XPost: alt.social-security-disability, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
XPost: soc.retirement

The Social Security Administration this week sent out an email to
many Americans celebrating the passage of President Donald Trump’s
domestic policy bill, and touting the measure’s tax relief for
seniors, in a move that analysts said strayed from the agency’s
typically apolitical nature.

“This is a historic step forward for America’s seniors,” said
Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano in the message. “By
significantly reducing the tax burden on benefits, this legislation
reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and
helps ensure that seniors can better enjoy the retirement they’ve
earned.”

The email — which was also sent to people not yet eligible for
Social Security benefits — linked to a blog post on the agency’s
website noting that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries
will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.

Although Trump campaigned last year on eliminating taxes on Social
Security benefits, congressional Republicans were not able to
fulfill that promise in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” because of the
rules surrounding reconciliation, the process Senate Republicans
used to approve the package without Democratic support.

Instead, the legislation will provide senior citizens with a $6,000
boost to their standard deduction from 2025 through 2028. The
benefit will start to phase out for individuals with incomes of
more than $75,000 and married couples with incomes of more than
$150,000.

Trump, GOP lawmakers and administration officials have repeatedly
claimed the package eliminates taxes on Social Security benefits.
But that is not in the legislation, and the enhanced deduction
would not be available to everyone who receives monthly payments
from the agency — like people who elect to start receiving benefits
at 62 but who are not yet 65.

In an article released Tuesday titled “No Tax on Social Security is
a Reality in the One Big Beautiful Bill,” the White House shared an
analysis from the Council of Economic Advisers which said 88% of
the 58.5 million seniors age 65-plus who receive Social Security
would not pay taxes on their benefits.

But just over 7 million seniors would have taxable Social Security
income that would exceed the enhanced deduction and existing
standard and senior deductions, the analysis found.

As for protecting Social Security, the package is expected to
reduce the total taxation of benefits by about $30 billion a year,
which would hasten the insolvency of the program’s retirement trust
fund from early 2033 to late 2032, according to an analysis by the
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It would accelerate the
insolvency of Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund from late
2033 to mid-2032.

Plus, many seniors would not benefit from either the enhanced
deduction or the elimination of taxation on monthly benefits
because their incomes are too low, according to the Bipartisan
Policy Center. Social Security benefits are not included in taxable
income from about half of beneficiaries.

SSA’s email breaks from norms, analysts say
The statement was out of the ordinary for many Americans because
the SSA director is generally expected to be apolitical, though the
agency has received criticism for partisan comments in recent
months.

Martin O’Malley, who served as commissioner during the Biden
administration, was found in May to have violated the Hatch Act for
saying in late 2024 that Trump would “deplete Social Security” if
his proposals were enacted.

“I certainly can’t tell anybody who to vote for, but I can tell you
that the proposals that are coming from Donald Trump would quickly
deplete Social Security, and we wouldn’t be able to pass it on to
our kids as our grandparents passed it on to us,” O’Malley said
during an interview with WPTF Morning News last October.

Kathleen Romig, a former senior advisor at SSA during the Biden
administration, told CNN she’s received several emails and text
messages from people asking her why they received the email,
because they haven’t received a similar statement before.

“People are like, ‘is this real? Is this a scam?’ Because it it’s
not what they signed up for. It doesn’t sound like normal
government communications, official communications,” Romig said.
“It sounds like, you know, partisan.”

Some people took to social media to question and condemn the
political nature of the email.

“I am not a Social Security recipient but even if I was: Why am I
getting an email from SSA celebrating this legislation? How is this
an appropriate use of that ostensibly massive database?” reads an X
post from Amanda Litman, the president and co-founder of Run for
Something, which recruits progressive candidates for down-ballot
races.

Jeff Nesbit, former deputy commissioner for communications at the
agency, also criticized the email in an X post: “Unbelievable. I
was a deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
Appointed by President Biden. The agency has never issued such a
blatant political statement. The fact that Trump and his minion
running SSA has done this is unconscionable.”

Romig warned that the population SSA serves, including seniors and
people with disabilities, could be more vulnerable to scammers and
phishing attempts.

“It’s really important that we try to protect them from thinking
that legitimate communications are illegitimate, and vice versa,”
she said. “And I think when we start to blur the line between what
is legitimate, official and trustworthy communications from
official government channels, then it does open the door for people
to not trust what they’re getting that is official.”

SSA did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/04/politics/social-security- administration-trump-bill-email

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