Accessing Social Security disability benefits became harder in 2025, researchers find

Accessing disability benefits at the Social Security Administration has gotten more difficult since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to new qualitative research. 

SSA, an early focus of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, saw the departure of over 7,350 employees last year. Its leadership made rapid changes — and, at times, reversals — to its phone line, back-end operations and more.

Katie Savin, an assistant professor at California State University, Sacramento, set out in the spring to understand what these changes meant for Americans who rely on the agency for disability benefits. 

“Access to Social Security benefits has never been easy,” said Savin, adding that “we found again and again that access had gotten worse over a number of metrics.”

The new report, coauthored with fellow academics Callie Freitag and Matthew Borus, is based on interviews with 52 attorneys and other specialists who help people get ...