Ahead of the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, has introduced legislation he says is aimed at undoing years of service cuts and politically motivated interference at the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act is designed to restore staffing and services, increase funding, and end what Sanders describes as the politicization of the agency under former President Donald Trump and his allies, including former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk.
The bill was unveiled with support from 20 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and comes as Social Security marks nine decades of uninterrupted benefit payments to eligible Americans. In 2023 alone, Social Security lifted 27.6 million Americans out of poverty, including more than 19.5 million seniors. Without it, nearly 40% of people over age 65 would be living in poverty.
“Since Trump has been in office, he has been working overtime with the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, to dismantle Social Security and undermine the faith that the American people have in this vitally important program,” Sanders said. “Thousands of Social Security staff have lost their jobs, seniors and people with disabilities are having a much harder time receiving the benefits they have earned, field offices have been shut down and the 1-800 number is a mess. That is beyond unacceptable. On the 90th anniversary of Social Security, our job must be to reverse these disastrous cuts, expand Social Security and make it easier, not harder, for Americans to receive the benefits they have earned and deserve. That’s precisely what this legislation will do.”
According to Sanders’ office, the Trump administration fired more than 7,000 SSA employees, closed field offices across the country, restricted live operator access on the SSA’s 1-800 number, and required in-person office visits for benefits that could previously be accessed remotely. The legislation asserts that these changes, combined with “false statements designed to undermine the confidence that the American people have in this life-saving program,” have left the agency less able to serve the public. Sanders also pointed to the administration’s decision to give DOGE staff “unfettered access” to Americans’ most sensitive personal information.
Even before Trump took office, the SSA was facing chronic underfunding and staff shortages. As a result, about 30,000 people with disabilities die each year while waiting for benefits. Advocates say the cuts have worsened delays and barriers for those in need.
The Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act includes measures to:
- Prohibit SSA office closures, relocations, and service reductions; reverse layoffs; and guarantee access to in-person and phone assistance.
- Increase SSA funding by $5 billion to improve customer service, modernize technology, and reduce benefit approval backlogs.
- Restore assistance for vulnerable and disabled people to access benefits.
- Safeguard Americans’ personal data and prevent political interference in the administration of Social Security.
- Remove DOGE’s authority over SSA and initiate an independent investigation into the department’s actions.
The bill has been endorsed by organizations including Social Security Works, AFSCME, Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for Living & Working, Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center, American Association of People with Disabilities, Justice in Aging, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, New York Legal Assistance Group, and New Disabled South.
Sanders introduced the measure the same day he joined former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley, U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and John Larson (D-Conn.), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) at a “Protect Our Checks” town hall hosted by Unrig Our Economy, Social Security Works, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Wyden criticized recent remarks by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, saying, “Late last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ‘openly bragged about plans to use a back door to privatize Social Security and hand the benefits of working families over to those folks on Wall Street,’ Wyden pointed out. ‘Trump’s so-called promise to protect Social Security, in my view, is about as real as his promise to protect Medicaid—no substance, big consequences for American seniors and families walking on an economic tightrope.’”
The administration’s broader agenda, Wyden argued, is reflected in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed in July, which is expected to remove Medicaid and other forms of assistance, including food stamps, from millions of Americans over the next decade.
At the town hall, beneficiaries shared personal accounts of Social Security’s role in their lives. Judith Brown testified, “at 37, I became disabled. It was devastating, because I was a young mother to two sons [that] are on the autism spectrum. When my sons needed additional medical support, I was able to get care for them because of their Social Security benefits. Without those benefits, we would have been homeless on the street. Social Security has always been there for us over all these years. Right now, this administration is bent on stripping us of our benefits that we paid into during our working years… We cannot allow this to happen. Social Security must be protected and expanded. Our entire existence is on the line, and we must fight to protect Social Security.”
Unrig Our Economy spokesperson Saryn Francis linked the administration’s broader policies to household hardships. “Republican tariffs are driving up prices at the grocery store, their bills are raising the cost of healthcare and electricity, and they’ve even found time to hand out more tax breaks to billionaires, and now they want to mess with Social Security, and we are not going to let them take that away from us. this weekend, with over 50 events across the country, Americans are rallying in a massive effort to support Social Security and calling on congressional Republicans to stop threatening what hardworking people have earned and need to survive.”
With national rallies planned and the bill now introduced, Sanders and his allies are pressing for swift action to restore SSA staffing, protect data privacy, and reverse the changes made during the Trump years. The legislation’s fate will depend on whether it can gain traction in a divided Congress where Social Security’s future remains a sharply contested political issue.
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