Deluzio Raises Alarm on Trump Admin’s Assault on Social Security, Demands Meeting with Top Social Security Official
CARNEGIE, PA — On Social Security Day of Action today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) took a flurry of actions to raise the alarm on the Trump Administration’s assault on America’s Social Security system. Along with conducting a survey of his constituents and sending several letters about specific attacks on Social Security, Congressman Deluzio demanded a meeting with the top Social Security Administration official, Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, through a public video that is available here.
“Attacking peoples’ ability to get to their earned benefits of Social Security is an attack on Social Security—full stop,” said Congressman Deluzio. “More than 180,000 of my constituents count on Social Security, and the Trump Administration’s attacks on the staff, infrastructure, and systems that execute the promise of Social Security only makes life tougher and more uncertain for my constituents. Even worse, the Administration and congressional Republicans are doing this—alongside targeting Medicaid—to help them pay for a fiscally reckless tax giveaway for corporations and the ultra-rich that will saddle all of us with debt. Since the Administration has decided to ignore congressional inquiries, I’m demanding a meeting with Acting Social Security Commissioner Dudek: the people of Western Pennsylvania have major concerns and the Social Security Commissioner should not be hiding from these important questions.”
President Trump and Elon Musk have already laid off 7,000 Social Security workers, with plans to lay off thousands more. They plan to close Social Security offices around the country, instead directing people to use the website—an unrealistic option for many seniors and people with disabilities. The Social Security Administration’s website is also experiencing frequent, major outages, especially after laying off many of the people who maintain it.
In response to this, Congressman Deluzio previously sent out a letter raising concerns about the in-person appointment process at Western Pennsylvania Social Security field offices. Today, Congressman Deluzio sent out more letters about issues with the online identification verification processes—something he’s heard concerns about from constituents—as well as about the impact of firings on Social Security recipients in Western Pennsylvania. Recently, the Social Security Administration has said it will not respond to congressional inquiries. The agency also switched its official messaging to Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, following cuts to communications staff.
Additionally, Congressman Deluzio is working to introduce new legislation to require the option for Social Security recipients to be able to receive paper checks. Recently, the Trump Administration announced a new policy to end the process of sending paper checks in September 2025.
Earlier this month, Congressman Deluzio launched a survey of his constituents to better understand their concerns about Social Security—the results of which helped guide his actions today. The survey asked: “Which potential changes to Social Security concern you the most?” and data from the over 1,700 responses so far are as follows:
- Firing thousands of Social Security staffers: 1,195
- Threatening to close Social Security field offices: 1,102
- DOGE staffers accessing sensitive data systems: 1,015
- Other Answers: 391
- Ending Social Security payments by paper check (replaced with digital payment): 334
- Ending phone customer service option for identity verification: 125
In Congressman Deluzio’s Western Pennsylvania district, there are 180,677 Social Security recipients in PA-17 who receive $350 million in monthly benefits. This includes more than 139,000 retirees, 8,400 children, 10,800 widows, 4,500 spouses, and more than 17,600 workers with disabilities.
###