Nothing is ‘normal’ in the new Social Security Administration

by Lisa Dekker

Sorry - this message is politicized and inaccurate

On July 3, an official-looking email message from the Social Security Administration (SSA) may have hit your inbox sounding oddly like cheerleading from one side of the aisle: Social Security Applauds Passage of Legislation Providing Historic Tax Relief for Seniors. It was not the usual update or instruction you’ve come to expect from the trusted 89-year-old agency. Despite the fact that, according to Quinnipiac University National Polling, only 27% of registered voters support the ‘tax relief’ bill and 53% oppose it, the message said the SSA, “celebrated the passage of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’” 

The message was alarming to established journalists and advocacy groups alike. Forbes writer Teresa Ghillarducci found it, “oddly celebratory, unusually partisan and containing inaccurate statements.” Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, a non-profit advocacy organization, said about the political posture of the email, “it is completely unprecedented. [It] violates the Hatch Act, a law against partisan political activity by federal government employees.” Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and Disability Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said, “sending propaganda is dangerous … [it] wildly misleads on the bill, its effects on beneficiaries … [and] undermines trust in SSA communications … [which] makes people more vulnerable to scams.”

The message was indeed ‘official.’ It came from Frank Bisignano, the recently appointed commissioner of the Social Security Administration, who admitted publicly that “he had to Google the job when he was offered it,” per Will Steakin of ABC News. While the message’s text states, ”The new law includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries,” what is actually in the bill is not elimination of a tax, but is instead, a temporary tax deduction which expires after the 2028 Tax Year. It applies only to seniors 65 and older; retirees who are 62 through 64 are ineligible. And because the income of most Social Security recipients is too low to be taxed, the new deduction will mostly benefit middle and upper-middle-class households.

Frank Bisignano, current Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
(Photo credit: Office of U.S. Senator John Cornyn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

​Perhaps Bisignano hastily constructed this bit of fantasy as a distraction for the more than 60 million people who received the email; a diversion from difficulties in getting answers, long wait times on the phone, and worries about diminished benefits that recipients are struggling with as they seek help and information from their Social Security offices.

As recipients’ frustration in dealing with Social Security grows, it is evident that this Administration has not only touched “the third rail of American politics,” (for the past 90 years, any tinkering with Social Security was considered politically risky), but is intent on dismantling it. While we don’t know the actual numbers of layoffs and closures of local field offices – in Clallam County, that’s the Federal Building in Port Angeles on the corner of West First and Laurel – we know that field offices across the country are seeing the biggest cuts. Some have lost up to 50% of their staff and a few have closed. The SSA has said the country’s 10 regional offices, which oversee and support the field offices and can have 200 or more staff each, will be cut down to just four offices nationwide, resulting in further slowdowns. Our closest regional SSA office in Seattle has been officially closed.

Note that current law on taxing Social Security is both progressive and beneficial. It is progressive because people with low incomes pay no tax on their Social Security. It is beneficial because the revenue from those who do pay a tax does not go into the general fund, but goes right back into Social Security, via the Old Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance trust funds and the Medicare Hospital (HI) trust fund, helping to keep those trust funds going. However, according to several sources (see citations, below), the new bill’s tax deductions will actually hasten the projected insolvency of both Social Security and Medicare by as much as a year, from 2133 to 2132.

We are not powerless. As Martin O’Malley, the former head of SSA said in a recent interview, “We must elevate the public pushback … Democrats need to be on the offensive. Social Security speaks to the best in the American character … the dignity of every person. We must remember our commitment to the vision that no senior should die in poverty and no person who becomes disabled should have to panhandle.”

Martin O'Malley, former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
(Photo credit: Social Security Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Call to Action: Call and leave a message for Congresswoman  Emily Randall.  
Ph: 360 373 9725 Bremerton office. Suggested message: Republicans must fix the Social Security crisis they created. As your constituent, I ask that you work to end the many staff layoffs, office closings, and threats to this trusted program. Our Social Security needs to be protected and strengthened. Thank you! Please add any personal comments about Social Security.

​https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/04/politics/social-security-administration-trump-bill-email
https://socialsecurityworks.org/republicans-social-security-crisis/
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/11/nx-s1-5459955/social-security-megabill-trump-tax-cuts
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/your-money/social-security-tax.html?smid=url-share
https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/social-security-email-on-big-beautiful-bill-tax-changes-sparks-confusion
https://apple.news/AJjHxNHffQJqi1t5AsjtQgg
https://www.cbpp.org/research/taxing-social-security-benefits-is-sound-policy
https://benefitkarma.com/learn/social-security-in-2025-layoffs-backlogs-and-delays
https://www.crfb.org/blogs/obbba-would-accelerate-social-security-medicare-insolvency