Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz says the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), along with congressional Republicans, must cease their “illegal assault” on the nation’s Social Security program.
“Social Security is breaking down nationwide as Trump and Musk fire thousands of workers, close field offices, force drastic service cuts, and make it hard to get timely help with their hard-earned benefits,” said Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, in a statement from her congressional office before a planned news conference Monday morning.
She appeared in front of the local Social Security Administration office in Plantation with invited senior citizens, union workers and others.
“Other far-right Republicans suggest that benefits must be curtailed,” she said. “Republicans are breaking Social Security on purpose.”
The Social Security Administration has experienced turmoil since Trump began his second term in January. The following month, the agency’s acting commissioner Michelle King stepped down from her role after refusing to provide staffers of Musk’s DOGE access to troves of recipients’ data.
The White House replaced her with Leland Dudek, who is carrying out a major overhaul of operations in what they say is an effort to clamp down on alleged fraud, which DOGE alleges is widespread.
READ MORE: What has DOGE done in Trump's first 100 days?
The changes include mass employee layoffs and staff reductions, new limits on recipients’ phone line access and the closure of offices around the country.
They have sparked furor among lawmakers, advocacy groups and program recipients, who say the Trump administration is placing unnecessary barriers in front of an already vulnerable population.
Those changes have already impacted operations at the Social Security office in Plantation.
Speaking at the press conference, Althia Mowat — head of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees union and a Social Security administrator — said the building has lost more than a quarter of its employees.
"That means longer wait times on the phone. It was already said that people are waiting three hours. We're already having the situation where we don't have enough employees as is. When that's reduced, who knows how long that wait time may be. It could go from three hours to five, to six to eight," she said.
Joan Reynolds, a senior from Hollywood has already noticed those impacts. " I called Social Security several times, never getting through or being on hold for 180 minutes and then being disconnected," she told WLRN.
Once she did get through, she was given conflicting information about whether she needed to set up an appointment. She also said it took more than ten days and multiple follow-ups for her information to be processed. Those delays made her almost miss the deadline to sign up for Medicare Part B.
" It was hours, hours and days of constant calling and then having to drive out there and then almost being turned away again ... it would've been financially very bad for me," she said.
The office in Plantation was listed in DOGE's website under the real estate section as a target for lease termination. But Mowatt said they have not heard anything about a lease cancellation.
" If this office closes, it's the only office in the county. I'm not sure where they [seniors] would go," said Wasserman Schultz.
Roughly 72.5 million people, including retirees and children, receive Social Security benefits.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
