Dylan Matthews, one of my favorite writers, has a new Substack. His first post includes a provocative take on my former boss and mentor Bob Greenstein: substack.com/home/post/p-...

The reality is that a lot of SSA clients need specialist help. They are older, many have low computer literacy or in poor health.

The Trump administration's key changes have been a) to add more burdens to SSA clients, increasing frictions and b) to expect that SSA clients will be able to manage those burdens via online processes without help. Recipe for failure.

The Trump administration has said it was improving the SSA. A year in, it looks like the mess that everyone else predicted. Not enough staff, manipulation of numbers and declining performance. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

ICYMI over the holiday break, here are a few must-read articles: 1. WaPo on how the Social Security Administration struggled to serve the public in the Trump era (gift link) wapo.st/49EIN9l

NEW: Podcast on Trump Administration attacks on oversight, featuring my colleague and former OMB exec @cristindorgelo.bsky.social & one of the (many) inspectors general fired by President Trump, Rob Storch of the Defense Department. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBB...

NEWS: The Department of Justice has sued D.C., claiming that the city's elections board did not turn over extensive amounts of voter information, including driver's license and partial Social Security numbers. DOJ has sued 22 states for not turning over all that information.

Even Romney agrees: tax capital gains income before heirs inherit, scrap cap on earnings taxed for social security & fix carried interest loophole.

I love this annual quiz! I got 44/52, which I think means I need to get off my dang phone more often. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Awww, this is a beautiful story 🥺 wapo.st/4j4epbr

This is part of a larger debate about targeting versus universal programs...administrative burden/incomplete uptake, stigma, and political viability.

SCOOP: American Academy of Pediatrics loses HHS funding after criticizing RFK Jr. Research included reducing sudden infant deaths and identifying autism early. Me and @Paigecunningham.Bsky.Social www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

New, from me: Recently Marc Dunkelman wrote "What the Left Could Learn From Trump’s Brutal Efficiency" in the Times. I respond here, not to dunk on Dunkelman, but because it represents a mistaken view of governance that progressives are tempted to embrace. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/democrats-...

Our lawsuit just proved the Trump-Vance admin and DOGE wrong about Social Security fraud. The admin claimed their waiting periods and “anti-fraud tools” were necessary, but we have PROOF that millions of people experienced delays with zero fraud found. Does that sound like efficiency to you?

"Mr. Umurzokov chose Brown, his sisters said, because the financial aid package they offered would be the least burden on his parents...Mr. Johnson, 19, said his friend was intent on becoming a neurosurgeon to help children the way doctors once helped him." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/u...

Thinking of my Jewish family & friends. I saw the USAF band perform this joyful song over the weekend & I hope it brings some light to these dark times. youtu.be/BvkjvP9lwBA?...

Worse yet, the Financial Times reported that ICE agents are using Social Security data in the field to check citizenship—even though this data was never intended for that purpose & as a result has significant gaps & lags.

Most daycares and private preschools won’t enroll children with disabilities. Especially for low income families, Head Start is their *only option*.

TODAY: Deadline to comment on Social Security sharing incomplete & outdated citizenship data with DHS! SSA disclosed that states use the data to check voter rolls--possibly disenfranchising citizens--under court order. Reporting this week revealed that ICE agents are using it in the field, too.

This drove me crazy about my kids’ MS & HS education — & it was a trend that seemed v clearly driven by the standardized testing emphasis on learning to “solve” fictional passages like puzzles, instead of immersing yourself in whole works of literature

This week is critical for health coverage affordability. CBPP’s @jenniferlsullivan.bsky.social breaks down what’s at stake as Congress votes on extending premium tax credit enhancements & the 3 key dates marketplace enrollees need to know when choosing 2026 coverage: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QY5...

I know from personal experience that SSA does not have complete citizenship data. When my wife turned 65 and signed up for Medicare the SSA required her to provide proof of citizenship in person - she was naturalized in 1986 and SSA had no access to that info.

Financial Times reports: "The Social Security Administration began sharing data with DHS earlier this year, allowing [ICE] agents in the field to look up citizenship status" when conducting immigration raids. BIG problem: SSA's citizenship data is outdated & incomplete. ig.ft.com/us-ice-surve...

In May, the Trump Admin secretly--and probably illegally--began using SSA data to verify voters' citizenship. One big problem: Social Security data don’t have complete or up-to-date citizenship info, so this could disenfranchise U.S. citizens ahead of the midterms. www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...

