Former U.S. Social Security head says benefits could be interrupted in 30 to 90 days

[Jingthing]

Why?

Because of the massive "chain saw" style firings, encouraged resignations, loss of normal transition training mechanisms, and loss of institutional knowledge held by long term staff.

Be clear -- he is not predicting PERMANENT CUT OFF of benefits. So no fear mongering here.

He's WARNING that a delay could happen because of the chaos that has indeed been caused.

IF this interruption happens it would be the first time in social security history.

Why am I posting this here?

Because I know many American retirees use the income method, importing 65K baht of more monthly to meet their annual retirement extension financial requirements.

So what happens if the payment is delayed for just one month (it could be much longer) so that your next payment is double covering the missed month?

Will Thai immigration accept that? My understanding is that they require monthly remits and missed months even just one are not allowed.

On top of the immigration issue of course the former head is warning people to save up their money to weather a delay.

Hopefully not too many expats are living that close to the bone, but clearly some are.

 

The news story.

Social Security payments could be interrupted as DOGE causes 'system collapse' | Fortune

www.fortune.com/2025/03/03/social-security-payments-benefits-interruption-doge-cuts-system-collapse-retirement-disability/

Social Security payments could suffer interruption soon as DOGE causes ‘system collapse,’ former commissioner warns—‘start saving now’

 

The snopes analysis.

Ex-head of Social Security claimed DOGE actions could cause payment interruptions. Here's context | Snopes.com

www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/07/social-security-collapse-doge/

 

[mania]

Oh stop 🤣

[FriscoKid]

Yeah, I saw that news a couple of days ago and watched a few different interviews with the guy. It all sounds possible. Would result in civil unrest if it does happen in my opinion. 

[TheAppletons]

1 hour ago, FriscoKid said:

Would result in civil unrest if it does happen in my opinion. 

 

  That's putting it mildly.  Many social security recipients in Trump's base electorate.

 

  "I never thought leopards would eat MY face", sobs woman who voted for Leopards Eating People's Faces party.

[TedG]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Why?

Because of the massive "chain saw" style firings, encouraged resignations, loss of normal transition training mechanisms, and loss of institutional knowledge held by long term staff.

Be clear -- he is not predicting PERMANENT CUT OFF of benefits. So no fear mongering here.

He's WARNING that a delay could happen because of the chaos that has indeed been caused.

IF this interruption happens it would be the first time in social security history.

Why am I posting this here?

Because I know many American retirees use the income method, importing 65K baht of more monthly to meet their annual retirement extension financial requirements.

So what happens if the payment is delayed for just one month (it could be much longer) so that your next payment is double covering the missed month?

Will Thai immigration accept that? My understanding is that they require monthly remits and missed months even just one are not allowed.

On top of the immigration issue of course the former head is warning people to save up their money to weather a delay.

Hopefully not too many expats are living that close to the bone, but clearly some are.

 

The news story.

Social Security payments could be interrupted as DOGE causes 'system collapse' | Fortune

www.fortune.com/2025/03/03/social-security-payments-benefits-interruption-doge-cuts-system-collapse-retirement-disability/

Social Security payments could suffer interruption soon as DOGE causes ‘system collapse,’ former commissioner warns—‘start saving now’

 

The snopes analysis.

Ex-head of Social Security claimed DOGE actions could cause payment interruptions. Here's context | Snopes.com

www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/07/social-security-collapse-doge/

 

 

This is called FUD.

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, TheAppletons said:

 

  That's putting it mildly.  Many social security recipients in Trump's base electorate.

 

  "I never thought leopards would eat MY face", sobs woman who voted for Leopards Eating People's Faces party.

He doesn't really care about them either.

As things melt down, except even more ridiculous diversions. 

[Jingthing]

A SS insider commenting on this and related issues:

 

 

[Patong2021]

MAGA supporters won't worry. The  small number of US citizens who are at risk in Thailand are  a small cost to suffer during the great leap forward.

 

4 hours ago, FriscoKid said:

Yeah, I saw that news a couple of days ago and watched a few different interviews with the guy. It all sounds possible. Would result in civil unrest if it does happen in my opinion. 

 

Doubtful. The SS beneficiaries are mostly vulnerable people. How is some morbidly obese  woman in a wheelchair going to protest? How about the elderly man confined to a nursing home bed? The elderly are the least likely to engage in overt protest for fear of retribution or physical harm.  Sure, they will complain and  AARP will shake its fist, but  if the delay is  short,  it will be quickly forgotten.

