LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The effects of federal funding cuts impacting the Social Security Administration have begun filtering into Southern Nevada, extending telephone wait times on its main 800 telephone line and at the toll-free extensions of its field offices in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, according to informal research conducted by the 8 News Now Investigators.
The SSA provides Americans certain “financial protection,” administering benefits like retirement and disability, as well as enrolling people in Medicare and issuing Social Security numbers and cards, according to the administration website.
In early 2025, President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency targeted the SSA and promised to shrink the size of its workforce and budget while keeping intact the benefits of the 72.5 million Social Security beneficiaries.
Social Security Administration could cut up to half of its workforce
“The waste, fraud and abuse is at a level like nobody’s ever seen,” Trump said shortly after he took office for his second term. “It’s been going on for years and all you have to do is look at the social security roles, look at some of the things, look at where the money is going.”…