Older Americans suffer under Republican slash and burn policies

The Social Security website is down, Medicare is under attack, and Meals on Wheels is being dismantled. Across the country, older Americans are losing access to the services they depend on to survive.

All of this is the result of President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government. In some cases, the changes are deliberate while others appear to be the result of incompetence and haphazardness.

On April 1, thousands of Americans logging onto the My Social Security web portal received a shocking notice: they were no longer eligible for benefits. Others couldn’t access the portal at all. The Social Security Administration (SSA) quickly stated that the notices were sent in error and assured the public it was working to resolve the issue.

But the Social Security website has been experiencing crashes and outages for weeks, impeding the ability of enrollees to review payments, update personal information, and file new claims. The problems began in early March, immediately following the SSA’s announcement that it would be laying off 7,000 workers. Staffing at the agency was already at a 50-year low.

The SSA said the reorganization wouldn’t affect customer service. But many beneficiaries who couldn’t access the website said calling wasn’t much better—they reported long hold times or phones that just rang without anyone picking up.

“What’s going on is the destruction of the agency from the inside out, and it’s accelerating,” Sen. Angus King (I-ME) told the Washington Post. “I have people approaching me all the time in their 70s and 80s, and they’re beside themselves. They don’t know what’s coming.”

Nearly 97% of Social Security recipients are also enrolled in Medicare, the federal program that provides health insurance to people over 65. House and Senate Republicans are now reportedly eyeing cuts to Medicare to help fund an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which largely benefited high-income earners and big corporations.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) seemed to confirm this during an April 1 interview with CNBC. He said that Trump’s push to shrink the federal government could serve as a model for reforming Medicare. Cassidy initially acknowledged that cuts were on the table—but then quickly backtracked, suggesting he had misspoken.

“Let’s look at Medicare,” Cassidy said. “Is there some way that we can cut Medicare so that—excuse me, reform Medicare, so that benefits stay the same but that it’s less expensive and more efficient? I would say that there is.”

Another vital lifeline for older Americans is 401(k)s, retirement savings plans that allow workers to invest a portion of their income in the stock market before taxes are taken out. About 20% of retirees currently receive some income from a 401(k) account.

Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on 125 countries forced many 401(k)s to plummet in value as the stock market struggled to absorb the shock. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) said in a statement that Trump was engaging in a trade war that could decimate retirement savings.

“If the President is so worried about what will happen to Americans’ 401(k)s, I suggest that he work to deescalate these trade wars he started and recommit the United States to relationships with our allies,” McColum said. 

On April 4, the Dow experienced its biggest losses since March 2020.

All of this is made more dire by the April 2 announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is laying off 40% of its workforce and consolidating its 28 divisions down to 15.

One of the divisions being eliminated is the Administration for Community Living (ACL), which partially funds the Meals on Wheels program. The program distributes 216 meals per year to older and disabled Americans. 

HHS says that ACL’s duties will be absorbed by other divisions, but Meals on Wheels CEO Suzanne Washington says the layoffs paint a far more ominous picture.

“All the people who understand the program, serve the program, have the expertise to deal with the issues that we deal with every day and make sure the funding gets to the people they’re gone,” Washington said. “So that’s the worry. If all the people getting those dollars out and managing the program are gone, who’s going to do it now?”

Federal funds make up around 35% of the Meals on Wheels budget. Some of those funds come from Medicaid, which House Republicans are also considering cutting.