Today, Justice in Aging, along with co-counsel Brown, Goldstein & Levy, filed a federal lawsuit against the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on behalf of a group of individuals and organizations representing people struggling to access retirement and disability benefits provided by SSA. 

As a result of several recent actions by SSA, older adults and people with disabilities face potentially life-threatening barriers to claiming the benefits they are legally entitled to. Justice in Aging has received reports of older adults and people with disabilities who are seeking services waiting hours on the phone to reach an SSA representative. We’ve heard of others traveling significant distances to the nearest SSA office, only to be left waiting until the office closed. One woman trying to apply for Social Security benefits waited on hold for hours before she finally reached a representative on the phone, who informed her that she would need to visit an office to apply for benefits and that there were no appointments available for 40 days at any of the six offices in her region. Another beneficiary reported that her Social Security checks have started coming in late for the first time ever, and she relies on her Social Security check to pay her rent and health insurance. 

Over the past few weeks, SSA has closed key offices that serve people with disabilities, including the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and the Office of Transformation, shuttered dozens of offices that serve the public, slashed telephone-based services, and terminated 7,000 employees. Many older adults and people with disabilities cannot travel repeatedly to in-person offices to wait in long lines to resolve claims and appeals, and many struggle to reach SSA representatives by phone to schedule appointments or get assistance as overloaded phone lines leave them without support. 

The lawsuit alleges that these actions violate the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Administrative Procedure Act, and the U.S. Constitution, and strip vital protections from those who need them most–leaving older adults and individuals with disabilities to bear the heaviest burden when they cannot access lifesaving benefits that prevent deep poverty and indignity.

The lawsuit asks the Court for declaratory and injunctive relief to stop these actions that amount to the dismantling of SSA and a de facto denial of benefits to Americans 

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Deaf Equality, Massachusetts Senior Action Council, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and impacted individuals across the country.  

Read the press release and the complaint. 

If you are hearing stories of people impacted by changes at SSA, please email us at info@justiceinaging.org with the words "Social Security" in the subject line. We’ll keep you updated as the case progresses.