Senate Aging Committee Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) are demanding answers about how Trump administration cuts and reorganizations at the Social Security Administration (SSA) could be putting Social Security beneficiaries at risk for fraud and abuse.
Representative payees manage Social Security payments for beneficiaries who are unable to do so on their own, helping some of Social Security’s most vulnerable beneficiaries receive and access their benefits. They can be individuals such as spouses, parents, or relatives, or they can be organizations such as businesses or social services agencies. Because representative payees play an integral and sensitive role, SSA partners with state Protection & Advocacy organizations (P&As) to routinely monitor representative payee performance and guard against fraud and abuse. However, there is evidence that Trump administration cuts and reassignments at SSA have significantly delayed the approval process for representative payee reviews, undermining vital efforts to protect beneficiaries from Social Security fraud and putting vulnerable beneficiaries at financial risk.
This week, Senators Gillibrand and Wyden asked the 57 P&As in the United States how the Trump administration’s staff reductions and management changes at SSA are impacting their ability to protect beneficiaries from fraud and abuse by the representative payees designated to assist them.
“Representative payees are entrusted with sensitive information so they can help the most vulnerable Social Security beneficiaries manage their benefits. We must make sure that these representatives cannot take advantage of the beneficiaries that they are supposed to protect,” said Senator Gillibrand. “That’s why I’m demanding answers about how Trump administration cuts and organizational changes are impacting the ability of P&As to guard against fraud and abuse. As ranking member of the Senate Aging Committee, I’m committed to getting answers on this matter, and I will always fight to ensure that Social Security beneficiaries are protected.”
“State Protection & Advocacy agencies, like Disability Rights Oregon, are the indispensable watchdogs, protecting seniors and people with disabilities from abuse and neglect from those entrusted with their wellbeing, which is why we passed a bipartisan law in 2018 to deputize these agencies to go after bad actors in behalf of SSA,” said Senator Wyden. “However, we have received disturbing reports that Trump and DOGE’s disastrous cuts have left these state agencies paralyzed and ultimately left our most vulnerable unprotected. As Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, I will continue to hold the administration accountable and fight back against efforts to weaken the Social Security program.”
As ranking member of the Senate Aging Committee, Senator Gillibrand is a staunch supporter of the Social Security program and its recipients, and she has long been committed to preventing Social Security fraud and abuse. In the face of Trump administration cuts and overhauls at SSA, she has rallied alongside seniors and unions to demand a reversal of staffing and service cuts, advocated against the closure of SSA offices across the country and in White Plains, NY, and, along with other Senate Democrats, sent nearly 200 questions about the impact of Social Security cuts to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano following his confirmation. Following Senator Gillibrand’s advocacy, SSA reversed its decision to restrict certain phone services that serve as lifelines to beneficiaries seeking to access and maintain benefits. Earlier this year, she also introduced the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act, vital legislation that would reverse the disastrous Trump administration cuts to SSA. In recent weeks, she has requested updates from Commissioner Bisignano regarding his appointed leadership team’s vision and management plans, and she recommended that they jointly visit an SSA field office in NY so she can evaluate the impact the Trump-era changes have had on SSA response times, communication and outreach to the public.
Senator Gillibrand is also part of Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, a coordinated effort to fight back against the Trump administration’s attacks on Social Security and to ensure the American people can continue to rely on these essential programs that they have earned. The War Room coordinates messaging across the Senate Democratic Caucus and external stakeholders; encourages grassroots engagement by providing opportunities for Americans to share what Social Security means to them; and educates Senate staff, the American public, and stakeholders about the Republican agenda and their continued cuts to Americans’ Social Security services and benefits.
The full text of Senator Gillibrand and Senator Wyden’s letter can be found here or below:
To Protection & Advocacy agency CEOs,
We write today regarding reports that some Social Security beneficiaries are left vulnerable to abuse or mismanagement by their representative payees due to processing backlogs at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Representative payees help Social Security beneficiaries manage their payments when the beneficiaries are unable to do so on their own. Congress established a payee review system to protect beneficiaries and deputized state Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agencies to investigate claims of abuse or mismanagement, but Trump Administration cuts to SSA may have hindered those reviews. Accordingly, we ask that you respond to questions about whether SSA is able to work with your organization in a timely fashion to monitor Social Security representative payees.
