Posted on 02/26/25
| News Source: The American Prospect
Washington, D.C. _ Feb. 26, 2025 - The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) requested in a meeting on Tuesday that managers present him with a plan for a 50 percent reduction in staff, a mass firing that could affect tens of thousands of employees across the country.
The deadline for the plan to be submitted to Leland Dudek, who was elevated to the acting commissioner position just a couple of weeks ago, is this afternoon, according to two sources who wished to remain anonymous.
The decision could target one of the government’s most prominent public-facing initiatives: SSA field offices, where seniors, people with disabilities, and survivors whose parents have died can sign up for benefits and get information.
“I’m getting conflicting reports on what was discussed in that meeting,” said Rich Couture, spokesperson for the Social Security General Committee of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), adding that some reports indicated that field offices would be spared. But one manager present at the meeting indicated that the 50 percent trim was at all levels. And cuts that have dribbled out over the past several days appear to impact field offices where a majority of SSA employees work.
“I can say that AFGE is steadfastly opposed to any reduction in force to any employees,” Couture said, noting that the agency is at a 50-year staffing low and mired in a “customer service crisis.”
In an email to the Prospect, SSA would not confirm any reductions in its workforce beyond the abolition of two small internal offices announced this week. “We have not set any reduction targets, however we will continue to pursue efficiencies within the agency and align like missions,” an SSA spokesperson said. “We have no further information at this time.”
Sources have speculated to the Prospect that the terminations are being done piecemeal to avoid headlines of tens of thousands of jobs lost. “The plan is to fire 50 percent of the workers in little buckets so nobody knows what they’re doing,” they said.
The potential mass firing is consistent with plans being advanced throughout the government to slash the federal workforce. A Monday night email from General Services Administration acting director Stephen Ehikian that the Prospect obtained confirmed that the agency would be conducting a “reduction in force,” a legal term that enables layoffs within the federal government under certain limits. The reductions in force, expected to hit multiple agencies, were outlined in a February 11 executive order from the president, putting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team leads in charge of federal hiring.
But the initiative at SSA may conflict with President Trump’s vow on the campaign trail to not touch Social Security, the bedrock social insurance program for the elderly. Reducing service at frontline offices in particular would impact potentially millions of people. SSA is also trying to incorporate a new benefit expansion signed by President Biden last December amid the chaotic potential staff turnover. That could delay those new benefits for teachers, firefighters and police officers.
“‘Not touching Social Security’ is not the reality of this administration,” said a source familiar with the discussions at SSA in a message obtained by the Prospect. “Looking for government to fail and be replaced by private industry appears to be the goal.”
DUDEK ROSE TO POWER AT SSA after the firing of acting commissioner Michelle King, who resigned after resisting giving DOGE teams access to agency data. Dudek, a relatively unknown mid-level official who defied upper leadership to “help DOGE understand SSA,” was immediately appointed as King’s replacement. He is serving temporarily while Frank Bisignano, former CEO of payment processor Fiserv, awaits confirmation to lead SSA.
Earlier this week, SSA closed the Office of Transformation and the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, affecting roughly 190 workers who were put on administrative leave. Dudek termed these offices “duplicative” and “wasteful” in public announcements, and said that their statutory duties, which include processing Equal Employment Opportunity complaints and disability services, would be handled elsewhere at SSA.
But internal back-office operations are not where the majority of SSA’s approximately 57,000 workers are employed. (Another 12,000 SSA employees are technically state workers.) Social Security had 1,232 field offices as of the end of 2023. These offices, which see on average close to 120,000 visitors per day, provide customer service for individuals signing up for Social Security and Medicare, as well as applying for disability or survivor benefits.
When 41 probationary employees were terminated at the agency, out of 1,800 possible probationary officials, those workers were given the option to move to a frontline position. The frontline offices are the lifeblood of the agency, and the only way to achieve the kinds of savings Dudek has called for at SSA is by slashing those frontline positions.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Dudek has proposed using call center employees to replace SSA workers who staff an 800 number for beneficiaries. But the target of a 50 percent reduction in force has not been reported.
According to Couture, one account he received said that “the agency is looking to reorganize with a 50 percent reduction, including the field offices.” But a second report claimed that “frontline offices would be excluded from the reduction in force.” Couture sent the agency a request for further information on Wednesday.
Trump and Elon Musk have focused their comments on Social Security on wildly false claims about 150-year-olds receiving benefits. But their workforce plans would almost certainly have a major impact on Social Security beneficiaries.
Musk’s DOGE team has called for the termination of all 7,500 leases that the federal government holds on office space. Outside of post offices, the largest number of government buildings in the country are frontline SSA field offices, making up roughly 20 percent of all office buildings.
DOGE has announced on its website what it describes as lease terminations or consolidations at 45 SSA field offices. But there is little information about these offices, outside the city in which they are located, from Columbus, Ohio, to Grand Junction, Colorado, and the total square footage.
Some of the locations appear to be small “permanent remote sites” (PRS) or resident stations, which have sporadic use; they are often locations for in-person hearings over disability benefits, many of which are now conducted remotely. These may be seen as “low-hanging fruit” by SSA as ripe for terminations, but in-person hearings still would have to be conducted somewhere.
Other locations are more substantial, particularly a hearing office in White Plains, New York (16,632 square feet), which is officially scheduled for closure at the end of May. Couture described the White Plains office as “busy and productive,” where roughly 2,200 disability hearings are held annually. The nearest office is 135 miles away.
The AFGE has been given no information about the status of the judges and staff at the White Plains office, or where the public that relies on that office will have to go for hearings. SSA has not identified a successor office, as they have with closures in the past. Another large site in New York, in Poughkeepsie, is listed on the DOGE site as having an “end of term” in July.
Other so-called lease terminations—including offices of over 10,000 square feet in Anniston, Alabama; Gainesville, Georgia; and Campbellsville, Kentucky—contain unusual terminology like “true termination—consolidation,” “lease backfill,” “agency closed office” or “agency approved lease termination” or “agency direct lease,” none of which Couture understood as actual designations. “They’re just slapping information up there,” he said.
One 7,852-square-foot office in Logan, West Virginia, is listed as “agency closing office temporarily,” which would likely not yield any savings. Several midsized offices in Missoula, Montana; Grand Junction, Colorado; Kalispell, Montana; Minot, North Dakota; and Rock Springs, Wyoming have a confusing explanation: “Termination details are still being finalized. The lessor and customer have been notified, and the strategy is under development.”
On Monday, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) tweeted that she was informed of 100 SSA terminations in a Birmingham, Alabama, field office in her district. She later clarified that the terminations involved the entirety of SSA Region 4, which includes Alabama.
THE UNCLEAR SIGNALS ON LEASE TERMINATIONS are happening at the same time that DOGE is attempting to force all employees to return to the office. “How do you have employees return to an office that may not exist?” Couture said.
SSA currently operates with 7,000 fewer employees than it did ten years ago, according to former SSA administrator Martin O’Malley. Further cuts would increase delays in getting people signed up for benefits they qualify for, and force beneficiaries to travel further to find information and support. Already, the agency has huge backlogs to adjudicate disability cases, for example.
This week, SSA announced that beneficiaries under the Social Security Fairness Act, a 2024 law that approved higher payouts for state and local government workers who have paid into the system, would begin implementation this week, with raises coming by April. Having to manage benefit changes amid the chaos among the workforce has made some advocates skeptical that implementation will happen smoothly.
More than 64 percent of SSA employees are women, and more than 55 percent are Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian/Alaska Native.