FACT-CHECK: Do Seniors Receive Social Security Checks In the Mail?

Democrats’ latest ploy to make Americans believe that “millions” of Social Security recipients won’t receive benefits because of possible United States Postal Service (USPS) interruptions is deceptive at best.

In recent weeks, national Democrats and left-wing pundits have made the USPS their top campaign issue.

Many have made claims that seniors won’t get their Social Security checks in the mail.

So is that really true?

Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said Monday, “In this pandemic, millions are relying on their medicine and Social Security checks to arrive on time. Trump’s attack on the Post Office is truly a matter of life and death.”

And Bernie Sanders wasn’t alone. Not by a long shot.

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DNC Plays Up USPS Issue

Democratic National Convention host, actress and activist Eva Longoria, delivered a similar line on night one of the convention Monday evening.

“Social Security beneficiaries count on the post office to get their checks,” Longoria said.

Longoria and Sanders were joined by other prominent Democrats.

Democrats Pile On with Social Security Rhetoric

Maxine Waters tweeted Sunday, “Trump, we’re all hearing from seniors! They need their medicine, their groceries, they need their disability & social security checks!”

“Why are you harming us by slowing down the mail system & destroying the #USPS!” she added. “Don’t you understand how important the mail system is?”

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Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer tweeted, “President Trump’s attempts to sabotage the Postal Service are deeply disturbing. Americans rely on our Postal Service for prescriptions, voting, social security checks, and more. The @USPS needs to be fully funded, full stop.”

Former President Barack Obama chimed in, “Everyone depends on the USPS. Seniors for their Social Security, veterans for their prescriptions, small businesses trying to keep their doors open. They can’t be collateral damage for an administration more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing a virus.”

And of course, Hillary Clinton was going to have her say.

Americans don’t just rely on the mail for voting,” Clinton tweeted last week. “They rely on the mail for medications, Social Security checks, small business operations, and so much more.

Facts: Do Social Security Checks Still Go Through the Mail?

Less than 1% of Social Security recipients still receive their benefits through the USPS.

The Treasury announced in 2010 that they would begin phasing out the practice of sending physical checks through the mail. In 2013, the Social Security Administration announced they would begin the process of moving everyone to an electronic system.

As you can imagine, the federal government is so inefficient, that process is not fully completed. However, the number of checks that still go through the mail represent a very small percentage of recipients.

“Nearly 550,000 people are receiving paper Social Security checks in August, according to Social Security Administration data,” Politifact observed.

That’s 550,000 out of 65 million recipients. Less than 1%.

When you consider the facts, the fearmongering of Bernie Sanders and other Democrats is misleading at best, and dishonest at worst.

In the last ten weeks of this presidential election, expect this rhetoric about most Americans not being able to get their Social Security to be repeated ad nauseam.

Whether it’s true or not.