[jas007]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Why?

Because of the massive "chain saw" style firings, encouraged resignations, loss of normal transition training mechanisms, and loss of institutional knowledge held by long term staff.

Be clear -- he is not predicting PERMANENT CUT OFF of benefits. So no fear mongering here.

He's WARNING that a delay could happen because of the chaos that has indeed been caused.

IF this interruption happens it would be the first time in social security history.

Why am I posting this here?

Because I know many American retirees use the income method, importing 65K baht of more monthly to meet their annual retirement extension financial requirements.

So what happens if the payment is delayed for just one month (it could be much longer) so that your next payment is double covering the missed month?

Will Thai immigration accept that? My understanding is that they require monthly remits and missed months even just one are not allowed.

On top of the immigration issue of course the former head is warning people to save up their money to weather a delay.

Hopefully not too many expats are living that close to the bone, but clearly some are.

 

The news story.

Social Security payments could be interrupted as DOGE causes 'system collapse' | Fortune

www.fortune.com/2025/03/03/social-security-payments-benefits-interruption-doge-cuts-system-collapse-retirement-disability/

Social Security payments could suffer interruption soon as DOGE causes ‘system collapse,’ former commissioner warns—‘start saving now’

 

The snopes analysis.

Ex-head of Social Security claimed DOGE actions could cause payment interruptions. Here's context | Snopes.com

www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/07/social-security-collapse-doge/

 

 Notice it's the "Ex" head of Social Security.  They're now an Ex Head for good reason. 

[BritManToo]

Alternative title,

Lefty attempts sabotage of SS payments as act of treason against pensioners.

[jas007]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Alternative title,

Lefty attempts sabotage of SS payments as act of treason against pensioners.

I'm not sure about treason, but there was certainly an effort at sandbagging the process to extort more employees and/or a larger administrative budget.  The "Ex Head" suggested the process of processing payments under the Social Security Fairness Act might take a year or more, inasmuch as no funding was provided to process the payments.  And then they became an "Ex-Head."

 

Whatever happened, I was owed some money under that program, and received it the other day.  I guess someone flipped a switch and automated the process. Of course, that was always possible. It's not rocket science.  Anyone who knows how databases work knows how to sort files. 

[Mike_Hunt]

58 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Doubtful. The SS beneficiaries are mostly vulnerable people. How is some morbidly obese  woman in a wheelchair going to protest? How about the elderly man confined to a nursing home bed? The elderly are the least likely to engage in overt protest for fear of retribution or physical harm.  Sure, they will complain and  AARP will shake its fist, but  if the delay is  short,  it will be quickly forgotten.

 

You live in a world of delusion. 

[Mike_Hunt]

14 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Alternative title,

Lefty attempts sabotage of SS payments as act of treason against pensioners.

it wouldn't surprise me that a bitter lefty would try someone like this. 

[Harrisfan]

17 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Alternative title,

Lefty attempts sabotage of SS payments as act of treason against pensioners.

At least that lefty would stop complaining about Trump for 1 day.

[Cameroni]

You can make SAVINGS from social security payments???? Oviously they are way too high then.

[Jingthing]

25 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Alternative title,

Lefty attempts sabotage of SS payments as act of treason against pensioners.

Can someone who speaks maganese translate? 

[Jingthing]

54 minutes ago, jas007 said:

 Notice it's the "Ex" head of Social Security.  They're now an Ex Head for good reason. 

Not really. 

The new head has no experience and is just following Doge orders.

[jas007]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Not really. 

The new head has no experience and is just following Doge orders.

 You don't need experience to flip a switch, and that's likely what happened. They were told to pay the people who were owed money. Flip a switch and the checks go out to all the easy cases.  Anyone suggesting that was not always the case doesn't know anything about the system. 

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, jas007 said:

 You don't need experience to flip a switch, and that's likely what happened. They were told to pay the people who were owed money. Flip a switch and the checks go out to all the easy cases.  Anyone suggesting that was not always the case doesn't know anything about the system. 

I'm in awe of how stupid that post is.

No interest in further engagement at such a low level

Ba-bye..

[Patong2021]

14 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

 

You live in a world of delusion. 

 

It is not deluded to question the claim of unrest or of  likelihood and impact of protest.

Have you considered  the demographics of the beneficiaries?  Obviously you have not.

