MILWAUKEE — Major changes are coming to the Social Security Administration, and they could make an already frustrating process even worse for millions of Americans. With plans to cut up to 12% of its workforce, getting the help people need may become even more difficult.
Here in Milwaukee, some residents say they’re already struggling to get assistance. Sharon Randolph has spent months trying to sort out her Social Security benefits. She’s been stuck on hold, waiting in long lines, and buried in paperwork.
"I had to wait sometimes, like, two hours," Randolph said.
She describes the overwhelming amount of paperwork she’s had to complete just to move forward.
"I'm filling out a lot of paperwork. It's so much that I need a lawyer, and I can't afford one," she added.
The Social Security Administration unveiled a major restructuring plan today, which includes significant job cuts that could impact up to 7,000 of its employees. This decision aligns with the Trump administration's broader effort to downsize the federal workforce, spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under advisor Elon Musk. For people like Marzella Austin, the process is more than frustrating—it’s exhausting. She visited the Social Security office on 91st Street, hoping to get help.
"I came down here, I went in there, and the man told me, 'Can't nobody see you. You have to have an appointment,'" Austin said.
She is disabled and fears that cutting staff will only make things worse for people like her.
"I just walked down here, and I told them, 'Do you know how stressful that is? I can't keep doing this.'"
Watch: Milwaukee residents say they're already feeling the effects of looming Social Security cuts
The SSA's restructuring plan includes the closure of two offices—the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and the Office of Transformation—and focuses on reducing its workforce. Employees are being offered voluntary buyout packages between $15,000 and $25,000, with a deadline to opt-in by March 14 and a required separation by April 19. Petrella Murphy also ran into roadblocks while trying to help her brother with his disability benefits.
"I’ve been calling the last week or two. That’s why I came down, but they just told me I can’t see nobody," she said.
The SSA manages benefits for more than 68 million people across roughly 1,200 field offices nationwide. However, the agency has been grappling with funding issues, with its Trust Funds expected to run out by 2035, potentially reducing benefits to just 83% of the promised amounts. Petrella Murphy says getting an appointment is nearly impossible, and calling for help doesn’t seem to work either.
"You need an appointment, and with this phone number they give you—you might be on hold three or four hours," she explained.
The Social Security Administration says these cuts are necessary due to budget challenges. But for people who rely on these services, longer delays and more frustration seem inevitable.
"Change. A lotta change coming," Murphy said. "But what we gonna do about it?"
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