target of 50,000, down from the current level of approximately 57,000 employees.”
The SSA has offered buyouts to agency employees, with a March 14 deadline before layoffs start.
DOGE also stated that it intended to close 45 SSA offices across the country by letting their leases expire.
O’Malley predicted a massive political backlash if workers who have paid into the system their entire lives began to have their payments interrupted.
“People are going to start bringing a lot of heat to members of Congress who have been enabling the destruction of Social Security and the interruption of earned benefits,” O’Malley told the crowd.
Social Security is extremely popular among Americans, making Republicans’ long-standing efforts to reform the system politically risky—and providing Democrats with a cudgel.
On Monday, top Senate Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Patty Murray of Washington, and Ron Wyden of Oregon, held a press conference to condemn the Trump administration and DOGE for attempting to “destroy” the agency.
“It is hard to believe that the Trump administration wants to cut Social Security, but that’s what’s happening,” Mr. Schumer said.
“We’re in a pincer move that shows just what they’re up to,” he said, citing the agency’s plan to fire 7,000 employees and Musk’s recent comments calling the program a “Ponzi scheme.”
Democrats in the House have also raised the alarm.
“The Trump administration is putting Social Security benefits at risk by firing employees who assist beneficiaries and closing offices that serve communities across the country,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement earlier this week.
Other changes have shaken the SSA since Trump took office. Michelle King, the agency’s acting commissioner, resigned in February amid a disagreement over DOGE’s access to sensitive user data.
President Trump has appointed Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano as the new commissioner, but the Senate has yet to confirm him. In the interim, Trump has appointed Leland Dudek, a midlevel career employee at the SSA who was previously placed on leave for cooperating with DOGE, as acting commissioner.