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Home » Trump has fired thousands of Social Security workers. Here’s how it affects Florida:
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Trump has fired thousands of Social Security workers. Here’s how it affects Florida:

adminBy adminMarch 13, 2025No Comments6 Mins Read0 Views
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In 2019, Jeff Meissler began to feel strange at work.

Meisler, a software engineer near 60, had a hard time thinking clearly. He was behind on basic tasks and spent extra time making up for the slack. Eventually, his hands were forced. He had to go to the doctor.

Diagnosis: Cerebrovascular disease. An artery stuck in his brain. The doctor told him he could not work in his own condition.

In 2022, Meissler of Palm Beach County applied for Social Security Disability Insurance, funded by federal taxes and partially managed by the state.

That was the beginning of his long-standing journey in the American Social Security Disability System. He made countless calls to the understaffed Social Security Agency. (Tips he learned: If you call exactly at 9am, you might get people over the phone.) He sent medical records to various officials. He was on top of his case. He hired an attorney.

“I was trying to make it easier for them,” Meissler said in an interview.

His claim was initially rejected by the federal government. He tried it. He finally made a profit last October after waiting around 30 months without income.

It was all before Donald Trump was re-elected. Less than two months into his term, Trump has pledged to cut federal agencies with the aim of reducing government size, reducing spending and reducing waste. One of the agencies he is targeting is the Social Security Agency, which will pay around $1.6 trillion in programs this year, like Meisler is looking for. The agency is set to fire 7,000, and announced a staff cut of about 12% in February.

Elon Musk has a chainsaw reading "Living long life, damn it" At the annual conservative political action conference held on February 20th at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at the National Port in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Elon Musk reads a chainsaw called “Long Live Freedom, Damn It” at the annual conservative political action conference held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in the National Port of Oxon Hill, Maryland on February 20th. (Saul Loeb/AFP | Getty Images North America)

Advocates and lawyers interviewed by the Tampa Bay Times say they are worried that Trump’s cuts will slow the already ice age system.

“If you’re saying, ‘I’m going to apply for a disability,’ then all of these things are happening in the government, so say ‘Oh, God’,” Meissler said. “Please prepare.”

Nancy Cavey, a St. Petersburg lawyer hired by Meisler, said she is telling her new disabled clients to expect an additional year of delays.

A spokesman for the Social Security Agency was directed to an online statement noting reporters that the agency is moving to eliminate the “redundant layer of management.”

“The Social Security Agency (SSA) is committed to ensuring that every American can get the help they need, whether it’s our field office, our phone or an automated solution,” the statement reads in part. “Our common goal is to improve social security services for all Americans.”

Failure system is slow

The benefits of social security disorders usually refer to two programs. Social Security Disability Insurance is available to people who previously worked but are unable to do so due to disability or blindness. The benefit amount is based on the duration the worker has paid to the Social Security system. As of last year, beneficiaries raised an average of around $1,500 a month with the program.

Supplementary Security Income, another program, gives monthly payments to poor people with disabilities and blindness, including children, and poor people with blindness. These benefits rise at $967 per month for individuals and $1,450 for couples.

Accessing both programs can be very difficult. Applicants will be waiting several months for Social Security to evaluate their applications, with the help of the state’s disability decision unit. Yes from Social Security means profit.

We will not file a claim for reexamination that will be processed by the state. Another meaning means an appeal hearing before an administrative law judge.

Each step in this process – the first application, a reconsideration claim, a hearing – may take a year.

The US Social Security Administration logo will be seen outside the Social Security Building in Burbank, California in 2020.
The US Social Security Administration logo will be seen outside the Social Security Building in Burbank, California in 2020. (Valerie Macon/AFP | Getty Images North America)

In the southeastern parts of Florida, social security figures show that applicants wait 291 days before only hearing the first decision. This is the longest average latency for five regions as measured by the agency.

“My clients are trying to last longer than the social security system. It’s a war of attrition,” Cavey said. “You’ll be lined up as long as it takes and they want you to leave.”

For years, the failure decision system has not been a budget priority in Florida. State legislative documents show that the office’s budget has not kept up to inflation since 2020.

The Florida Department of Health, which oversees the Disability Decision Office, did not respond to an email requesting comment.

The federal government has made modest advances during the Biden administration to speed up the disability process. The average waiting time for hearing decisions – the final step for previously rejected people – fell by about 150 days between March 2023 and December last year. The pending hearing has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years, the agency reported.

But now, supporters are worried that progress could be rescinded.

How much waste does the disability insurance system have?

Advocates say the issue with the Social Security Disability System is management bloat. This is the very issue Trump is trying to address with a federal layoff.

But Robin Powell, a professor at Stetson University’s School of Law who teaches disability law classes, said firing federal employees who oversee the claims wouldn’t make the process faster. She said she represents a client seeking disability who died before the case was resolved.

“These expected cuts that are pretty big will make the worst situation even worse,” Powell said.

Instead, streamlining the system in the favor of the applicant would reduce the cost of the process, proponents say. Cavey, for example, suggested eliminating allegations of reconsideration. This is the step in the process between the initial application and the final hearing.

A 2023 Social Security Audit found that the program continues to incorrectly pay thousands of beneficiaries after it determined that it was no longer eligible for benefits. This costs around $68 million. This is only a small portion of the cost of the program.

Elon Musk, a heavily-paid businessman Trump has represented to lead government efficiency, says qualifications like Social Security and Medicare are falling into a “50 trillion, perhaps 60 billion or 700 billion a year.” There is no evidence to suggest that fraud is widespread in these programs. This gives elderly and people with disabilities medical and living scholarships.

A Social Security audit found that between 2015 and 2022, the entire program made some inappropriate payments of approximately $78 billion.

The system can be improved, Powell said. But it depends on what the policy maker’s goals are. If the goal is to ensure people make profits faster, then cuts may not be the answer.

Eric Kingson, professor emeritus of social work at Syracuse University, said staffing cuts make sense when the purpose is to allow them to be as frustrated as possible.

“The more they make it, the less money they will disappear,” Kingson said.



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