ICYMI: Social Security is a lifesaver for families who experience the death of a parent. Not everyone knows that the program offers life insurance benefits to minor children, disabled adult children & working-age widow(er)s. Be like Heather: spread the word! www.marketplace.org/story/2025/1...

❄️Winter Reading Challenge is here! Ignite your imagination and winter wonder with the Washington Wizards + DC Public Library! 🏀 From Dec. 7 – Feb. 28, kids and teens ages 0–19 can sign up, stay active, earn badges, and celebrate reading all season long. https://bit.ly/46Gdvdm

Must read from @martinomalley.bsky.social: "After President Donald Trump unleashed Elon Musk and DOGE on the Social Security Administration, the agency lost more staff in a shorter period of time than ever before in its 90-year history....The agency has been gutted."

DOGE kills

This guy gets it www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

As snow spreads across more of the U.S. and meteorological winter begins, the National Weather Service remains hampered by a staffing shortage, despite a Trump administration pledge to restore hundreds of positions cut by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service.

As a parent of a now middle-schooler, I'm really hoping and expecting that by the time she hits 8th grade she's reading novels in school. But that's not happening everywhere in D.C., as I learned from this informative op-ed in @51st.news: 51st.news/opinion-dcps...

This week, the House passed a bill to rename Social Security's retirement age options. Clearer language could help retirees make better decisions about when to claim. It's a small but good thing--and any bipartisan effort to improve Social Security is a big deal! www.aarp.org/social-secur...

NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month. This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory! Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...

NEW paper on SSI youth transitioning to adulthood: More than 4 in 10 low-income disabled children receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits lose eligibility when they turn 18, even though many continue to have work-limiting health conditions. 🧵 www.cbpp.org/research/soc...

Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.

The Social Security Admin hopes to cut the number of people visiting its offices by half--15 million people--during this fiscal year, which began two months ago. That's because they undermined in-person service by rapidly pushing out thousands of staff, creating huge pressure on local offices.

Many folks On Here -- myself included -- complain about congressional passivity in the face of the Trump administration's myriad sins. But this story is a good example of how, sometimes, congressional resistance matters even when it is not directly observable. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

This week, the House may consider a bill to rename Social Security's retirement claim ages, which could help retirees make more informed choices. Social Security's benefit formula is confusing, and any move toward transparency is a step in the right direction. smucker.house.gov/media/press-...

The latest receipts from SSA confirm what we knew: "Musk & Trump were talking total nonsense for the first 6 months of this year, when they were claiming that there was a 'huge' amount of fraud in Social Security, including...dead people claiming benefits." www.morningstar.com/news/marketw...

I took my son to visit Northwestern this fall. News like this does not make me want to send him there! Parents & students are watching.

Now that the gov is reopened, appropriators should not only provide Social Security with adequate customer service funding, but also include enforceable measures to reverse deep staff cuts, lift service restrictions, improve transparency & secure our sensitive data. www.cbpp.org/research/soc...

Social Security has announced yet another reorganization. The devil will be in the details. But the fact remains: Even after the reshuffling is complete, SSA will have thousands fewer and less experienced staff because of the deep cuts the Trump Admin made this year. www.cbpp.org/research/soc...

Also, every service. Basically every visit to see my mom is 50% working through 2FA systems with her so she can pay utility bills.

We're drowning in passwords & multi-factor authentication & chatbots & "unusually high call volume" & robots ignoring "representative!" We should think more carefully about how Social Security uses these tools with our parents & grandparents. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/aint-no-pa...

Savoring this update on a battle that we worked so hard to win. It means dignity—not destitution—for up to 1.5 million older workers who become disabled & for their families, too. Keep hoping, keep fighting, and celebrate every victory. 🎉 www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...

So great to see BLS back to work measuring and informing us about our large and dynamic economy. It’s a great institution full of dedicated civil servants deeply committed their mission. They have had a tough year, and everyone is covering for someone who left. I thank them all for their service.

After enacting the deepest #SNAP cuts in history & needlessly disrupting benefits during the shutdown, the Trump Administration is quietly advancing draft regulations to take SNAP away from millions more people – primarily working families with kids, seniors & disabled people.

RFK Jr had committed to Bill Cassidy, as a condition to win his vote, that he would keep website language. Cassidy in February: “If confirmed… CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.” Note the language in second photo.

Things are bad, but pushback can still work. Keep it up.

The Trump Administration is abandoning plans for the biggest-ever cut to Social Security Disability Insurance, which would have hit older workers hardest. The rule would have devastated up to 1.5 million workers' financial stability, retirement security & access to health care. wapo.st/4o48J24