Elderly and disabled people — and those who care for them — are encountering a knot of bureaucratic hurdles and service disruptions after the Trump administration imposed a sweeping overhaul of the Social Security Administration system.
No field offices in California have closed. But there is rising frustration across Southern California and the nation as many seniors experience crashed webpages, endure jammed phone lines and are turned away at offices. Social Security officials have downplayed the problems and said some of the issues predate the Trump administration and the government efficiency push headed by Elon Musk.
Last week, a coalition of advocacy groups, including the American Assn. of People with Disabilities, filed a federal lawsuit against the Social Security Administration, Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, and Musk. It alleged that the agency overhaul “severely undermined” services and caused “significant and irreparable harm.”
“In just nine weeks, the new administration has upended the agency with sweeping and destabilizing policy changes — shifting critical agency functions onto overburdened local offices, slashing telephone-based services, and debilitating the agency’s ability to meet beneficiaries’ needs,” the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleges.
“The result is a systematic dismantling of SSA’s core functions, leaving millions of beneficiaries without the essential benefits they are legally entitled to,” the lawsuit adds. “The defendants have abandoned their duty, placing ideology over obligation and governance over the governed.”
