The Social Security Administration has cut half of its outsourced information technology spending, slashing expenditures for private-sector contractors as part of an effort to keep full-time staff employed,

“The ongoing bloodbath at the Social Security Administration has only one goal: the total annihilation of Social Security,” Alex Lawson, executive director of nonprofit advocy group Social Security Works, told MarketWatch. “This is Wall Street and the billionaires destroying Social Security so they can give themselves trillions in tax handouts.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans who is not authorized to speak publicly. The workforce reduction, according to a second person who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, could be as high as 50%.

The Social Security Administration announced a “massive” reorganization and “significant” job cuts on Thursday that critics said could increase customer-service wait times and make it more difficult to detect fraud.

A plan like this will result in field office closures that will hit seniors in rural communities the hardest," one lawmaker said.

The Social Security Administration has been instructed to reduce its staff by half as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to pursue widespread cuts across the federal government, according to multiple media reports.