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GREENVILLE — The Social Security Administration is walking back requirements that all new and existing beneficiaries would need to go online or visit agency offices rather than verify their identity over the phone, a change that will affect millions of South Carolinians. Seeking to crack down on fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration announced March 18 that Americans would no longer be able to verify their identity to SSA over the phone starting March 31. But just over a week later, the administration partially reversed the order, saying people applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare or Supplemental Security Income who couldn't use the agency’s online portal can handle their claim entirely over the phone instead of having to travel to an office.
Other SSA applicants will still be required to verify their identities in-person. The changes will take effect April 14 instead of the previously announced March 31. “We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” Lee Dudek, SSA’s acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement.
The administration backtracked after public outcry from retiree advocates, including some in South Carolina, who said the in-person verification would make it harder for elderly people to access their benefits — particularly those with disabilities or mobility limitations and those who live far from SSA offices and have limited internet access. The changes came as the administration plans to end leases for offices across the country and cut thousands of workers at the behest of DOGE, a committee created by President Donald Trump that's charged with slashing the federal workforce and weeding out perceived waste of taxpayer money. The benefits that lift more people above the poverty line than any other program in the United States go to almost 1.
3 million South Carolinians, including those receiving retirement, disability and survivor benefits. Retiree advocates in South Carolina warned the new verification requirements would create barriers for elderly residents, particularly those in rural parts of the state. Elon Musk flashes his t-shirt that reads "DOGE" to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 9, 2025.
Musk's DOGE Committee is tasked with slashing federal budgets and workforce. Congressman James Clyburn, the state's lone Democrat, told The Post and Courier the people he represents are "beyond concerned" about losing access to their benefits due to all the changes. Clyburn, who hosted a virtual town hall on Social Security March 26 with the state Democratic Party, said government was about providing this service for the common good.
"If you start concentrating on making a profit off of government, you're headed to autocracy," Clyburn said. Billionaire Elon Musk, who established DOGE as senior advisor to the president, has repeatedly pushed disputed claims about Social Security fraud. He calls the program "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
" In a recent Fox Business interview , Musk suggested that 10 percent of federal expenditures were related to Social Security fraud, pledging to weed out bad spending. The report from the Government Accountability Office that Musk referenced in his interview estimated there was as much as $521 billion in fraudulent payments annually. But that number included more than safety net programs.
It also included pandemic relief that drove record-high fraud from 2020 to 2022. Musk's messaging on waste and fraud resonates with some people, like 81-year-old Nancy Darnell who lives in Pickens. When Darnell needs a Social Security appointment, she drives 45 minutes down winding country roads into Greenville.
Her husband has a computer but she doesn't know how to use it. "I'm dyslexic, and they confuse the heck out of me," she said. Darnell said she supports what Musk and DOGE are doing.
Like most people in Pickens County, Darnell voted for Trump in 2024 and 2020. A retired EMT, she's glad the government is trying to eliminate fraud. "Working in the medical field, you see it," she said.
Those improper payments do exist, but they amount to less than 1 percent of total benefits paid and 0.1 percent of the federal budget, according to a 2024 report from the SSA Inspector General's Office. The payments are usually the result of beneficiaries or the agency failing to update records, not criminal attempts, the agency concluded.
A previous SSA memo leaked this month estimated that the new in-person verification would have sent 75,000 to 85,000 more people to Social Security offices each week before the agency scaled back the requirements. Elderly Pickens residents eat lunch at Pickens Senior Center downtown March 26, 2025. Advocates say many elderly people, especially in rural parts of South Carolina, will face barriers getting to Social Security offices to verify their identities after the federal government rolls out new requirements March 31.
Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, Frank Bisignano, told U.S. senators he would dramatically improve the agency’s customer service and payment error rate while safeguarding recipients' personal information.
South Carolina advocates vocally opposed the changes. Doug Wright, CEO of Senior Solutions, said there weren't enough Social Security offices to begin with, and they're already understaffed. Senior Solutions runs three senior centers in Anderson, Seneca and Walhalla, the northwest corner of the state.
A trip to the nearest location could be an hour away for some elderly people, who are often reliant on caregivers to take time off work to drive them, he said. "This is not a giveaway program," Wright said. "This is money that they put away, that they entrusted that the government was going to invest it for them.
And they did not." AARP South Carolina, which represents 640,000 members, also issued a statement saying the changes would create "unnecessary hurdles" for older Americans. AARP State Director Charmaine Fuller Cooper recalled visiting the Columbia Social Security office the week of March 20, where she said she watched an 84-year-old beneficiary miss her meeting slot and have to wait two hours to reschedule her appointment.
After SSA adjusted its requirements, AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond issued a statement calling it "a good first step." "Ending phone service and requiring in-person office visits would have a very serious impact on older Americans everywhere," she said. "Our members nationwide have told us this change would require hundreds of miles and hours of travel merely to fill out paperwork.
SSA should be prioritizing customer service effectiveness and efficiency, and as older Americans tell us, the announcement requiring visits caused confusion and distress." Advocates said the long wait times will only worsen as DOGE cuts federal staff and shutters office spaces. There are 47 Social Security Administration office spaces publicly listed for closure as of March 24, but only one is in South Carolina: one at the Greenwood location, just over an hour away from Greenville.
In a press release March 27, SSA said recent reports that it is permanently closing local field offices are false. Employees identified underused office space and provided a list of sites for termination, they said, adding that most of those were small hearing rooms with no assigned employees and that most hearings are held virtually. "SSA works closely with local congressional delegations before closing any office permanently," the agency said in the release.
"The agency also reassigns employees from an affected office to other locations to help communities access in-person services." While most in the rural Upstate support the Trump administration's efforts, Pickens retiree Shirley Day is starting to get concerned. When she turns on the TV, she sees everyone talking about Social Security.
She worries that soon she and her friends won't receive any benefits at all. "It's a big concern. We worked for that money," she said.
Day voted for Trump in the 2024 election, who promised to leave Social Security untouched. It's not him she's worried about. "I voted for Donald Trump, not Elon Musk," she said.
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