A new report from Rolling Stone claims that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is taking a wrecking ball to the Social Security Administration, which could seriously hurt beneficiaries' ability to collect the money they are owed.
According to the report, DOGE has already "shuttered at least 10 Social Security field offices in as many states" and "has eliminated the SSA’s Office of Transformation, a department whose work included making it easier for Americans to apply for and access benefits online — the exact service many people will need now that offices are being closed across the country."
Additionally, Rolling Stone has found that the employees who manage the official Social Security website have been placed on leave, which increases the likelihood that people who access the website for information about their benefits will no longer be able to do so.
An anonymous source described as someone "close to the Social Security Administration" tells Rolling Stone that there doesn't appear to be any method to Musk's slash-and-burn operation, as he believes that it will simply make the administration run vastly worse.
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"I don’t think any of it makes any sense," the source explained. "I think that they’re just doing things to intentionally create chaos and fear, of making drastic changes for the sake of drastic changes and chaos."
The cuts are going to be especially difficult for low-income or disabled Americans who have limited access to technology and who rely on staff at the SSA to help them collect.
Trump vowed during the 2024 presidential campaign to not cut Social Security benefits, although he said nothing about making it far more difficult to collect the benefits that people are owed.