The Social Security Administration this week sent out an email to many Americans celebrating the passage of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill, and touting the measure’s tax relief for seniors, in a move that analysts said strayed from the agency’s typically apolitical nature.
“This is a historic step forward for America’s seniors,” said Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano in the message. “By significantly reducing the tax burden on benefits, this legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and helps ensure that seniors can better enjoy the retirement they’ve earned.”
The email — which was also sent to people not yet eligible for Social Security benefits — linked to a blog post on the agency’s website noting that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.
Although Trump campaigned last year on eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits, congressional Republicans were not able to fulfill that promise in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” because of the rules surrounding reconciliation, the process Senate Republicans used to approve the package without Democratic support.
Instead, the legislation will provide senior citizens with a $6,000 boost to their standard deduction from 2025 through 2028. The benefit will start to phase out for individuals with incomes of more than $75,000 and married couples with incomes of more than $150,000.
Trump, GOP lawmakers and administration officials have repeatedly claimed the package eliminates taxes on Social Security benefits. But that is not in the legislation, and the enhanced deduction would not be available to everyone who receives monthly payments from the agency — like people who elect to start receiving benefits at 62 but who are not yet 65.
In an article released Tuesday titled “No Tax on Social Security is a Reality in the One Big Beautiful Bill,” the White House shared an analysis from the Council of Economic Advisers which said 88% of the 58.5 million seniors age 65-plus who receive Social Security would not pay taxes on their benefits.
But just over 7 million seniors would have taxable Social Security income that would exceed the enhanced deduction and existing standard and senior deductions, the analysis found.
As for protecting Social Security, the package is expected to reduce the total taxation of benefits by about $30 billion a year, which would hasten the insolvency of the program’s retirement trust fund from early 2033 to late 2032, according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It would accelerate the insolvency of Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund from late 2033 to mid-2032.
Plus, many seniors would not benefit from either the enhanced deduction or the elimination of taxation on monthly benefits because their incomes are too low, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Social Security benefits are not included in taxable income from about half of beneficiaries.
SSA’s email breaks from norms, analysts say
The statement was out of the ordinary for many Americans because the SSA director is generally expected to be apolitical, though the agency has received criticism for partisan comments in recent months.
Martin O’Malley, who served as commissioner during the Biden administration, was found in May to have violated the Hatch Act for saying in late 2024 that Trump would “deplete Social Security” if his proposals were enacted.
“I certainly can’t tell anybody who to vote for, but I can tell you that the proposals that are coming from Donald Trump would quickly deplete Social Security, and we wouldn’t be able to pass it on to our kids as our grandparents passed it on to us,” O’Malley said during an interview with WPTF Morning News last October.
Kathleen Romig, a former senior advisor at SSA during the Biden administration, told CNN she’s received several emails and text messages from people asking her why they received the email, because they haven’t received a similar statement before.
“People are like, ‘is this real? Is this a scam?’ Because it it’s not what they signed up for. It doesn’t sound like normal government communications, official communications,” Romig said. “It sounds like, you know, partisan.”
Some people took to social media to question and condemn the political nature of the email.
“I am not a Social Security recipient but even if I was: Why am I getting an email from SSA celebrating this legislation? How is this an appropriate use of that ostensibly massive database?” reads an X post from Amanda Litman, the president and co-founder of Run for Something, which recruits progressive candidates for down-ballot races.
Jeff Nesbit, former deputy commissioner for communications at the agency, also criticized the email in an X post: “Unbelievable. I was a deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Appointed by President Biden. The agency has never issued such a blatant political statement. The fact that Trump and his minion running SSA has done this is unconscionable.”
Romig warned that the population SSA serves, including seniors and people with disabilities, could be more vulnerable to scammers and phishing attempts.
“It’s really important that we try to protect them from thinking that legitimate communications are illegitimate, and vice versa,” she said. “And I think when we start to blur the line between what is legitimate, official and trustworthy communications from official government channels, then it does open the door for people to not trust what they’re getting that is official.”
SSA did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
