How Federal Shutdown Disrupts Social Security For New Yorkers

Every day it seems like America is sliding towards a recession. We have job loses, stagnant pay, rising costs of living, tariffs driving up the prices of consumer goods, and a government that can't seem to stop focusing on entertainment programs to acutally govern. We've been here before. The longest federal government shutdown was 34 days under Trump. The government was shut down for 34 days from December 21, 2018 to January 25, 2019, according to Time. With Republicans running all three banches of the United States government, we should have a well-oiled machine, right?

Federal employees are once again working without pay because the federal government has failed them, and us. People who rely government for things like Social Security are also be affected by the shutdown.

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Thankfully, Social Security payments are not affected by the federal government's inability to govern. However, the shutdown does still have an effect on certain aspects of the entitlement. According to USA Today, the following services are not available:

- Replacing Medicare cards
- Proof of income letters
- Updating or correcting earnings record

In addition, the COLA or Cost Of Living Adjustment will likely be delayed. It was supposed to be announced on October 15, 2025, and based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' September inflation report. However, that department is affected by the shutdown and not releasing any reports until a funding plan has been established.

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There are still quite a few services that are available. You can still apply for benefits, request an appeal, change your address, report a beneficiary death, changing citizenship status, and recplacing a lost Social Security card. You can find important Social Security shutdown information here.