 

68.456 million beneficiaries of which, 60 million are old age and survivor beneficiaries. More than half of these people are aged 70-84.   And more than half are female. Please tell me when the last time  that demographic engaged in social unrest? It is very unlikely that the 6 million+ beneficiaries over the age of 84 are going to engage in any form of unrest.

The remaining 8 million beneficiaries are disabled and their dependents.  Please tell me when disabled people have engaged in civil unrest?

 

The conclusion a  rational person  draws is that the Trump administration can walk all over them because  of their marginalized position. Approximately, 90% of beneficiaries rely on social security as their principal income which makes them even more vulnerable to being pushed around.

[Yagoda]

The sky is falling. Truuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmppppppppppp

Eeeeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgggggggglubchoke

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

Well, it's clear to me that Trump voter regret will grow and grow and grow.

But for him to be checked, aside from the judiciary which is helping somewhat, it's going to take some republicans in congress to flippin' DO THEIR JOB!

[Patong2021]

1 hour ago, jas007 said:

 Notice it's the "Ex" head of Social Security.  They're now an Ex Head for good reason. 

 

Why is that? Do you know anything about the gentleman or why  he is the former commissioner.

He was appointed to complete the term of a  previous commissioner who had resigned. His term was for a specific period of time and he took the position for only that time which expired at the end of January 2025.

46 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Alternative title,

Lefty attempts sabotage of SS payments as act of treason against pensioners.

 

How is he a lefty? Do you know anything about him?

No of course you do not.

 

31 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

it wouldn't surprise me that a bitter lefty would try someone like this. 

 

It does not surprise me when ignorant people who are clueless spit out ignorant labels for anyone who scares them.

The former commissioner of Social Security is the very well regarded former Governor of the state of Maryland.  He is the  man who cut crime by 36%+ when he was mayor of Baltimore and was accused of being too conservative.

He was approved  for his position by the United States Senate with only 11 Senators voting against. He did have Republican backing.

 

[NoDisplayName]

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

could happen

 

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

would be

 

Where's the "should"?

 

There was supposed to be a liberal-head-shattering "should"!

 

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Why am I posting this here?

 

Kaboom! 

 

There it is!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

[Patong2021]

6 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Well, it's clear to me that Trump voter regret will grow and grow and grow.

But for him to be checked, aside from the judiciary which is helping somewhat, it's going to take some republicans in congress to flippin' DO THEIR JOB!

 

They will not because they are afraid of primary opposition.

I offer that it will take some drastic results at the midterm elections to initiate some change.

The democrats need only gain 3 seats in the House to make it a new ball game.

[BritManToo]

31 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Can someone who speaks maganese translate? 

I'll translate it for you, SS payments are automated, the only way to stop them would require deliberate  intervention from a human.

[Jingthing]

Just now, Patong2021 said:

 

They will not because they are afraid of primary opposition.

I offer that it will take some drastic results at the midterm elections to initiate some change.

The democrats need only gain 3 seats in the House to make it a new ball game.

Yes of course, but IF the Trump voter regret level becomes overwhelming those R sleazeballs might grow the beginning of a backbone.

[jas007]

24 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I'm in awe of how stupid that post is.

No interest in further engagement at such a low level

Ba-bye..

In other words, you know I have a valid point and your only retort is to call it "stupid."  

 

I could educate you about how simple of a fix it was to send out those checks, but why?  You don't really want to understand anything.  Understanding might just upend your world view. 

[bamnutsak]

 

Tiffany Flick, a former Social Security official, detailed what she sees as a “significant” risk of sensitive government data heading into the wrong hands under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Flick, who worked at the Social Security Administration (SSA) for almost 30 years, outlined her concern in part of a federal lawsuit about the fraught takeover of the agency as DOGE officials seek to reduce federal spending.  

 

She became acting chief of staff to the SSA’s acting commissioner in January before retiring a month later as DOGE officials new to the agency took on greater and greater roles and influence, pushing out the previous leader of the administration.

 

Her 13-page legal brief is the first in-depth public account from a government executive about how DOGE has gained access to sensitive information on its mission to decrease the workforce. Flick’s retelling was first reported by The Washington Post.

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5186301-social-security-official-data-concerns/

 

 

The brief, worth a read...

 

https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AFSCME-et-al-v-SSA-Flick-Decl.-3.7.25.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

[Dan O]

52 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

it wouldn't surprise me that a bitter lefty would try someone like this. 

Not quite sure how you take a situation created by ridiculously stupid actions and "policy" of Trump and turn that into blaming someone from the left. Only in your delusional world of stupid would that be the case