Social Security

What You Need to Know about Social Security in Wyoming. 21.6% of Wyomingites or 125,712 residents

Hageman says

"DOGE is not dismantling Social Security, and even with reconciliation, we are not allowed to touch Social Security," Hageman said. (NBC transcript, March 19 town hall in Laramie)

DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency, is Elon Musk’s masquerade to gutt the federal government, deny services to citizens and remake the government according to Trump’s whims.

Meanwhile, Trump administration says

DOGE and the Trump administration announce and push for more cuts to the SSA, including eliminating thousands of employees from the already lean agency, ending the ability to make claims by phone and shuttering dozens of field offices that help seniors access their benefits.

The Trump administration has said repeatedly it isn’t cutting benefits — just fraud.

Asked for comment on Musk’s remarks and proof that immigrants living in the United States without legal status were to blame for the fraud, the White House didn’t offer any. (NBC news, 03/19/2025)

The White House on March 11:

“The Trump Administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits,” the statement read. ”President Trump himself has said it (over and over and over again).”

$71.8 billion in improper payments from 2015 to 2022, or about 0.8% of the $8.6 trillion total paid over that span, according to a report by the agency's inspector general. Most were overpayments to living recipients, the report added, not dead people, one of Musk’s frequent lies.
(USA Today, 03/19/2025)

The Social Security Administration will implement cuts to phone service in an effort to combat fraud, its acting commissioner said March 18.

Changes to phone service were proposed in a memo sent to acting commissioner Lee Dudek last week.

Among the biggest changes:

Curtailing phone support for critical Social Security services — including when applicants first sign up for benefits.
Plans to cut 12% of its workforce, and to close field offices — even as benefit recipients report delays in getting help with claims, and agency data shows backlogs.
The Associated Press reported on 02/27/2025 that half of the Social Security workforce could be cut.

According to a May report from the Office of the Inspector General, people were already experiencing prolonged wait times working with the SSA.

The Social Security inspector general, a Trump appointee, has resigned.

The report noted that in-office appointments could be completely booked up for more than 40 days in the future and that it could take months for promised services to be delivered.

As of 01/06/2025, you must make an appointment online before visiting a field office. Currently, there are offices in Cheyenne, Cody, Riverton, Sheridan and Rock Springs. That means a minimum drive of 90 miles for Laramie residents.

Make you mad? Get involved as a party member

Go here to get involved with the Democratic Party.

Want to know more? Check out these resources:

ACLU of Wyoming - general site

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains - general site

Planned Parenthood, Fort Collins

825 S Shields St.

970-493-0281

Pro-Choice Wyoming - general site

Pro-Choice Wyoming - donate here

Wellspring Health Access- general site

Wellspring Health Access - donate here