Social Security Checks Safe, but Prolonged Shutdown Could Deepen Delays and Hardship

Monthly benefits will continue, but certain functions—appeals, evidence review, and in-person assistance—are already slowing under the shutdown.

Blank U.S. Treasury checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia on July 18, 2011. William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

With the government shutdown now into its third week, Social Security beneficiaries have been assured that their monthly checks will continue to arrive. But if the budget stalemate stretches into late October or November, deeper strains on the Social Security Administration (SSA) could begin to affect millions of people who depend on in-person services, claims processing, and appeals rather than on the payments themselves.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are insulated from shutdowns because they are funded through permanent trust funds, not annual appropriations. Nearly 70 million retirees, disabled adults, and low-income beneficiaries will keep receiving payments on schedule, no matter how long the shutdown lasts.