FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, September 29, 2025
Contact: Linda Benesch, lbenesc
Ending Paper Checks for Social Security is a Huge Mistake
(Washington, DC) — Tomorrow, September 30th, the Trump administration will end paper checks for numerous government programs, including Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works:
“This will be devastating for around 400,000 of the most disadvantaged Americans who receive Social Security and SSI. They are the only ones who currently have permission to receive paper checks. They were given that permission because they have no other option.
They lack the money to open bank accounts, maintain minimum balances, and pay bank fees. They may not have access to the internet. They may lack the mental ability to navigate the world in any way other than getting a paper check and immediately cashing it to pay for their most basic needs, including food and shelter.
The Social Security Administration claims that those who need paper checks will still get them, but, like all of the chaotic changes made over the last few months, we are asked to simply trust them. There is little to no guidance about how to ensure no disruptions, which in virtually every case would be devastating.
Every past Administration would have, prior to announcing such a significant change, spent months, if not years, discussing it both internally with those responsible for carrying out the change and externally with those affected by it. The Social Security Administration would have spent time training the staff and carefully planned a communication strategy. They would have carefully rolled out the announcement of the change with deliberate communication about it to the media and the public.
Even Social Security’s own workforce has gotten very little information about how to manage the end of paper checks. The Administration is essentially asking everyone to trust that the change will be smooth and without hardship. Exacerbating the issue, the paper checks are scheduled to abruptly end just as the country is on the brink of a government shutdown and the Trump administration threatens to once again fire large numbers of federal workers.
We are very concerned about the chaos, benefit disruptions, and real hardship that this policy will cause. It was obviously dreamed up by people who can’t even imagine what it’s like to be unbanked, unhoused, and unable to access the internet.”
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