Nearly nine out of ten people age 65 or older and over eleven million people with disabilities receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Federal law allows SSA to designate representative payees to assist beneficiaries who are unable to manage Social Security payments themselves. Representative payees can be individuals such as spouses, parents, or relatives, or they can be organizations such as a business or social services agency. A representative payee takes on a wide range of responsibilities, including helping a beneficiary understand SSI eligibility requirements, ensuring benefits are effectively used, maintaining accurate records, and communicating the beneficiary’s needs. Representative payees help some of Social Security’s most vulnerable beneficiaries, and it is important to ensure that the payees live up to their obligations.
While most representative payees operate in good faith, payee reviews exist to protect Social Security beneficiaries. The current representative payee review system was created by Congress in 2018, following well publicized stories of abuse by representative payees. For example, one representative payee effectively used Social Security beneficiaries as forced labor at a turkey processing facility. Another held four beneficiaries captive “in a squalid boiler room” while stealing their Social Security payments. A third used beneficiary money to purchase “homes, vehicles, luxury RVs and cruises.” In response to these and similar occurrences, Congress passed bipartisan legislation to modernize the representative payee program and better protect beneficiaries.
When it was signed into law, the Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018 made existing state P&As watchdogs against fraud and abuse by representative payees. P&As use their expertise as legal advocacy organizations for people with disabilities to conduct onsite representative payee reviews, engage in educational visits, and examine allegations of misconduct. Critically, P&As speak directly with Social Security beneficiaries about their experiences and have uncovered a diverse set of problems, such as those related to utilities, housing, food, and vision care. Although P&As have taken a key role in monitoring representative payees, SSA must review and approve all enforcement and corrective actions executed by the P&As.
Unfortunately, the minority staffs of the Senate Special Committee on Aging (Aging Committee) and the Senate Committee on Finance (Finance Committee) have received reports of significant delays in the SSA approval process for representative payee reviews. The delays are reportedly occurring at most SSA regional offices and reportedly began following cuts to the SSA workforce and number of SSA regional offices, as well as recently instituted reorganizations and workforce reshaping initiatives. Although fewer than one percent of Social Security payments are improper, delays in the representative payee review system undermine efforts to stop cases of fraud that do exist. More importantly, delays place vulnerable Social Security beneficiaries who rely on these essential benefits for their financial security at risk. One P&A agency disclosed having multiple cases involving abuse or neglect and required immediate action pending with SSA, with one case still unaddressed after five months.
The Senate Aging Committee has jurisdiction over “any and all matters pertaining to problems and opportunities of older people,” including “assuring adequate income.” The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over “National social security.” Accordingly, we request that you provide information regarding how SSA’s recent reorganization and staffing reductions have impacted your agency’s ability to timely investigate and review representative payees in your state and to protect beneficiaries from abuse or neglect.
Please e-mail your response, with information on the following topics, to RepPayeeInfo@aging.senate.gov by no later than November 10, 2025:
- The number of representative payee reviews completed by your organization in Grant Year 2024 (August 1, 2023-July 31, 2024) and Grant Year 2025 (August 1, 2024-July 31, 2025).
- The grant year target numbers for representative payee reviews for your organization in Grant Year 2024 (August 1, 2023-July 31, 2024) and Grant Year 2025 (August 1, 2024- July 31, 2025).
- Did SSA processing delays affect your organization’s ability to meet your grant year target number for representative payee reviews in Grant Year 2025?
- If yes, please explain how the SSA processing delays affected your organization’s ability to meet your grant year target numbers.
- A description of cases of particular concern that have not been timely addressed by SSA, including cases involving significant misuse, health, or safety issues.
- Your assessment of how the SSA processing delays for representative payee reviews have affected – or could affect – Social Security beneficiaries.
- Please share any observations about changes at your SSA regional office that may have contributed to processing delays or quality concerns for the representative payee review program (for example, staffing changes, new procedures, bulk case processing, etc.).
Thank you in advance for your response. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to Ranking Member Gillibrand’s Aging Committee staff at 202-224-0185 or Ranking Member Wyden’s Finance Committee staff at 202-224-4515.
Sincerely,
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