Jen Burdick

Low-Income Disabled Youth Face Significant Challenges Upon Coming of Age More than 4 in 10 SSI youth lose their benefits when they turn 18 because they have not demonstrated that they meet SSI’s stringent adult definition of disability, even if they continue to have health...

Lots more information on transition-age SSI youth, their outcomes, research on improving the transition to adulthood, and ideas for reform in the paper!

Please give it a read: www.cbpp.org/research/soc...

Social Security scraps plan to limit disability benefits after uproar The policy would have fundamentally altered who qualifies for the two federal disability programs by eliminating or limiting a person’s age as a factor to consider.

The Trump Administration is abandoning plans for the biggest-ever cut to Social Security Disability Insurance, which would have hit older workers hardest.

The rule would have devastated up to 1.5 million workers' financial stability, retirement security & access to health care.

wapo.st/4o48J24

Recent Actions by the Trump Administration Target Children with Disabilities Proposed rules, reductions in force, threaten roughly 100,000 children who rely on Supplemental Security Income, plus others in need of support and

The Trump Admin's shameful attacks on kids with disabilities are happening on every front: legislation (OBBB), regs, and RIFs. The Social Security Administration's new proposed rule to limit SSI eligibility is yet another example. 1/ firstfocus.org/update/recen...

Trump Administration Plans Deep Cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance, Particularly for Older Workers Despite repeatedly promising not to cut Social Security, the Trump Administration is reportedly preparing a proposed rule that could reduce the share of applicants who qualify for Social Security...

Despite repeatedly promising not to cut Social Security, the Trump Admin is reportedly preparing a proposed rule that could reduce the share of applicants who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance by up to 20%--which would be the largest cut ever. 🧵

www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...

Today's the last day for 150K+ feds who took the "Fork" (deferred resignation program), including 800+ at the Social Security Administration.

The experience at SSA demonstrates 3 things about the DRP:

1. It's the tip of the iceberg
2. It wasn't really voluntary
3. It hurts service to the public

🧵 Big changes may be coming to disability benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is preparing a rule that could reshape how eligibility is determined for SSDI and SSI. Here’s what you need to know—and why it matters. www.urban.org/research/pub...

DOGE Put Critical Social Security Data at Risk, Whistle-Blower Says

DOGE staff at Social Security have put the sensitive data of hundreds of millions is at "high risk," which could have “catastrophic impact,” according to internal SSA docs.

This was not only foreseeable, but widely predicted.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...

Social Security issued a press release yesterday claiming it's improved customer service. I'm skeptical, for 4 reasons:

1. SSA's career comms staff are mostly gone
2. SSA comms are now very partisan
3. Performance metrics are mostly gone
4. SSA is now cherrypicking misleading stats

Receipts in 🧵

Social Security stops reporting call wait times and other metrics The changes are the latest sign of the agency’s struggle with website crashes, overloaded servers and long lines at field offices amid Trump cutbacks.

After sending a misleading & partisan press release to millions, Social Security issued a new release on service "improvements" under the new Commissioner, whom it lavishes w/praise.

But SSA deleted most metrics last month, allowing them to cherry pick data.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Today’s ruling on birthright citizenship has the potential to cause chaos at the Social Security Administration, which assigns Social Security numbers to over 99% of all babies born in the US in an automatic data exchange with states.

SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano promised he'd run a "fact-based, rule-based org that can count."

But something's not adding up.

1,244 fewer Social Security staff serve in field offices as of 5/1, per SSA.

But Bisignano testified that "the reality is we have more people in field offices"

The CDC will no longer recommend COVID vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a statement saying the vaccine was no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. A CHOP official said COVID is still dangerous for both groups.

"RFK Jr. said he would not take away anyone’s vaccines. He lied: That’s exactly what he’s doing," said Paul Offit, who heads CHOP's Vaccine Education Center and serves on an FDA vaccine advisory board.

www.inquirer.com/health/cdc-c...

This is good news! Social Security will continue to allow applications by phone. Your voices mattered!

Also: SSA has not addressed whether direct deposit changes can continue to be made by phone, nor has it made an official statement to a very confused & concerned public (just cryptic tweets).

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So, the DOGE kids intend to rewrite the social-security administration's COBOL code-base!

and they want to do it ...

... in *a few months*

I did a huge dive into COBOL a few years ago (www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazi...) ...

