1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

Social Security is faltering. The agency’s website crashed four times in 10 days this month due to server overload, and understaffed field offices are struggling to respond to beneficiaries’ phone calls, the Washington Post reports. The delays are making it harder for beneficiaries to get the payments to which they’re entitled. Why is this happening? Social Security struggled with understaffing before Donald Trump, but the administration has exacerbated the problem. The agency said last month it would cut 12 percent of its staff (7,000 workers) as part of the administration’s directive to streamline government. And, prompted by Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” it has also eliminated the system that monitored beneficiaries’ experience. What’s next? New rules will take effect in April limiting what Social Security customers can do over the phone, requiring more beneficiaries — who are broadly elderly, disabled, or both — to more often make office visits and use the agency’s website. Given the website is already regularly failing to handle its current load, increasing the load could be disastrous. This is a crisis! Retirees should not have to work harder to access Social Security. Former officials who ran Social Security say the whole system could fail in 30 to 90 days. What are you doing to prevent this?