The Social Security Bureau sent an email to many Americans this week to celebrate the passage of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill and touting the measure’s tax breaks for seniors, a move that analysts say is related to the agency’s usually apolitical nature.
“This is a step for seniors in the U.S.,” Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in the message. “By greatly reducing the tax burden on the benefits, the legislation reaffirms President Trump’s commitment to protecting social security and helps ensure that older people can better enjoy the retirement they receive.”
The email has also been sent to people who are not eligible for Social Security benefits – related to a blog post on the agency’s website, which states that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income tax to their benefits.
Despite Trump’s announcement last year that taxes on Social Security benefits have been lifted, Congressional Republicans were unable to fulfill that promise in “a beautiful bill” due to rules surrounding reconciliation, the process of Senate Republicans approving the plan without democratic support.
Instead, the legislation will provide $6,000 in growth for the standard deductions from 2025 to 2028. The proceeds will begin to phase out individuals with incomes of more than $75,000 and married couples with incomes of more than $150,000.
Trump, Republican lawmakers and administration officials have repeatedly claimed that the plan eliminates taxes on social security benefits. But this is not in legislation and will not provide enhanced deductions to everyone who pays monthly from the agency, just like those who choose to start receiving benefits at 62 but are not yet 65 years old.
In an article published Tuesday, titled “Not taxes on a large bill is a reality,” the White House shared an analysis by the Economic Advisory Board, which said more than 88% of the 58.5 million elderly people over 65 years old who have social security will not pay taxes on their benefits.
However, the analysis found that only over 7 million elderly people will receive taxable Social Security income, which will exceed enhanced deductions, existing standards and advanced deductions.
As for social security protection, the program is expected to reduce the total tax rate of benefits by about $30 billion per year, which will drive the program’s retirement trust from early 2033 to the end of 2032, which will accelerate the bankruptcy of the program’s retirement trust fund. It will accelerate the bankruptcy of the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund from the end of 2033 to mid-2032.
Also, according to the bipartisan policy center, many older people will not benefit from enhanced deductions or elimination of taxes because their income is too low. Social Security benefits are not included in approximately half of the beneficiaries’ taxable income.
Analysts say SSA’s emails are out of the norm.
For many Americans, this statement is different because SSA directors are often expected to be politically unpolitical, despite the agency’s criticism of partisan comments in recent months.
Martin O’Malley, who served as commissioner during the Biden administration, was found violating the Hazard Act in May, saying Trump would “exhaust social security” if his advice was enacted.
“I certainly can’t tell anyone who votes for whom, but I can tell you that the advice from Donald Trump will soon run out of social security and we won’t be able to pass it on to our children because our grandparents passed it on to us.”
During the Biden administration, Kathleen Romig, a former senior adviser to SSA, told CNN that she received emails and text messages from some people asking why she received emails because they had never received similar statements before.
“People are like, ‘Is this true? Is this a scam?’ Because it’s not signed by them. “It sounds like, party. ”
Some people go to social media to question and condemn the political nature of emails.
“I’m not a recipient of Social Security, but even I’m: Why do I get emails from the SSA celebrating this legislation? How is this appropriate to use a large amount of databases on the surface?” Read the X post by Amanda Litman, president and co-founder of Run, which recruits progressive candidates to the competition.
Jeff Nesbit, former deputy commissioner of communications at the agency, also criticized the email in X post: “It’s incredible. I’m the deputy director of the Social Security Agency. Appointed by President Biden. The agency has never made such a clear political statement. The fact that Trump and his royal family run the SSA is impossible.”
Romig warned that population SSA services, including the elderly and people with disabilities, may be more susceptible to attempts from fraudsters and phishing.
“We try to protect them from the fact that communication that we think is illegal and vice versa is very important, and vice versa,” she said. “And I think when we start to blur the lines between the legal, official and trustworthy communications that are legal, official and trustworthy, it does make people distrust the formality they get for the sake of formality.”
SSA did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
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