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We Investigated Social Security Offices. What We Found Will Shock You.

More Perfect Union | May 22, 2026



Despite his promises to protect Social Security, Trump is cutting it.

DOGE slashed 7,000 agency staff – and local offices nationwide are shuttering. 70 million Americans are navigating a crisis to get the payments they need.

“It’s almost like you’re being punished.”

Producer: Paul Blest
Host: Dan Lieberman
Editor: Anthony Mascorro
Videographers: Michael Huntington, Josh Hansen, Jonathan Klett, Brett Roberts
Video Production Manager: Isabel Atalaya
Video Production Coordinator: Jodi Clemens
Video Production Fellow: Astrid Dong
Video Editing Fellow: Daria Nastasia
Supervising Producers: Brady Welch, Sam Quigley

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Written by More Perfect Union

Comments

This post currently has 46 comments.

  1. @Danielek73

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Sorry, can't talk, too busy creating a war for our youth to go die in, which I promised not to do (I lied!) What do you mean you want me to do what I said I would do??

  2. @GFUSDMFM

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    This ain't no crisis y'all. It's not broken. It's a planned obsolescence. Project 2025. Try reading it. And those aholes that worked in the office and did not alert the public to what happened deserve to be shamed and shunned

  3. @PedanticNo1

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Until people feel real privation and pain, they will continue to allow us to walk down this path as a country.

    God have mercy on us all.

  4. @marisahokefazi2949

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Call one can help is that this area is filled with Maga trumpers who voted for Trump who shut down the social security office and as we all know republicans Congress people are trying to shut down social security altogether.

  5. @SetariM

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Wow imagine voting for a dumbass whose plan it was to dismantle the government by letting people smarter than him run the government. I don't feel sorry for these old people, they're getting what they deserve.

  6. @ichaicha4248

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    And Milton Friedman or the other acclaimed economist they taught us about were actually fringe economists, there ideas were seen as radical and out there, even one of their famous examples has some provision for social security, but they didn't teach us that, they picked and chose what they wanted and indoctrinated us into their agendas. That's what they do, pick and choose, so if you ever come across one you can poke huge holes in their arguments if you know the full picture, because we're not told it. Perfect example is inflation, our money system is inflationary by its very nature, one hand of the government lends to the other hand with interest, so let's say right hand lends left hand $100 and charges 10% interest, well since there's only $100 in the economy where does the $0.10 interest payments come from? They need to borrow more to pay it, this increasing the money supply which causes inflation! This is what happened when the fiat system was introduced and gold standard withdrawn, because USA again. But they don't teach us that, they just say increasing money supply due to government printing money etc, not the fact that it's built into the system.

  7. @themayoenby

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    please talk about Harry Jarin!! he's the only congressional candidate in Maryland speaking out against superpacs and advocating for ai regulation and universal healthcare!!

  8. @NightsCloudsStars

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Private Equity is funding propaganda to blame everything on the Boomers.
    I find "everything" to be greatly exaggerated.
    A direct effect of this cause is the fact that social security is under attack and losing popularity among the younger generation. I imagine that quite a few Boomers believe this propaganda and are voting to get rid of social security.
    At the end, private equity will pretend to be the hero, and swoop in to take over the role of social security; by taking control of social security money so that they can do whatever they want with it. This may include lobbying politicians to do even more harm.

