Retirees are flocking to the agency’s office in Des Moines, mistakenly thinking they have to prove their identity anew or their checks will stop.

They began lining up two hours before the Social Security office opened — huddled against a sharp April cold, clutching convenience store coffees, the steam rising in chill coming off the river that flows through Des Moines.

Some carried files of important documents — an original of a marriage or birth certificate, a Medicare application — or printouts of forms they couldn’t seem to manage to submit online.

Many expressed worry about the upcoming changes at the Social Security Administration and how those might affect the benefits it provides 73 million disabled, elderly or young Americans. For 40 percent of seniors, that monthly check is their sole source of income.

While President Donald Trump has said he won’t touch Social Security, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk has denigrated the system as a “Ponzi scheme.” Cost-cutting teams from Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service have slashed jobs and functions. The result: a flood of worried beneficiaries, website crashes and chaos.

Long lines and wait times were already common at this office, the biggest in Iowa, located between boxy new lofts in a low-slung, red-trimmed building on the fringes of the city’s downtown.

But help here has been complicated by new rules requiring beneficiaries to come in person if they cannot register online, according to Jeremy Maske, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 836, which represents about 100 Social Security workers in this state and Nebraska.

Some recipients are showing up because of confusion over what they do and don’t need to do to prove they are still alive.

They’re “experiencing longer wait times on the phone, if they can get through,” Maske said. “They’re experiencing the same type of fear and trauma the employees are — and are worried they’re going to lose their benefits.”

A spokesman for Social Security’s regional headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, did not return a call requesting comment.

Peggy Minter, 53, drove to the agency’s Des Moines office with her son, who is completing a name change and gender transition. Minter said she was relieved they set that plan in motion before the legislature struck gender identity from Iowa’s civil rights law in late February.

“I’m scared for my future, my kid’s future, my husband’s future,” said Minter, a Des Moines-area resident who works two jobs — as an instructional aide for the school district and as a housecleaner.

Trump won Iowa with 55 percent of the vote last fall. Minter, who says she votes independent, wasn’t part of his victory and is dismayed by what he has done since returning to office. “Last night I heard Trump is going for a third term,” she said. “How can he do that? Why are we not trying to stop that now?”

The early-morning line also included a white-haired retiree of 72 named Linda. Huddled in a black puffer coat, she made friends with the folks around her in the hour before employees opened the door and the public streamed in.

Linda — who only gave her first name so she wouldn’t endanger past clients who were abuse victims — had tried unsuccessfully for several days to get an appointment by phone. Hearing news reports about the new in-person requirements, she wanted reassurance that everything was okay with her account, her primary source of retirement income.

“I figure it’s my responsibility to make sure they have everything they need and there’s no break in getting my check,” she said. “I just said let’s go down there, and if I have to stand in line, I have to stand in line. I’m not going to die from it.”

“No surprises,” murmured another woman in line.

Linda was lucky. It didn’t take long for her to get an answer. “They said everything’s fine. I didn’t even need to come in,” she said, a big smile on her face as she left.

Some beneficiaries here this week expressed support for DOGE, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency. They repeated Musk’s false statements about the Social Security Administration, such as his debunked claim that 20 million deceased Americans receive benefits.

Dan Moughler, a retired truck driver from Des Moines, said he came in person to get a copy of a tax form after being unable to make an appointment online. The complicated process involves facial recognition.

Critics say DOGE’s sweeping moves — which include slashing 12 percent of the agency’s workforce and shuttering six regional headquarters and dozens of smaller offices — will make dealing with the Social Security Administration more difficult for seniors like Moughler who aren’t adept at computers. But he supports those cuts.

“I think the DOGE thing is great,” he said. He echoed Trump’s widely disproven assertion that scores of people “over 160 years old” remain on the benefits rolls. “There are massive amounts of people signed up for Social Security that shouldn’t be,” added Moughler, who is 72.

Crystal Holliday, 40, a Des Moines resident and mother of four, showed up Tuesday to fill out paperwork so her son with severe autism will continue to receive benefits. The $600 check he receives each month “barely” covers the costs, she said. She took time off recently to help him and ended up losing her job as an activities coordinator at a senior living facility.

“There’s no help for the people that genuinely need it,” Holliday said. She used to protest Trump and even wrote in her own name on November’s ballot for president. Yet she’s beginning to approve of what DOGE says it is trying to do.

“Putting the money where it’s supposed to go? I’m in favor of that,” she said. “Maybe they can figure out a way to make it better. It can’t get any worse.”