Statement by Commissioner O’Malley on the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget
Reading Time: 3 MinutesLast Updated: March 11, 2024
The Biden-Harris Administration today released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025. Following historic progress made since the President took office—with nearly 15 million jobs created and inflation down two-thirds—the Budget protects and builds on this progress by lowering costs for working families, protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, investing in America and the American people, and reducing the deficit by cracking down on fraud, cutting wasteful spending, and making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.
Key investments focus on improving the customer experience, reducing wait times at all stages of the disability process and on our National 800 Number, modernizing our information technology, improving overpayment and underpayment processes, and advancing equity by increasing access to our programs.
The Budget makes critical, targeted investments in the American people that will promote greater prosperity for decades to come. At the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Budget will:
- Protect the Social Security Benefits that Americans Have Earned. The Administration is committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security and opposes any attempt to cut Social Security benefits as well as proposals to privatize Social Security. The Administration believes that protecting Social Security should start with asking the highest-income Americans to pay their fair share. In addition, the Administration supports efforts to improve Social Security benefits, as well as SSI benefits, for seniors and people with disabilities, especially for those who face the greatest challenges making ends meet.
- Improve Service Delivery. The Administration is committed to improving service delivery for the more than six million retirement, survivor, and Medicare claimants, as well as the more than two million individuals applying for disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) every year. The Budget requests $15.4 billion in discretionary budget authority—a $1.3 billion or 9 percent increase over the 2023 enacted level—to improve customer service at SSA’s field offices, State disability determination services, and teleservice centers for retirees, individuals with disabilities, and their families. The Budget also improves access to SSA’s services by reducing wait times.
- Advance Equity and Accessibility. This Budget ensures we will deliver accessible Social Security services to all eligible individuals, while maintaining rigorous stewardship and oversight of our programs. Our programs must reach underserved communities and people facing barriers to accessing our services, including individuals with low income, limited English proficiency, mental and intellectual disabilities, and those facing homelessness. The Budget also supports our efforts to simplify and update the SSI application processes and expand access to agency programs and services through our outreach efforts, particularly for underserved communities. We will improve our IT systems to provide a more consistent, equitable, and accessible experience for our customers; reduce burdensome manual processes for our employees; increase self-service options on our National 800 Number; and expand our cybersecurity program. Further, the Budget prioritizes preventing and resolving improper payments.
- Provide National, Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave. The vast majority of America’s workers do not have access to employer-provided paid family leave, including 73 percent of private sector workers. Among the lowest-paid workers, who are disproportionately women and workers of color, 94 percent lack access to paid family leave through their employers. In addition, as many as one in five retirees leave the workforce earlier than planned to care for an ill family member, which negatively impacts families, as well as the Nation’s labor supply and productivity. The Budget proposes to establish a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program administered by SSA. The program would: provide workers with progressive, partial wage replacement to take time off for family and medical reasons; include robust administrative funding; and use an inclusive family definition. The Budget would provide up to 12 weeks of leave to allow eligible workers to take time off to: care for and bond with a new child; care for a seriously ill loved one; heal from their own serious illness; address circumstances arising from a loved one’s military deployment; or find safety from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking —otherwise known as “safe leave”. The Budget would also provide up to three days to grieve the death of a loved one. The Administration looks forward to continuing to work with the Congress to make this critical investment and strengthen America’s economy.
The Budget builds on the President’s record while achieving meaningful deficit reduction through measures that cut wasteful spending and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share.
For more information on the President’s FY 2025 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.
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Tags: Benefits, Presidential Budget, Service Improvements
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Carol
I am totally disabled and I can honestly say that I personally don’t eat every day some days to be able to afford my medicine. Biden doesn’t care. I would love it if he had to live on what I get a month. Only then he would see.
Holly T.
Social Security Administration, the Courts and Congress have agreed to waive, dismiss, remove and clear the erroneous alleged 2020 Overpayment Payment Center Cases. My question is when are they going to start REMOVING AND CLEARING those erroneous alleged Overpayment Payment Center Cases? We Non recipients are waiting, as it affects us.
Pam
People on Ssdi are hurting for everything from ,rent ,utilities,cost of household supply’s, food, gas prices are up again. They are in the poverty level and need more to spend on hygiene products ,laundry soaps and everything you can think of to keep up is way more costly. It’s a shame . We need more cash as we are in a sinking ship here as Americans. What about helping our own first.
Carolyn A.
The new budget does so much for working families! The Family leave initiative, changing SSI rules! Can you even imagine what could be accomplished if Biden/Harris didn’t have to fight and find ways around those blocking such family friendly changes? We are so blessed to have an administration that understands!
Beth M.
Hello social security administration, Congress and the Courts, y’all AGREED to remove and clear the 2020 Overpayment Payment Center Cases. What’s taking so Long? Please start removing the NON RECIPIENTS first please, thank you
Tanner
The 2025 Ssdi rise is not enough
Ana
Good job everyone
Deborah
You are right, and inflation down per statement? Can’t prove it by me!
Lime T.
Social security should be a major agenda of every government policy.
Good hotels in Greater noida
Mary
What about the ones on SSI.? Them poor people are poverty .they can hardly make ends meat .and a lot are homeless .do something about them
Stacie P.
AMEN Mary!
Laura K.
The poverty is intentionally caused since they claim it’s a POVERTY PROGRAM to be enrolled in any SSA programs and benefits list.
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION is being RANSACKED FROM WITHIN by their very own OIG, CDI PROGRAM UNIT, overseers, contractors and affiliates. They are intentionally causing financial hardships, blocking all types of income so you can’t progress, poisoning people by giving them unknown substance without their knowledge by threatening an paying someone who usually would have access to your nutrition to put these things into your food and beverages. Finding and USING (doppelgangers) people that look like you to report or say that you been places that you never actually been or at that moment. They intentionally block all opportunities for income and also online sources of income so don’t think being an online trader will work. All these while they threaten and pay people “to not say anything” it’s a secret” “they’re not suppose to know” ” don’t tell them” meanwhile they threaten people to make FALSE statements about the individual and force them to believe conspiracies and many FALSE theories of the reasons why this is OCCURING. SSA is a POVERTY PROGRAM is what they claim to keep you unemployed and isolated. The SSA OIG routinely deal in RACKETEERING, CONSPIRACY AND FRAUD. RANSACKING THE ADMINISTRATION FROM WITHIN.
Everyone who received or is receiving any benefits or programs from SSA is poor since the SSA is labeled as a POVERTY PROGRAM and they intentionally cause the poverty.
Cindy H.
Amen Mary
I can barely put food on my own table.
I hate having to pay cash for my food every month. It’s terrible now every month before my benefits come in I am already in the hole.
NOT COOL
Subba. M.
Paid family leave is an encouraging and comendable gesture on the part of policy makers that includes in the budget of 2025 for the working families. Before It is a question between leaving the job or family Now there is scope to balance work and life for all.
jw
Get them a JOB !
Felicia T.
The social security Administration workers are back in their offices For the people who are to sick to make it to the office They can request a phone appointment or send someone from a company Representative or nurse or Dr
Amina D.
I see president Biden care about us and very 👍👍👍
Lisa J.
If he cared about us he would have kept his promise. He cares about no one. He is not giving us a raise. He said that last year and didn’t do it.
Gary
You can’t make Chicken Salad out of Chicken Shit