The Social Security Administration is in the middle of its most disruptive restructuring in decades. More than 7,100 workers — over 13% of the entire workforce — have been laid off, marking the largest staffing cut in the agency's history. Six of its ten regional offices have been shuttered. Services have been pushed online, and AI-powered systems now handle more of the public phone lines that millions of disabled Americans depend on. For the 16 million people who rely on Social Security disability benefits, the consequences are becoming painfully real.
