Minority Staff Report, United States Senate, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY, PENSIONS, AND FAMILY POLICY, Bernie Sanders, Ranking Member, March 26, 2025

Social Security is the most successful government program in our nation’s history. For more than 86 years, through good times and bad, Social Security has paid out every benefit owed to every eligible American on time and without delay. Social Security lifts roughly 27 million Americans out of poverty each and every year.i And yet, despite this success, we can do better. We must do better. At a time of massive wealth inequality, our job must be to expand and strengthen Social Security.

Americans across both parties agree with this sentiment. Roughly 87 percent agree that Social Security should remain a top priority for Congress—no matter the state of budget deficits.ii This is unsurprising since Americans view Social Security as a lifeline. In this country, half of older Americans have no retirement savings and have no idea how they will ever be able to retire with any shred of dignity or respect.iii One in three seniors, or roughly 17 million people, are economically insecure.iv Roughly 22 percent of seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than $15,000 a year and nearly half of seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than $30,000 a year.v

These numbers are even more startling for people with disabilities. Nearly 27 percent of people with disabilities live in poverty.vi Living with a disability involves extra costs, requiring families to spend an estimated 28 percent more income to maintain the same standard of living as non- disabled people, or roughly an additional $17,690 annually.vii For a person with a disability on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the maximum support they receive is just $11,604 annually for individuals and $17,400 for couples.viii And for people on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the average annual benefit is $18,972.ix Millions of people with disabilities are living paycheck to paycheck and certainly do not have the necessary resources to cover additional costs of living with a disability.

Nor do they have the time to wait for their disability benefits. Yet, the number of Social Security Administration (SSA) staff completing disability determinations began declining even before the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In 2023, there were 5,252 full time employees making disability determinations at SSA, which has steadily decreased from previous years.x The average wait time for a decision grew from 111 days in 2017 to 217 days in 2023. Even before this Administration started making cuts to SSA, the number of people who died waiting for a benefit decision grew from 10,000 to 30,000 from 2017 to 2023.xi In February 2025, there was an average 236 day wait time for a determination.xii

Yet, instead of focusing on delivering benefits to seniors and people with disabilities, President Trump and unelected billionaire Elon Musk are systematically dismantling SSA. Roughly 3,000 employees have already been terminated or accepted voluntary separations from SSA.xiii They have made unsubstantiated claims that there is........

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