The Social Security Administrations’ already-fragile computer systems are suffering more glitches than usual, according to reports. One breakdown recently resulted in the agency sending an erroneous message to millions of recipients that said their payments had ended, creating panic. That’s as critical IT staff are leaving amid steep payroll cuts.
The Social Security Administration’s already-fragile and antiquated technology has been having more glitches than usual, sources told CNN.
One example is last week’s outage of the MySSA portal, which allows Social Security recipients to manage their benefits online. Other cloud and internal systems were also impacted.
That came as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been slashing payrolls across the federal government. As a result, IT staff who maintain critical systems are shrinking and less able to fix problems. Meanwhile, SSA has been steering more people online as employees are cut and phone service is curbed.
In addition to massive staff reductions and greater demands on SSA systems, the agency is also updating technology as DOGE seeks to crack down on suspected fraud.
Many recent outages appear to have been caused by new anti-fraud software from DOGE that wasn’t tested at scale to see if it could withstand a high volume of users, sources told the Washington Post.
In one instance, many of the 7.4 million recipients of SSA’s Supplemental Security Income, which is separate from retiree benefits, got an erroneous message recently that said they were “currently not receiving payments,” the Post said.
The messages sparked widespread panic, though recipients later confirmed that monthly payments still showed up in their bank accounts, the report added. A separate glitch forced staff to cancel appointments because new disability claims couldn’t be entered into the system.
CNN, which earlier reported on the payment message, said some beneficiaries, who are low-income older Americans and people with disabilities, also couldn’t access their online accounts.
“Those are the risks,” a former SSA employee told CNN. “You lose staff that have the institutional knowledge, and when something happens, you can’t recover, or it takes you a lot longer to recover. The implication is American people get degraded services on the tech side because people internally are understaffed.”
SSA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but told the Post that officials are “actively investigating the root cause” of the disruptions, which averaged about 20 minutes each except for the erroneous payment message.
The increasingly frequent system outages have raised growing concern that the diminished IT staff combined with DOGE’s updates and access to key technical infrastructure could result in an actual disruption in payments.
While President Donald Trump has maintained that he won’t touch benefits, critics of DOGE have said its changes are part of a “backdoor” effort to cut payments and gut the agency.
Wired reported recently that DOGE is forming a team to migrate SSA’s computer systems off the archaic COBOL programming language in a matter of months.
One Baltimore-based staffer who works on payment systems told the Post last month that nearly a quarter of his team is gone or will soon be gone because of resignations and retirements. Those with top software skills are leaving the SSA to get high-paying jobs in the private sector.
“That has to get cleaned up on a case-by-case basis, and the experts in how to do that are leaving,” the Baltimore employee told the Post. “We will have cases that get stuck, and they’re not going to be able to get fixed. People could be out of benefits for months.”
Gen Z consumers are changing the way Americans dine out. They share entrées or order appetizers or kid’s meals to cut down on costs. The younger generation is also particular about where they like to go out to eat, and opt for places they’ve seen on social media.
When Mia Jones goes out to eat with her friends, she wants something that’s just right: not overly popular, but also has a cool aesthetic.
“If the restaurant is too viral, I don’t want to go, but if there’s no buzz around it I won’t go,” Jones, a 26-year-old growth strategist with brand consultancy Redscout, told Fortune. “I lean into reviews and need other foodies to sign off on a place before I’ll spend my dollars.”
Jones is like many younger-generation diners who want a better bang for their buck when they go out to eat. More than 77% of Gen Zers find restaurants through social media and 72% trust reviews on those platforms, according to a survey by Eater and Vox Media released in late March.
“I won’t eat at a restaurant if it’s not on TikTok because I don’t trust a boomer’s taste buds,” Jones said. “I know that my fellow GenZers have their FBI hat on when reviewing a restaurant.”
Relying on social media to find new restaurants isn’t the only trend driving Gen Z dining. Many customers opt to share plates or order appetizers and kids’ meals to offset the cost of dining out during a period of inflation and tariffs.
“We will split appetizers and entrees so everyone can try something,” Jones said. “It’s an occasion, so we want to try everything.”
As of late 2024, Americans spent $166 per month on dining out on average, according to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Meanwhile, 16 popular chain restaurants increased their prices by an average of 42% between 2020 and 2025, according to a Finance Buzz study.
But for restaurants, that’s meant smaller tickets from younger diners.
“It’s a trend the industry is watching closely,” Barry McGowan, CEO of Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão, told Fortune. Gen Zers are more “considerate when it comes to value. Alcohol consumption is also evolving. This generation is more likely to opt for zero-proof cocktails or low-ABV beverages.” Fogo de Chão has more than 70 locations globally and was acquired by Bain Capital Private Equity in August 2023 for $1.1 billion.
