Social Security Administration cut 7,100 jobs and six regional offices in 2025

The Social Security Administration reduced its staff by more than 7,100 positions, closed six of its ten regional offices, and shifted more services to online and automated systems during the first year of the second Trump administration. The agency also removed key performance metrics, including phone wait times and disability-claim processing times, from its website in June 2025.

Researchers from California State University, Sacramento, Binghamton University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison interviewed 52 benefits advocates at 32 nonprofit organizations to assess the effects of these changes.

Changes to service access Advocates reported that calls were routed to offices callers had not dialed and that some staff with specialized knowledge had been reassigned. One paralegal in the Kansas City region said many cases remained unresolved because fewer workers were available to answer phones.

Field offices that had previously accepted walk-ins began requiring appointments, and some offices turned away people who arrived without them. As of May 2026, ten offices in nine states operated on an appointment-only basis or were closed to the public.

Disability benefit programs The agency administers Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance to roughly 16 million people. Maximum monthly SSI payments in 2026 are $994; average SSDI payments are about $1,634. Urban Institute analysis of state-level data showed 7 percent fewer disability claims filed in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.

The administration has not altered formal eligibility rules for either program.

“I just have so many cases that are stuck in purgatory because they don’t have enough workers to work them.”