WASHINGTON — “Clawback cruelty” is what the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration called it when he changed federal policies following 11 Investigates reporting, which exposed problems with Social Security overpayments.
Now, the Trump administration is reversing the changes Democrats and Republicans in Congress pushed for.
The Trump administration says withholding 100% of monthly checks for those hit with overpayments will save taxpayers $7 billion in the next decade.
This change will affect about half of the two million people a year with overpayments, some by no fault of their own. For many, that Social Security check is their only income.
Martin O’Malley is the former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
“This is a mistake,” O’Malley tells 11 Investigates. “You’re hurting people.”
In 2024, as the Commissioner of the SSA, O’Malley testified to Congress about the Social Security overpayment clawbacks in a series of 11 Investigates stories along with our sister stations around the country and KFF Health News.
“Today I am able to announce that we are no longer going to have that clawback cruelty,” O’Malley testified on March 20, 2024.
What he announced that day was that Social Security would no longer take 100% of a Social Security recipient’s check to get back an overpayment. The amount withheld would be limited to 10% so as to not cause additional hardship.
Late Friday, the Trump administration announced it’s overturning that policy.
“We have the significant responsibility to be good stewards of the trust funds for the American people,” Acting Social Security Commissioner Lee Dudek said. “It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds.”
“I guess it’s good for the DOGE bros up there to say, ‘oh, we’re recovering more money,’ O’Malley said. “The monies they think they’re recovering aren’t monies that can be recovered. It’s from senior citizens usually living on the cusp of poverty.”
The Trump administration is also cutting thousands of Social Security employees. Our investigation found it was staffing challenges that contributed to many overpayment mistakes in the first place.
Kathleen Romig used to work as a researcher at the Social Security Administration. She’s now the Director of Social Security and Disability Policy with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
“It’s going to cause people to be hungry, to become homeless, and to miss out on needed medical care,” Romig said.
This is not retroactive for people already on an overpayment plan. It starts with overpayments found after March 27.
This applies to about half of Social Security overpayments from traditional Social Security.
At this time, SSI Disability is not included.
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