The Social Security Administration has identified more than $800 million in cost savings or cost avoidance for fiscal year 2025, according to Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek.

Savings thus far has been in "payroll, information technology, contracts and grants, and space savings (i.e., real property), and other savings through new, common-sense approaches to printing, travel, and purchase card policies," Dudek said Monday.

SSA "continues to make good on President Trump’s promise to protect American taxpayers from unnecessary spending while continuing to ensure it delivers on its mission," Dudek said in a statement. “For too long, SSA has operated on autopilot. We have spent billions annually doing the same things the same way, leading to bureaucratic stagnation, inefficiency, and a lack of meaningful service improvements. It is time to change just that.”

The agency's list of savings includes:

  • $550 million by freezing SSA and Disability Determination Services (DDS) hiring and drastically reducing overtime;
  • $150 million by canceling non-essential contracts and identifying reductions in other Information Technology Systems Budget contracts;
  • $10 million by reducing non-ITS travel by 70%;
  • $30 million by terminating contracts and grants; and
  • $3 million by making SSA-1099 and SSA-1042 notices available online
Dudek also said the agency had saved $10.2 million to date by reducing its non-public facing real estate, with plans to save another $1.5 million in fiscal 2025. It intends to save $4 million through the termination of 60 leases with assistance from the General Services Administration.

"Most sites are co-located; others are non-public facing, consolidations, or preplanned closings," the SSA said in the statement.

SSA announced Friday that it plans to reduce its staffing to 50,000 from its current level of 57,000 employees and reduce its 10 regional offices to four.

Former SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley told CNBC that recent actions at SSA by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are putting monthly benefit checks for more than 72.5 million Americans at risk.

“Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley said in an article published Saturday. “I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days.”

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