More Gen Zers are also choosing to go sober—not only as a way to save money, but to prevent falling into alcoholism and live a healthier lifestyle.
“Gen Z is socializing less in person, and social norms may be changing,” Brooke Arterberry, a researcher at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research who has studied young peoples’ relationships to alcohol, previously told Fortune’s Alicia Adamczyk. “Parenting changes might also be a factor, as is the increased pressure young people feel to succeed, the amount of accessible information on the dangers of drinking, and even economic instability.”
A 2024 National Restaurant Association report also showed more than 75% of customers want smaller portions for less money. But some fast-casual and fast-food chains have stepped up to the challenge, like Subwayintroducing a snack-focused menu and Panera Bread leaning into its popular “You Pick Two” deal for a cup of soup and half a sandwich or salad, which typically costs less than $10.
Group of diverse friends laughing and sharing breakfast at a cafe, creating a warm and lively atmosphere.
“Several chains have noticed that with younger diners cutting back on alcohol, average ticket sizes have dipped slightly,” Joe Hannon, general manager of inventory and sales at restaurant management software company Restaurant365, told Fortune. “Some restaurants are also embracing the trend of adults ordering from kid’s menus as a cost-effective, portion-controlled option, which helps them attract and retain younger customers.”
One social-media influencer, Ashley Garrett, has even made it her mission to review kids’ meals at as many restaurants as she can to help other adults find tasty—and price-conscious—meals. The 33-year-old says she eats kids’ meals five times a week and thinks restaurant portions are too big and expensive.
“Give me chicken tenders or a basic pasta dish, and I’m happy,” Garrett toldThe Wall Street Journal.
How other generations dine out
It’s not totally a generational trend to care about menu prices during this inflationary period where consumer confidence is plummeting.
Indeed, 86% of consumers said they’ve changed their dining behaviors in some way to navigate inflation, with about one-third choosing less expensive menu items and 29% planning their dining around budget constraints, according to the Eater/Vox Media survey. More than 60% of baby boomers said finding a fair or reasonable price was one of their top factors in selecting a new restaurant to try. A McKinsey & Co. report published in February also shows fewer consumers plan to splurge on restaurants and groceries.
Still, Hannon said he’s actually noticed an increase in spending in one category for baby boomers.
“Baby boomers, interestingly, have actually increased their alcohol spending, often treating dining out as more of an indulgent experience,” he said.
While Gen Zers typically find new restaurants through social media, millennials still rely on Google and Yelp for reviews.
“Millennials rely heavily on online platforms, but they usually look at reviews and ratings rather than just aesthetics,” Hannon added.
Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon want billionaires to pay their fair share to Uncle Sam. But a ‘millionaires tax’ would likely affect all the wrong people
America’s most celebrated investor and the head of Wall Street’s most powerful bank have had a clear message for Washington: Tax us more. Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon, the CEOs of Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase, respectively, have both advocated for raising taxes on the rich as a matter of fairness—and to address a burgeoning federal deficit.
Congressional Republicans, traditionally opposed to hiking taxes on the wealthy, are reportedly mulling a so-called “millionaires tax,” underlining how President Donald Trump’s populist appeal has transformed the party. While the proposal faces opposition from plenty of prominent Republicans, the move has been floated to help pay for tax breaks on tips, overtime time, and Social Security benefits, as well as the extension of provisions in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
That argument aside, however, increasing income taxes on high earners is unlikely to make billionaires like Buffett, Dimon, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos pay much more to the government. That’s because ultra-wealthy individuals overwhelmingly accumulate most of their wealth from investment income, rather than from wages and salaries like most Americans. Meanwhile, job cuts in the audit division of the Internal Revenue Service and upheaval at the top of the agency means tax avoidance could get even easier.
In other words, a “millionaires’ tax” would likely fall more heavily on bakers, doctors, lawyers, professional athletes, and run-of-the-mill executives rather than the likes of Musk, Bezos, Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg. In fact, legal strategies can allow them to pay little-to-nothing at all.
For reference, Bezos, the founder of Amazon, did not pay a cent in federal income tax from 2007 and 2011 despite being a multi-billionaire, according to an analysis of his tax returns obtained by ProPublica in 2021. Bezos is now the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of $195 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who leads the way with a $304 billion net worth, managed the same feat in 2018. ProPublica found none of the country’s 25 wealthiest people had avoided as much tax over several years as Buffett, however.
The Oracle of Omaha has consistently raised this issue himself, famously pointing out he was subject to a lower tax rate than his secretary, Debbie Bosanek.
Bosanek somewhat inadvertently became the face of tax inequality in the U.S., and, in 2011, President Barack Obama proposed the so-called “Buffett rule,” which aimed to increase the effective tax rate on millionaires to 30% by eliminating certain tax breaks and subsidies. A bill was eventually blocked by a Republican filibuster.