  9. @ichaicha4248

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Another big lie of neoliberalism, free markets and the invisible hand, leads to efficiency and there shouldn't be any interference, yet with subsidies and lobbying is how they choose to bring about interventions in the market, with worse yet the rise of the middle men! Each taking a piece of your pie as you navigate it, bit by bit working out what the maximum they can charge you to eat away at your profit or gain. It's bad enough if the social security is so bad you need help from recruitment agencies to get a job, they take about 25% of your wage and then the government takes another chunk and your left with hopefully enough to pay rent and food, but rent is now handled by someone other than the owner so they need their cut too, then there's the management of lawns and pools etc so another person is paid to look after that, then you need food with all the middle men in each part of that chain…no wonder people are going broke or struggling, but that's not the failure of the market, they just need another job they say, a side hustle , especially since so many news or social media keep saying side hustle are easy, unless you fall for a legal pyramid scheme aka MLM or a tech company that pays less than a person would per hour by going per unit. It's the person, they're just lazy they say, it couldn't possibly be because of the low morale due to low wages and insecurity. At least that racist ford understood he needed to look after his people so they had enough to spend on his stuff

  10. @MysLed

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    I hate that they just never learned and have remained stubborn by voting for the same dysfunctional, conservative from any progression to our's and their 'everyday lives', though now it's more accurately to 'everyday struggles'.

  11. @ichaicha4248

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Don the con is the perfect person for the neoliberals to further their agendas, corrupt and transactional with the lobby firm open to anyone with money to get what they want…yet too many fools believed him and failed to understand he would talk rubbish to get out of jail, the family dodges wars and fails at business, but they didn't want to believe it….they know there will be backlash after this admin so they will push alot of their agendas out. It wouldn't bother me if the USA did it just there, problem is they don't and want to enforce it all on the world. Even when I studied economics at under and post grad I saw the tricks and rename of issues to cover up the reality. Force people to work for as little as possible without any safety net so they have no choice, push religion so they go back to the days of Karl Marx asking why do these people accept such conditions? Opium of the people keeps them obedient and happy to accept rubbish in hope this misery is rewarded in the afterlife, yet look at reincarnation stories and you will see it's not true. Luckily for them the evangelical church is riding along side them happy to enforce a more religious lifestyle, watching the strict religious Saudi Arabian people with men at the top and women forces to obey without question for religious reasons is perfect for these men. Slowly bit by bit they get closer to their goals and the so called restructuring of the economy with market forces, or more like billionaires meddling in the process to achieve their outcomes.

  12. @smiley1977-omg

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Yup the government is takeing social security checks !! Yup save now because the government dosent give a fook about you !! Especially brown people !

  13. @AdamHassan-fj1db

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    They are stealing Americans Shame on them. Mamdani who is willing to serve Americans. He got deficit cut to 0 while it was 10 billions of deficit. They are destroying lives pretending they fighting against fraud . Shame on them the true thieves!

  14. @jarylsim1973

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    If government is the problem, such we should reduce it, then why vote for governments even? People who vote for small government is voting for smaller votes. You're voting to reduce the power of your vote. American stupidity is truly exceptional.

  15. @drakstack

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    All part of the plan to make people believe that government doesn’t work so you keep voting for anyone who cries “government is wasteful”. Meanwhile these same people are setting up the private alternative to make sure you live the rest of your life renting everything and owning nothing. These billionaires and this administration are scumbags through and through.

  16. @Evan-xs8ts

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    "I paid into the system for years, its my money." People really need to be educated on this topic. Thats not how social security works. You paid for YOUR parents and grandparents on social security. WE are paying for you now, and your generation made it so we cant hold this system up.

  17. @Erik_Dz

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    boomers by and large throughout their lifetime voted against social security. This is what they wanted, they voted for this. Especially red states like Iowa.

  18. @yourmommashouse

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    3:36 k well life is difficult. What do you expect? I social security office in EVERY single town in America ? lol get real. They don’t want the big city life but want the big city convenience

  19. @BRichard312

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    In the event Americans are not aware, YOU are ON YOUR OWN. Government will not be there to help you. You must create, develop, and manage your life which includes every aspect thereof. You read it here first.

  20. @Silverstar1995

    May 22, 2026 at 6:20 am

    "I worry about the next generation" says the generation that's selling their homes and moving into retirement centers, consuming all their money, instead of having anything for their children. All while voting for the people who are repeatedly taking more and more money from them directly.

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