Seniors Flood AARP Hotline With Concerns About Social Security
April 8, 2025
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Since February, a growing wave of anxiety among older Americans over the future of Social Security has nearly doubled the number of calls to AARP’s customer care line. The spike has been tied to mounting confusion and frustration with government services.
An AARP spokesperson confirmed to the Detroit Free Press that the group’s hotline at 888-687-2277 has been inundated with questions since early February.
Why It Matters
Social Security remains a lifeline for seniors in the United States, with around 69 million Americans receiving monthly benefits.
The surge in AARP’s hotline activity—more than 2,000 calls per week—may signal a fear that the current administration’s cost-cutting measures could impact services or even the stability of the benefits themselves.
Behind the scenes, the system itself is strained. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is grappling with website crashes and office staffing shortages, intensified by broader federal workforce cuts.
A woman stands outside a Social Security Administration building on November 5, 2020, in Burbank, California. A woman stands outside a Social Security Administration building on November 5, 2020, in Burbank, California. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
The SSA has experienced turbulence in recent weeks. The agency’s website crashed four times over a 10-day span due to server overload, and internal cost-cutting has left field offices short-staffed and unable to keep up with demand, according to a Washington Post investigation published March 25.
Office managers have reportedly taken over receptionist duties as staff attrition continues. The agency’s customer experience monitoring office was eliminated as part of broader federal cuts.
These challenges have compounded fears that access to benefits—or the benefits themselves—could be jeopardized.
While critics have pointed fingers at President Donald Trump’s administration for backing cost-reduction strategies, Trump has repeatedly said that Social Security is safe.
“We’re not going to touch Social Security,” Trump said during a town hall in March.
What People Are Saying
Alex Beene, financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “Social Security includes millions of recipients nationwide, all with varying degrees of digital literacy. The expectation that axing assistance through phone services and eliminating staff positions because they were unneeded won’t shake up the lives of those receiving benefits is shortsighted. You’re now seeing these same individuals reach out to organizations like AARP over genuine fear these cuts will lead to more problems, and it will be interesting to see this administration’s response.”
California U.S. Senator Adam Schiff wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter: “If you thought Donald Trump and Elon Musk weren’t going to go after your Social Security—you thought wrong. They already are.”
Former SSA commissioner Martin O’Malley wrote on X: “Elon Musk and Donald Trump are gutting Social Security with a chainsaw, and I’m deeply concerned.”
What Happens Next
As the SSA continues to face pressure from both within and outside the agency, a new commissioner is expected to take charge in the coming weeks. How that leadership transition affects staffing, funding and service infrastructure remains to be seen.
Trump has nominated Frank Bisignano as the next leader of the SSA, but some Democrats say Bisignano has lied about his involvement with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Bisignano, CEO of fintech and payments firm Fiserv, is a Republican donor who has supported Trump as well as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and ex-Senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He previously worked for JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.
“He handpicked DOGE agents and pressured Social Security employees to cut corners,” Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said last week, adding that there should be a bipartisan investigation into these allegations.
The SSA faces a funding crisis that could see future monthly payments slashed by roughly 20 percent by the mid-2030s unless Congress intervenes.
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