Retiree News | March 2025

President Donald Trump’s deep cuts to essential services threaten millions of Americans—from students and veterans to the elderly and disabled—all to fund tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk. AFT President Randi Weingarten shares how the Trump administration is slashing education funding; weakening Social Security and Medicaid; and gutting agencies that ensure food safety, disease prevention and national security. Americans are fighting back, as we saw on the AFT’s Protect Our Kids Day of Action, when thousands protested these reckless policies. We must reject this betrayal of working people and demand a government that serves everyone—not just the wealthy.

 

A federal court ordered Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to delete and return unlawfully accessed Social Security records—the first legal rebuke of DOGE’s actions under Trump. The ruling followed a lawsuit by Democracy Forward on behalf of AFSCME, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the AFT. AFT President Randi Weingarten condemned the data breach, stressing that retirees deserved security. On March 24, activists rallied in front of a Social Security office in White Plains, N.Y., telling DOGE: Hands off our Social Security!

As the Trump administration targets everything from education to trade agreements, it’s often hard to know where the next disaster might be coming from. But by focusing on one area of concern, we can shut out some of the chaos and think more clearly about how we will fight back. To mark Women’s History Month, we take a look at five top concerns unfolding as President Donald Trump attacks women by advancing harmful policies that affect not only women but all Americans.

 

The Trump administration released an executive order and President Donald Trump signed it on March 20, attempting to eliminate the federal role in education—a move that most people in America don’t want because it would diminish opportunity for students. As a union of educators, healthcare professionals and public employees, we know the importance of ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive—and that’s why AFT President Randi Weingarten responded simply by saying: “See you in court.”

 

AFT members and allies turned out for more than 2,000 actions throughout the country on March 4 as part of the AFT’s Protect Our Kids Day of Action to fight back against cruel and irresponsible attacks on federal education programs by President Donald Trump and his henchman Elon Musk. Participants called on lawmakers to protect our kids against dismantling the Education Department, which would hurt millions of students, to fund tax cuts for billionaires. Watch the highlight reel here.

 

The destruction of vital federal services for millions of Americans has begun. President Donald Trump has launched a vindictive, erratic and often illegal series of moves intended to demolish the federal government. Aided by Elon Musk, Trump locked some workers out of their offices and fired others using dismissal letters that falsely accused them of incompetence. In the middle of this mess stand 5,000 members of the Federation of Indian Service Employees, an AFT affiliate representing workers at four federal agencies serving Native Americans. Read about their mobilization to stop this insanity.