WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, today introduced the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act. This legislation — unveiled for the 90th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law — reverses the disastrous cuts the Trump administration has made to the Social Security Administration (SSA), prevents Social Security field offices from shutting down, makes it easier for seniors and people with disabilities to apply for the benefits they have earned over the phone and provides the resources the SSA needs to approve earned benefits quickly.
Joining Sanders as cosponsors are Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Angus King (I-Maine), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ruben Gallego (D-Arz.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
“Since Trump has been in office, he has worked overtime — including with one of the wealthiest men in the world, Elon Musk — to dismantle Social Security and undermine the faith that the American people have in this vitally important program,” Sanders said. “Thousands of Social Security staff have lost their jobs, seniors and people with disabilities are having a much harder time receiving the benefits they have earned, field offices have been shut down and the 1-800 number is a mess. That is beyond unacceptable. On the 90th anniversary of Social Security, our job must be to reverse these disastrous cuts, expand Social Security and make it easier, not harder, for Americans to receive the benefits they have earned and deserve. That’s precisely what this legislation will do.”
Social Security is the most successful government program in U.S. history — paying out every benefit owed to every eligible American on time and without delay for almost 90 years, and helping millions of seniors, widows, children and people with disabilities live with dignity. In 2023 alone, Social Security lifted 27.6 million Americans out of poverty, including more than 19.5 million seniors. Without it, nearly 40% of people over age 65 would be living in poverty.
Despite the program’s success, the Trump administration has fired over 7,000 workers at the SSA, closed field offices throughout the country, required in-person office visits to receive benefits, limited access to a live operator when Americans call the 1-800 number for Social Security benefits, and issued false statements designed to undermine the confidence that the American people have in this life-saving program. Adding insult to injury, Trump has given the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) staff unfettered access to Americans’ most sensitive private information.
Trump’s cuts to the Social Security Administration could not come at a worse time. Even before Trump became president, the SSA was grossly under-funded and under-staffed. As a result, some 30,000 people with disabilities die each year waiting for their benefits. Trump’s dangerous cuts to Social Security will only make a bad situation even worse.
The Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act would reverse Trump’s cuts to Social Security and rebuild the Social Security Administration by:
- Protecting and improving Americans’ access to Social Security offices — prohibiting closures, relocations and service reductions, reversing Trump’s layoffs, and ensuring Americans can speak to real people to get their benefits;
- Increasing funding by $5 billion to improve customer service, modernize technology and reduce backlogs;
- Restoring assistance for vulnerable and disabled people to access their benefits;
- Safeguarding Americans’ data and stopping Trump’s politicization of Social Security; and
- Removing DOGE’s authority and calling for an independent investigation into DOGE’s actions at SSA.
The legislation is endorsed by several organizations, including: Social Security Works, AFSCME, Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for Living & Working, Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center, American Association of People with Disabilities, Justice in Aging, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, New York Legal Assistance Group, New Disabled South and the National Disability Institute.
Read a summary here.
Read the bill text here.
