What Happens to Social Security in a Government Shutdown?

Even without a budget deal, monthly benefits are still paid

Andy Markowitz and Deirdre Shesgreen,

Updated February 14, 2026

AARP

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Updated February 14, 2026

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The U.S. House of Representatives approved spending legislation Feb. 3 to fund most federal agencies and programs, including the Social Security Administration (SSA), through Sept. 30. The measure was signed by President Donald Trump, ending a short-lived government shutdown.

But even during a prolonged lapse in federal funding, such as the record 43-day shutdown in October and November 2025, Social Security recipients continue to receive their monthly payments.

That’s because Social Security benefits are, in federal parlance, “mandatory spending.” They have a dedicated, permanent funding source (primarily, the payroll taxes most of us pay on our work income) and are unaffected by the federal appropriations process.

However, the SSA is affected by shutdowns. Its administrative budget is discretionary, meaning it is subject to congressional approval. Lawmakers determine how much of Social Security’s revenue can be allocated to operating expenses, such as processing benefit applications, renting space for local offices, and paying employees’ salaries.

As a result, some customer services are limited or suspended during a shutdown, particularly at local Social Security offices.

Between the new budget bill, which won Senate approval four days before the House vote, and prior spending legislation enacted in November, all but one federal agency is funded through Sept. 30, the end of the 2026 fiscal year. The exception is the Department of Homeland Security, for which funding lapsed on Feb. 14 after lawmakers missed a deadline to reach a new agreement on immigration enforcement policies.

Shutdown plan

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The SSA's most recent shutdown blueprint, updated in September 2025, directs the agency to “continue activities critical to our direct-service operations and those needed to ensure accurate and timely payment of benefits.” That means beneficiaries “continue receiving their Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance [SSDI] and SSI payments,” an agency spokesperson says.

SSI is Supplemental Security Income, a safety-net benefit administered by the Social Security Administration for people with very low incomes who are 65 or older or have a disability or severe visual impairment. Unlike Social Security retirement, survivor and family benefits and SSDI, SSI is funded out of general government revenues, not the dedicated payroll tax.

Andy Markowitz is an AARP senior writer and editor covering Social Security and retirement. He is a former editor of the Prague Post and Baltimore City Paper.

Deirdre Shesgreen is an AARP writer and editor covering Social Security. She previously worked as a state news editor for the AARP Bulletin and as a reporter and editor at USA Today, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other publications.

During a shutdown, the payroll tax revenue that largely funds Social Security continues to be collected and goes into the program’s trust funds. The SSA has legal authority to process payments even when congressional appropriations lapse.

Most SSA employees remain on the job without pay to maintain essential functions and services, including paying benefits, staffing field offices, processing benefit applications and appeals, holding disability hearings, and issuing new and replacement Social Security cards. During recent shutdowns, about 6,200 employees, or 12 percent of the agency’s workforce, have been furloughed.

Some Social Security services and activities were suspended, including benefit verifications by phone or in person (this service remained available online if you have a My Social Security account), processing overpayments, information technology improvements, public relations and training.

“The good news is that payments go out, and everything should seem pretty much normal, for a while,” says Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president for government affairs.

“But during a shutdown, the staff at SSA and other government agencies won’t get paid. That can go on for a little while, but eventually, people have to get paid so they can take care of their own families,” he adds.

Stopgaps now routine

Congress has repeatedly used short-term funding bills, known as continuing resolutions, as stopgaps in recent years to keep the government running as the House and Senate struggled to pass regular budget bills. Under the current budget law, SSA operations are funded at fiscal year 2025 levels until at least Jan. 30.

That budget authorized the SSA to spend $14.3 billion — about 1 percent of its revenue — on customer service and operations for 2025, a 0.5 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.