The U.S. Social Security Administration abandoned plans to end phone services for retirees that would have started on Monday, following a growing outcry from advocates who warned that the changes could cause chaos and further strain the agency.

The changes were supposed to take effect on Monday but have been called off, according to a statement the agency made to the advocacy group AARP, which had lobbied hard against the changes. “Beginning on April 14, SSA will allow all claim types to be completed over the telephone,” the agency said, AARP told HuffPost.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees or AFSCME, Alliance for Retired Americans, and the American Federation of Teachers filed a motion for emergency relief on March 7 to halt DOGE's "unprecedented, unlawful seizure" of sensitive data regarding millions of Americans.