An Aggressive Social Security Garnishment Is Underway for Over 1,000,000 Beneficiaries -- Here's How You Can Legally Avoid It

Sean Williams, The Motley Fool

Sun, Jun 15, 2025, 3:44 AM 6 min read

• Between 80% and 90% of retirees count on their Social Security income, in some capacity, to cover their expenses.

• The Trump administration has ended the Joe Biden-era overpayment and recovery rate of 10% and implemented a monthly clawback rate of 50% on Social Security overpayments.

• Beneficiaries who've received an overpayment letter from the Social Security Administration have multiple options available that can waive or reduce the amount they'll need to repay.

• The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook ›

In May, nearly 53 million retired workers brought home a Social Security check, with the average payout making history by cresting $2,000 for the first time ever. Though this is a relatively modest amount of monthly income, it's imperative to the financial well-being of most aging Americans.

For more than 20 years, national survey-taker Gallup has polled retirees annually to gauge their reliance on Social Security income. Without fail, 80% to 90% of retirees have consistently responded that their monthly check was a necessity, in some capacity, to make ends meet.

For beneficiaries, nothing is more important than knowing how much they're going to receive each month and having their payout keep pace with the inflationary pressures they're contending with on a year-to-year basis.

But based on a new policy recently implemented under President Donald Trump, more than 1 million beneficiaries can expect their Social Security checks to shrink by up to 50%. With so many beneficiaries reliant on Social Security income to cover their expenses, this is income some can't afford to lose.

Since Trump took office for his nonconsecutive second term, he's overseen a number of critical changes to America's leading retirement program. This includes beefing up personal identification methods, signing an executive order to eliminate paper Social Security checks, and creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which encouraged the Social Security Administration (SSA) to slash 7,000 jobs and shutter some of its locations to reduce its administrative expenses.

But what's making headlines above all else are the two Social Security garnishments that the Trump administration has improved.

For instance, by "sometime this summer," a 15% monthly garnishment is expected to be reinstated for the roughly 452,000 delinquent federal student loan borrowers who are currently receiving a Social Security benefit. Federal student loan payments ceased in March 2020 during the height of the pandemic and haven't recommenced.