SSA cuts 7,100 jobs as Social Security Administration Staff Cuts deepen
The Social Security Administration made social security administration staff cuts of more than 7,100 jobs early in the second Trump administration, while also closing six regional offices and moving more services online. The changes affected an agency that serves more than 60 million retired workers and 16 million people receiving disability benefits.
Social Security officials had already shifted the public conversation this year by announcing in March 2025 that people would no longer be able to apply for benefits on the phone, then reversing that decision a month later. In June 2025, the agency removed key customer service metrics from its website, including phone wait times and disability claim processing times.
Social Security Administration
The job cuts amount to more than 13% of the agency's workforce and were its largest staffing cut ever. The agency also expanded the use of automated and artificial intelligence systems on its public phone lines, adding another change to the way people reach staff and get routed through the system.
For people who rely on the agency, the changes hit two main benefit systems. Supplemental Security Income is a public assistance program for low-income older adults and people with disabilities under age 65, and in 2026 it provides a maximum of US$994 per month for any one person getting benefits. Social Security Disability Insurance is a limited pension for people who worked long enough to qualify and now have disabilities that prevent them from working any longer; in 2026, the monthly average SSDI payment is about $1,634.
March 2025
The March phone-application announcement mattered because it showed how quickly the agency was changing basic access points for benefit claims, even before the staffing cut landed. The later reversal left the phone channel in place, but the June removal of wait-time and processing-time data reduced the public view of how the system was performing.
That leaves callers, applicants and disability claimants dealing with a smaller staff, fewer regional offices and a website that no longer shows two of the clearest service measurements. The changes point to a system that is sending more work through digital and automated channels while giving the public less visibility into how long help takes to reach.
