The Trump administration is again targeting the Social Security Administration (SSA) with changes that could undermine its mission. President Trump seeks to replace career civil servants at federal agencies (including SSA) with politically loyal appointees, using a classification known as “Schedule F.” This reclassification is designed to boost the president’s control over career federal staffers by removing their civil service protections and making them easier to fire.
This reckless move by the Trump Administration threatens to sideline professionals whose expertise ensures millions of Americans get the benefits they depend on. Schedule F isn’t just a bureaucratic tweak; it’s a power play that jeopardizes the foundation of one of the country’s most trusted institutions.
Schedule F is a throwback to the patronage system that the U.S. did away with in the late 19th century. Back then, federal jobs were handed out based on political loyalty, not expertise. According to an ally of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare who was a longtime SSA employee:::
“MAGA doesn’t trust professional staff. They want loyal staff, and that is what Schedule F is all about. It’s about populating the federal service with people who are incompetent and unqualified, but loyal like a Labrador.”
At the SSA, professionalism has been key to its success for decades. But with Schedule F, that’s at risk. The same ally pointed out the inconsistency of classifying SSA employees as Schedule F workers. “The supposed criterion for inclusion in Schedule F is that you are in a policy-making role—that historically is the primary defining criterion for classification in the Senior Executive Service (SES).” This undermines the intent behind differentiating policy-making roles from operational ones and risks muddying the waters even further.
What Does This Mean for SSA Employees?
The potential scope of Schedule F at the SSA is staggering. Critics say it could sweep up everyone from Social Security field office employees to mid-level program analysts, even though their work has nothing to do with making policy. “Field office employees enforce and apply policy and statute; they don’t make it,” said the former longtime SSA employee. “Asserting they’re policy makers is like saying police officers are legislators.”
Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek, who admittedly receives his marching orders from the White House and Elon Musk’s DOGE, seems intent on broad reclassification of the workforce. “Leland Dudek wants it to apply to most SSA employees…but I guess he is simply a literal puppet,” the former SSA staffer observed.
This shift raises big concerns about competence and integrity. Schedule F opens the door for politically connected appointees who may lack the skills to handle complex tasks that directly impact the lives of beneficiaries. NCPSSM’s ally didn’t mince words about the type of people Trump wants to bring in. “Imagine filling federal service with Pete Hegseth and Linda McMahon and RFK Jr. wannabees,” he said.
The U.S. got rid of the patronage system in the 19th century. Trump wants to bring it back.
Impacts on Beneficiaries and the Public
When you think about the logistical and technical challenges involved in running Social Security, it’s clear just how damaging Schedule F could be. The SSA manages benefits for 73 million Americans, relying on skilled employees to ensure payments are accurate and timely. Politicizing these jobs could lead to significant delays, errors, or wrongful denials of benefits that could devastate vulnerable populations.
The impacts of Schedule F extend to the public’s trust in the SSA. Already struggling with staffing shortages and office closures induced by the interference of Trump, Musk and DOGE, the last thing the agency needs is more instability. Critics argue that politicizing the workforce will make things worse, putting additional strain on both employees and beneficiaries.
Dudek himself has come under harsh criticism for his ‘leadership’ at the agency. “All this stuff is way outside his wheelhouse. I sense he comes in every morning and gets his script written by the Heritage Foundation (author of the notorious Project 2025),” the ally commented. Under Dudek’s tenure, SSA has put in place (and, in some cases, has later been compelled to reverse) several policies that appear to be part of an agenda to ‘prove’ that federal programs like Social Security are inefficient and rife with ‘fraud.’ Trump and Musk have spread lies about alleged fraud, all of which have been thoroughly discredited. Yet, they persist to “reform” SSA in ways that are interfering with the efficient delivery of benefits.
The agency’s workforce is being slashed by at least 10,000 jobs at a time when staffing already was at a 50-year low. Social Security claimants have complained that it’s even harder to obtain assistance on SSA’s telephone line, on the website, or at the shrinking number of field offices. The agency’s website has crashed several times in the past month, preventing beneficiaries from accessing their accounts.
The Trump agenda truly has nothing to do with government efficiency— and everything to do with an ideological crusade to shrink the federal government, consequences be damned.