Both of Colorado’s senators joined 27 other Democratic members of the senate to introduce the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act, which aims to protect Social Security benefits, to reverse cuts made to the Social Security Administration (SSA) by the Trump administration, to make it easier for seniors and people with disabilities to apply for their benefits via phone call, and to prevent Social Security field offices from shutting down.
In April, the Trump administration fired around 7,000 SSA employees. As part of the administration’s attempt to shrink the size of the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), 47 SSA offices have been listed for closure, 26 by the end of the year, including one in Grand Junction, Colorado. At the same time, the SSA is now requiring more in-person office visits to receive their benefits.
“Coloradans’ Social Security benefits are not ‘government waste,’” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) in a news release. “This admin’s reckless cuts have shut down field offices, impacted wait times for services and risk the reliable retirement that so many people worked their whole lives to secure.”
The proposed bill would prohibit SSA office closures, relocations, and service reductions, reverse recent layoffs, increase funding to improve customer service and reduce backlogs.
“Social Security is – and must remain – a rock-solid guarantee we owe to America’s retirees and individuals with disabilities,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). “This legislation would reverse President Trump’s dangerous policies and invest in the Social Security Administration. After decades of hard work and payments into the program, Americans deserve the security of their benefits.”
Additionally, the bill would limit DOGE’s access to Social Security data, which was the source of controversy when the agency was spearheaded by Elon Musk earlier in the year. Musk and his team pushed for DOGE to have unlimited access to SSA data, which is protected by federal law, and pushed false claims that there was widespread fraud at Social Security.
In August, a whistleblower revealed that DOGE staff had uploaded copies of a Social Security database to a vulnerable cloud server a month prior, putting millions of Americans’ personal information at risk of being hacked or leaked.
A federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE’s access to this data, but in June, the Supreme Court overruled that decision.
In February, Bennet and his Senate colleagues urged White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to “address threats to U.S. national security and privacy posed by the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to classified and sensitive government materials.”
The proposed bill would exempt Social Security from DOGE’s jurisdiction and call for an independent investigation into the agency’s involvement with the SSA.
Other co-sponsors of the bill are: Bernie Sanders (I-VE), Peter Welch (D-VE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hiro (D-HA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Angus King (I-ME).
