Some of those on Social Security might not see their May check, according to former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley.
“I truly believe there’s going to be some interruption of benefits for some period of time, and I believe that will probably happen in the very near future,” said O’Malley, who spoke with U.S. Reps. Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi at a Monday Social Security town hall. “I’ve never hoped I was wrong so much in my life.”
Since President Trump took office in January, his administration has cut the agency from 57,000 to 50,000 employees, including a 50% cut to the department’s IT staff which has caused wait times for phone assistance, claim approval and other services to increase exponentially and the system to experience multiple temporary crashes, according to O’Malley, Gillen and Suozzi.
“Why would you cut 7,000 employees to save 0.06% of the budget from one of the most important agencies?” Suozzi questioned repeatedly Monday night, emphasizing that the savings from the staffing cuts was a minuscule percentage of the agency’s budget. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Many of the roughly 200 concerned constituents who packed into a Long Island University auditorium to hear about the current state of Social Security from the Nassau Congressional representatives and the agency’s former commissioner. Attendees expressed extreme anxiety about the state of Social Security, their retirement funds and the economy in general.
“I’m very concerned about the economy,” 71-year-old Mehri Fryzel said. “It’s an ongoing weekly concern. Am I going to end up having the money I need to continue to live?”
“I would not normally come to a forum like this,” said 71-year-old Trish Burr-Peters, who said she was attending because she wanted to get more comprehensive information on changes within the Social Security Admiistration. “I’m also here because I want Gillen and Suozzi to know that people really do care, and, if they needed us to do something, I would do it. What’s happening now is nothing to ignore.”
Gillen and Suozzi, who collectively represent nearly all of Nassau, said they invited O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor, to speak to their constituents to inform them on the current state of Social Security. But they also wanted to hear what the two of them were currently doing in Congress to defend the program from Trump’s cuts and what their constituents could do to fight back against cuts to the program as well.
O’Malley, who led the agency under Biden from 2023 to 2024, told the crowd that he believed the Trump administration’s recent changes threatened the reliability of the program which 69 million people in the country depend on, as well as the security of those users’ personal information due to DOGE’s involvement in the agency.
All three said that no changes to checks or benefits had occurred yet and emphasized the importance of understanding accurate information about both the program in general and the current agency changes.
Edwin Osorio, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees who works with many Social Security employees in his role with the union and has worked as a public servant in the Social Security Administration himself, also spoke at the event, emphasizing how difficult the cuts have made it for agency employees to do their jobs.
Constituents in the audience said they found the briefing and open question forum afterwards helpful and informative. But some still felt the Congressional members – and the Democratic Party as a whole – should take a stronger stance in opposition to Republicans, particularly on Social Security.
“I think they should definitely fight more with all that’s going on. They really have to be stronger,” said Gail Clement, a 64-year-old constituent from Nassau. “I think they’re too passive.”
When attendees asked Suozzi what he was doing in Congress to push back against the administration, he responded by saying he was focused on finding ways to compromise with Republicans and highlighting Republican representatives who were speaking out against Trump administration actions that he believed were hurting the public.
Some continued to express dissatisfaction with Suozzi’s answers and insistence on the Democratic Party’s inability to take more aggressive action due to being the minority party throughout the night. But many were satisfied with the information-heavy briefing and list of action items they could carry out themselves.
Suozzi said constituents should write letters to the editor of local papers, organize community meetings with those who think differently than they do and participate in local efforts while writing and calling the offices of local and national officials.
He emphasized the importance of calling all offices, including the White House and local Republicans, saying that even if the representatives don’t alter their votes based on the calls, they do take note of what people are calling about and it can have a significant amount of influence.
“Please do keep in touch with our offices,” Gillen added. “It helps us advocate for you when we hear your personal stories. If you are on hold for two hours, we want to know about that because it helps us keep track of what is really happening.”