... so let me explain why DOGE is *way* over its skis here

1/9

Case 1:25-cv-00596-ELH Document 48 Filed 03/20/25 Page 1 of 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND AMERICAN FEDERTION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, et al. Plaintiffs, Civil Action No. ELH-25-0596 SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, et al. Defendants. TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER For the reasons set forth in the accompanying Memorandum Opinion, it is this 20th day of March 2025, at 2:12 p.m. by the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, ORDERED: 1. Plaintiffs' Motion for Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO," ECF 21) is GRANTED.

BREAKING: Federal judge blocks Elon Musk, Amy Gleason, and DOGE employees from access to Social Security Administration systems containing personally identifiable information, orders them also to delete any previously obtained non-anonymized SSA information.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Recent Changes at the Social Security Administration: What's at Stake for Customer Service. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about j... Join the Academy for an exclusive briefing featuring former Commissioner Martin O’Malley and former Commissioner Michael Astrue as well as a panel of expert Academy Members: Kathleen Romig of the Cent...

Natl Academy of Social Insurance zoom briefing on effects of DOGE staffing cuts on Social Security this Thurs (3/13) from noon-1pm featuring former SSA commissioners Martin O’Malley & Michael Astrue + expert panel incl @kathleenromig.bsky.social & @jen-burdick.bsky.social. tinyurl.com/4penutdr

Last Friday SSA announced that for new Social Security overpayments the repayment amount would increase from 10% of benefits to 100%. This effort reflects both a glaring lack of understanding of the program and a deep indifference to the harm to beneficiaries. 1/5

@kathleenromig.bsky.social bringing us truly the mystery of the day

This update is disappointing, inefficient, and honestly mean-spirited: www.ssa.gov/news/press/r...

Elon Musk wants to gut Social Security.

He does not care about you or your family — or really anyone else.

He wants to make himself richer while working people suffer.

In over thirty years of working on the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its programs at the White House Office of Management and Budget and now the Urban Institute, I have never been more concerned about the agency than I am today. 1/9

Social Security Administration Announces 'Significant Workforce Reductions' Ahead Democrats accused the Trump administration of "putting Social Security benefits at risk by firing the staff who help beneficiaries."

News: Social Security Administration planning “significant workforce reductions”

www.huffpost.com/entry/social...

Graphic. Text: "Hands off Social Security." With a social security card in the background. On the card says "70,000,000,000 Americans rely on this critical program"

Hey Co-President Trump: firing the workers who serve Social Security beneficiaries would count as “touching” Social Security, breaking your promise. (1/2)

DOGE has announced a total of 45 Social Security field office closures--so far.

SSA has 1,200 field offices where people can receive in-person help getting benefits, updating records, enrolling in Medicare & more.

They served 30M applicants & beneficiaries in 2023 — nearly 120K *per day*.

Undocumented immigrants paid about $26 billion per year into Social Security, even though they will get nothing out of it.

They subsidize citizens to an extraordinary degree. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/b...

What happens when the SSA closes field offices?
*People have a harder time getting access to services that they are eligible for because of crowded offices.
*People with more severe disabilities, lower income and lower education are most adversely affected.
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

Social Security shutters its civil rights and transformation offices Among the people affected are those managing the agency’s website, a front door to services for Americans online.

Among those fired from Social Security's Office of Transformation is the woman leading the effort to identify and enroll child survivors.

These kids experienced the death of a parent, but they aren't getting the Social Security benefits their parents earned. 🧵

www.govexec.com/management/2...

This is a huge loss. One of the departing Social Security regional commissioners, LeeAnn Stuever, led the agency's ambitious effort to reform overpayments--you may recall the reporting on 60 Minutes, Cox/Kaiser, and elsewhere (links below). Her thoughtful and careful work helped so many people. 💔

New Social Security chief was being investigated when Musk team tapped him Data analyst Leland Dudek was suspected of sharing unauthorized access to information with the U.S. DOGE Service. Now he’s the acting Social Security commissioner.

SCOOP: New Social Security chief was being investigated for leaking data to DOGE when Musk team tapped him. Sr officials placed him on paid leave while probing whether he may have violated privacy & tax laws, WaPo's Lisa Rein reports.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Anxiety Mounts Among Social Security Recipients as DOGE Troops Settle In Elon Musk’s team has descended on an already understaffed Social Security Administration, which now faces further workforce cuts and closures of vital local offices. The consequences could be significant for millions of the most vulnerable Americans.

NEW: Elon Musk’s team has descended on an already understaffed Social Security Administration, which now faces further workforce cuts and closures of vital local offices. The consequences could be significant for millions of the most vulnerable Americans.