A ‘millionaires’ tax’ wouldn’t cut it
Six states—California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York (along with Washington D.C.)—have adopted “millionaire taxes,” all of which focus on income. At the federal level, a top rate of 37% applies to individuals making at least $626,350. Congressional Republicans have reportedly considered increasing that rate to 40% for those making about $370,000 more.
For now, however, it appears the proposal would not affect qualified dividends and long-term capital gains, which are currently hit with a top rate of 23.8%. Private equity also benefits from being taxed at that rate for carried interest, which also accounts for the bulk of compensation for venture capital and hedge-fund managers. Trump has indicated he wants to close the loophole, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would cut the federal deficit by $13 billion through 2034.
Some argue the ultra-wealthy are already subject to high tax rates, however. The American Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank, says a 2024 study from the Treasury Department shows the country’s wealthiest individuals are hit with effective tax rates as high as 60% when accounting for corporate income and estate taxes at home and abroad, as well as state and local taxes.
“The Treasury study was no doubt commissioned to demonstrate that wealthy Americans pay a relatively small amount of income taxes compared to their total wealth,” Tax Foundation President emeritus Scott Hodge wrote. “But most governments, foreign and domestic, tax people and businesses on their income and not their wealth.”
A simple “millionaires’ tax” likely wouldn’t change that.
Trump is loosening red tape to help America’s $20 billion seafood trade deficit. Conservation groups worry overfishing could unravel the ocean’s ‘safety net’
President Donald Trump’s executive order to boost the U.S. commercial fishing industry drew praise from commercial fishing groups and condemnation from environmental organizations who said they fear cutting regulations will harm fish populations that have already dwindled in some areas of the oceans.
The order represents a dramatic shift in federal policy on fishing in U.S. waters by prioritizing commercial fishing interests over efforts to allow the fish supply to increase.
The president described his decision as “an easy one” that will improve the U.S. commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas.
“The United States should be the world’s dominant seafood leader,” he said Thursday, citing the nation’s seafood trade deficit, which is more than $20 billion.
Some environmental groups cited the importance of relying on the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which has guided U.S. fishery management for nearly 50 years and was intended to combat overfishing. The number of fish stocks on the federal overfished list grew from 40 in 2013 to 47 in 2023; conservationists said they fear that number will grow with weakened regulations.
“These executive orders don’t loosen red tape – they unravel the very safety net that protects our oceans, our economy, and our seafood dinners,” said Beth Lowell, vice president of Oceana, a conservation group. “For decades, the U.S. science-based approach to fisheries management has rebuilt declining stocks, kept American fishers on the water, and protected important places and wildlife.”
Some sectors of the fishing industry have been hit hard by environmental changes and overfishing, including in the Northeast, where once-lucrative industries for Maine shrimp and Atlantic cod long ago dried up. West Coast species, including some kinds of salmon, have also been depleted.
There have also been successes. The federal government said last year it was able to remove Atlantic coast bluefish and a Washington coast stock of coho salmon from the overfished list.
Fishermen said they see a brighter future thanks to the Trump executive order. The changes represent a “thoughtful, strategic approach” that could be a lifeline to America’s fishermen, said Lisa Wallenda Picard, president and chief executive officer of the National Fisheries Institute in Virginia.
“The EO outlines key actions to benefit every link in the supply chain — from hardworking fishermen to parents who serve their family this nutritious and sustainable protein at home,” Wallenda Picard said. “Importantly, the order calls for reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens on fishermen and seafood producers while also promoting the many benefits of eating seafood as part of a healthy, balanced diet.”
Trump’s order came on the same day he issued a proclamation allowing commercial fishing in Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. The monument was created by President George W. Bush in early 2009 and consists of about 495,189 square miles (1,282,534 square kilometers) in the central Pacific Ocean.
Environmental groups, some of whom vowed to challenge attempts to weaken protections in certain areas, also criticized that move.
“This is one of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world that already faces dire threats from climate change and ocean acidification,” said David Henkin, an attorney with conservation group Earthjustice. “We will do everything in our power to protect the monument.”
Countering conservation groups, the Trump administration argues that restrictions such as catch limits and competition with wind power companies for fishing grounds have held back one of the country’s oldest enterprises.
“In addition to overregulation, unfair trade practices have put our seafood markets at a competitive disadvantage,” Trump’s executive order stated.
The order order gives Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a month to identify “the most heavily overregulated fisheries requiring action and take appropriate action to reduce the regulatory burden on them.” It also calls on regional fishing managers to find ways to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and increase fishing production.
The order also calls for the development of a comprehensive seafood trade strategy. It charges Lutnick with reviewing existing marine monuments, which are underwater protected areas, and providing recommendations of any that should be opened to commercial fishing. Trump also targeted marine monuments in his first term.
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