Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits. I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days.”

“This is going to lead to total system collapse,” O’Malley told The Baltimore Sun. “It’s a very old, fragile computer system in (COBOL) language, which isn’t even in schools anymore.” In a social media post made Friday, O’Malley went on to say he expects benefit interruptions to start soon.

The U.S. government agency that provides benefits to tens of millions of older Americans plans to cut 7,000 workers, it announced on Friday, as part of the Trump administration's plan to slash the size of the federal workforce.

Donald Trump's purge of the federal workforce could cause a system failure at the Social Security Administration, the agency's former leader warned.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans who is not authorized to speak publicly. The workforce reduction, according to a second person who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, could be as high as 50%.

The Social Security Administraton's planning to ax 7,000 jobs. What this means for its workers and Social Security beneficiaries.

The agency is also restructuring and closing six of 10 regional offices that coordinate and provide support to employees who serve beneficiaries.

Martin O’Malley, the former commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), said Monday the recent cuts made by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the agency could result in the “collapse” of the Social Security system “within the next 30 to 90 days.