In March 2024, O’Malley said the agency would stop “ that clawback cruelty ” of intercepting 100% of a beneficiary’s monthly check if they fail to respond to a demand for repayment. Instead, the agency would default to withholding 10% of the recipient’s monthly benefits, he said.

A Biden administration policy capped the overpayment of Social Security clawbacks at 10%. Then the Trump administration came down hard with its overpayment demands on beneficiaries. Now there’s a quietly introduced change.

The Social Security Administration is backing off a plan it announced in March to withhold 100% of many beneficiaries’ monthly payments to claw back money the government had allegedly overpaid them.