Does Social Security stop in government shutdown? What to know

Beginning Wednesday, the U.S. government entered its first shutdown in nearly seven years. 

Many activities are affected by the lapse in funding, and many employees are also furloughed while excepted employees stay on the job but don’t get paid until after the shutdown ends. 

Here’s a look at what happens with Social Security payments: 

Does Social Security stop in a government shutdown? 

In short:

No, Social Security payments will continue as scheduled during a government shutdown. 

Social Security is a program that relies on permanent spending that’s already been approved by Congress, so it continues during a shutdown. 

Dig deeper:

According to a memo from the Social Security Office of Finance and Management, Social Security Administration will continue activities critical to direct-service operations and those needed to ensure accurate and timely payment of benefits during a government funding lapse. 

Social Security Administration plan

By the numbers:

The SSA says it will retain more than 45,000 employees during the shutdown in order to continue certain operations and payments. That means nearly 6,200 employees are expected to be furloughed during the shutdown, according to the memo. 

Continued activities:

In addition to payments, some of the SSA activities that are expected to continue during the shutdown include: 

• Benefits applications
• Actions that impact payments, such as address or direct deposit changes 
• Issuance of original and replacement Social Security cards
• Fraud prevention activities 

Suspended activities:

Some of the SSA frontline activities that are expected to be suspended during the shutdown include: 

• Benefit verifications
• Corrections and other updates unrelated to the adjudication of benefits
• IT enhancement activities, public relations, and training
• Replacement Medicare cards
• Overpayments processing 

RELATED: Social Security changing course in going after overpayments

See full list of affected operations here. 

Social Security October payments

Big picture view:

The Social Security Administration sends regular monthly payments (SSA benefits), but the date varies – generally depending on the day you were born.

Timeline:

The following dates are when beneficiaries can expect to receive their monthly payments in October:

• SSA beneficiaries who started getting benefits before May 1997: Oct. 3 2025
• Birthday between the 1st and 10th of the month: Oct. 8 (Second Wednesday of the month)
• Birthday between the 11th and 20th of the month: Oct. 15  (Third Wednesday of the month
• Birthday between the 21st and 31st of the month: Oct. 22 (Fourth Wednesday of the month)

Social Security Income:

In October, SSI payments will be dispersed twice – on Oct. 1 and Oct. 31 – because Nov. 1 falls on a weekend. 

Government shutdown

Meanwhile:

A partisan standoff over health care and spending has triggered the first U.S. government shutdown in almost seven years. 

For context:

The last shutdown was in Trump’s first term, from December 2018 to January 2019, when he demanded that Congress give him money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump retreated after 35 days — the longest shutdown ever — amid intensifying airport delays and missed paydays for federal workers.