In a concerning development for millions of Americans who rely on Social Security benefits, staff members at the Social Security Administration (SSA) are raising alarms about sweeping changes being implemented under Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
The planned overhaul includes a massive workforce reduction of 7,000 employees and an ambitious project to rewrite the entire system's programming code in just a few months - changes that workers fear could destabilize the program that serves approximately 69 million Americans and distributes over $1.6 trillion annually.
"No one knows what's going on," revealed an anonymous SSA employee in recent statements. "They're just coming up with ideas at the top of their head." The worker described the current state of the agency as "complete, utter chaos."
One of the most concerning aspects is the rushed plan to migrate the SSA's computer systems from COBOL to modern programming languages like Java. Technology experts indicate this type of transition typically requires years of careful implementation, not months.
The workforce cuts appear particularly problematic as they coincide with service reductions. Phone helplines have been discontinued under claims they enable fraud, numerous SSA offices face closure, and the online system experiences frequent crashes.
Rich Couture, speaking for the American Federation of Government Employees' Social Security Administration committee, warns of dire consequences: "Call wait times will skyrocket, wait times for appointments, processing times, all of it going to skyrocket because there won't be enough people to do the jobs."
The changes come despite Social Security's broad popularity across demographic groups. Musk, who previously labeled Social Security "the biggest Ponzi Scheme of all time," appears determined to reshape the agency dramatically.
For the millions of Americans depending on timely Social Security payments, the combination of massive staff reductions, office closures, and a rushed technical overhaul creates unprecedented uncertainty about the system's stability and their future benefits.