Here’s what’s happening right now: Social Security payments won’t stop just because the government shuts down. However, some processes that are vital to these services might face delays.
Federal agencies have initiated their contingency plans after the government reeled from a partial shutdown that kicked in on October 1. This abrupt halt follows the standoff between Democratic and Republican lawmakers over the budget.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has assured that the 74 million people receiving Social Security benefits will keep getting their payments even with the shutdown in play.
In a document by the SSA, it was emphasized that they will maintain essential direct-service operations to guarantee timely benefit distributions.
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While the SSA plans to furlough 6,197 employees, they will retain sufficient staff to ensure consistent payments go out. Since Social Security is classified as mandatory spending, its funds were secured by Congress in advance, which means retirement and disability payments should remain unaffected during this crisis.
However, a few SSA functions will halt temporarily. According to their strategy, services like benefit verifications and overpayment processing will wait, alongside Medicare card replacements.
One notable aspect is the annual cost-of-living adjustment for benefits, which could face delays as well. Typically, this adjustment aligns benefits with inflation and is set to be announced on October 15, coinciding with the Labor Department’s consumer price index release. If the shutdown persists, this report might get postponed, dragging along the adjustment timetables as mentioned under the Labor Department’s contingency plan.
The SSA’s commissioner, Frank Bisignano, shared via email with staff, placing blame on Democratic lawmakers for the situation leading to the funding impasse, reflected in similar communications across various federal agencies.
“Our agency will follow a set plan to manage an orderly shutdown of operations impacted by this funding lapse, caused by Congressional Democrats,” part of his email stated, which was seen by Business Insider.
In addition, if the shutdown lingers, further terminations could occur, as the Office of Management and Budget prompted agencies to contemplate dismissing workers from programs not aligning with the administration’s directives.
