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What Happens to Social Security in a Government Shutdown?
Even without a budget deal, monthly benefits are still paid
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Congress gave final approval in April to legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ending an extended shutdown of that agency. All federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA), are now funded through Sept. 30, 2026, the end of the current fiscal year.
But even during a prolonged lapse in federal funding, such as the record 43-day shutdown in October and November 2025, Social Security recipients continue to receive their monthly payments.
That’s because Social Security benefits are, in federal parlance, “mandatory spending.” They have a dedicated, permanent funding source (primarily, the payroll taxes most of us pay on our work income) and are unaffected by the federal appropriations process.
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However, the SSA is affected by shutdowns. Its administrative budget is discretionary, meaning it is subject to congressional approval. Lawmakers determine how much of Social Security’s revenue can be allocated to operating expenses, such as processing benefit applications, renting space for local offices, and paying employees’ salaries.
As a result, some customer services are limited or suspended during a shutdown, particularly at local Social Security offices.
Shutdown plan
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The SSA's most recent shutdown blueprint, updated in September 2025, directs the agency to “continue activities critical to our direct-service operations and those needed to ensure accurate and timely payment of benefits.” That means beneficiaries “continue receiving their Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance [SSDI] and SSI payments,” an agency spokesperson says.
SSI is Supplemental Security Income, a safety-net benefit administered by the Social Security Administration for people with very low incomes who are 65 or older or have a disability or severe visual impairment. Unlike Social Security retirement, survivor and family benefits and SSDI, SSI is funded out of general government revenues, not the dedicated payroll tax.
During a shutdown, the payroll tax revenue that largely funds Social Security continues to be collected and goes into the program’s trust funds. The SSA has legal authority to process payments even when congressional appropriations lapse.
Most SSA employees remain on the job without pay to maintain essential functions and services, including paying benefits, staffing field offices, processing benefit applications and appeals, holding disability hearings, and issuing new and replacement Social Security cards.
During recent shutdowns, about 6,200 employees, or 12 percent of the agency’s workforce, were furloughed. Some Social Security services and activities were suspended, including benefit verifications by phone or in person (this service remained available online if you have a My Social Security account), processing overpayments, information technology improvements, public relations and training.
Stopgaps now routine
Congress has repeatedly used short-term funding bills, known as continuing resolutions, as stopgaps in recent years to keep the government running as the House and Senate struggled to pass regular budget bills.
The budget agreement for fiscal year 2026 increased SSA operational and customer service funding by about 3.8 percent, to just over $14.8 billion. Most of the increase will go toward program integrity work focused on evaluating SSDI and SSI recipients' medical and financial eligibility to continue receiving benefits.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C., think tank, estimates that, when adjusted for inflation, Social Security’s customer service budget shrank by 21.2 percent from 2010 to 2025, while the number of beneficiaries grew by 26 percent.
A November 2024 AARP survey of Americans ages 50-plus found overwhelming support across party lines for increasing Social Security’s administrative and customer service spending. Eighty-five percent of respondents backed a bigger budget, including 92 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of independents.
AARP has long spotlighted lapses in Social Security customer service and urged Congress to provide adequate resources for the agency to improve.
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