New report says millions of Americans getting Social Security benefits faced delays in 2025

Millions of Americans, and especially those who are retired, rely on Social Security benefits to make ends meet. The Social Security program has been a part of the country for several decades now, but this year, beneficiaries faced delays owing to backlogs, according to a report in Newsweek. The publication credited The Washington Post for bringing this information to the forefront. Those in the administration are not happy about it and have been aggressively defending the Social Security Administration (SSA).

The report states that nearly a whopping 75 million Americans rely on Social Security benefits as part of their retirement. The program provides several services, such as critical retirement, survivor, and disability benefits. The Washington Post story reportedly cited dozens of internal agency documents and interviews. One of the reasons for the backlogs that caused the delays could be attributed to the job cuts made to the federal workforce earlier this year.

The program has undergone several changes since President Donald Trump took office in January. Several roles were cut by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The cuts to the workforce meant that the employees who were fortunate enough not to be laid off have a ton of work on their hands, way more than what they are equipped to handle within a certain time frame. Of course, the President probably did not think that through.

As per the report, these cuts have resulted in up to 6 million pending cases in its processing centers and 12 million transactions in its field offices. Workers have been overwhelmed with the additional workload they have had to bear thanks to the administration’s policies. In Wyoming, field offices have only 18 employees for every 7,429 recipients. That does not seem like a healthy ratio to get the job done within a certain time period.

The SSA, however, has been highly aggressive in its response to The Washington Post. However, this doesn’t come as a surprise as demeaning media professionals has become a hallmark of Donald Trump and his aides. “The Washington Post piece is full of Pinocchios. Social Security provided multiple on the record statements to refute the fake news, but the Washington Post would rather fearmonger seniors than print the truth,” an SSA spokesperson said.

“An independent OIG audit proved that the Social Security Administration has made profound customer service improvements as a result of technology and staffing decisions. Under President Trump’s leadership, Social Security is serving more people faster and better than before, and SSA will remain undeterred by politically-driven propaganda peddled by the Post,” they added. The spokesperson also said that there were 1.9 million pending field office claims, and not 6 million as The Washington Post had reported.

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