Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, issued a statement on Thursday denying media reports that the Social Security Administration has permanently closed some field offices, but one Social Security advocate told ThinkAdvisor the announcement was “splitting hairs” and “deceptive.”
The SSA has not yet responded to a request for additional information or clarification regarding its exact plans for field offices and public-facing staff. Earlier this month, the SSA revealed plans to reduce its staffing to 50,000 from its current level of 57,000 employees and reduce its 10 regional oversight offices to four.
The SSA has likewise announced plans to close several internal administrative offices, including the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and the Office of Transformation. It has also “realigned” the functions provided by its Office of Analytics, Review and Oversight.
But the new statement suggests that SSA field offices that serve the public have remained untouched so far in 2025.
“Recent reports in the media that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is permanently closing local field offices are false,” SSA said in a press release. “Since Jan. 1, 2025, the agency has not permanently closed or announced the permanent closure of any local field office.”
From time to time, the announcement explains, SSA must temporarily close a local field office for reasons such as weather, damage, or facilities issues, and it reopens when the issues are resolved. The agency has announced the permanent closure of one “hearing office,” in White Plains, New York.
Along with its buyout offer to employees, the agency encouraged staffers to apply for reassignment to public-facing roles.
The Office Closing Process
According to the announcement, the SSA works closely with local congressional delegations before closing any office permanently. The agency also reassigns employees from an affected office to other locations to help communities access in-person services.
“SSA is committed to providing service where people need help and our local field offices are no exception,” Dudek said in the statement. “We have not permanently closed any local field offices this year.”
The statement confirms that the SSA identified for the General Services Administration “underutilized office space” to ensure the government is spending taxpayer money as prudently as possible. As part of that process, the agency “provided GSA a list of sites for termination.”
“Most of these are small hearing rooms with no assigned employees,” the statement reads. “Since most hearings are held virtually, SSA no longer needs these underutilized rooms.”
'Splitting Hairs'
Asked by ThinkAdvisor for interpretation of Dudek’s statement, Nancy Altman at Social Security Works said her sense is that the SSA leadership is not being forthright with the public. Rather, they are “splitting hairs” by saying that SSA isn't closing offices, when it's the GSA that would actually do that.
“Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency [DOGE] bragged about savings from closing Social Security field offices,” Altman said. “The Trump administration, oblivious about how important these offices are, was unprepared for the outcry, and forced to scramble.”
In response to anger across the country, Altman said, the “DOGE crony” at the head of the Social Security Administration has issued a deceptively worded press release.
“The release very carefully states that the Social Security Administration is not closing offices,” Altman argued. “What it omits is that it is the General Services Administration that contracts with landlords. The GSA has been instructed to close every office. Historically, GSA consults with the affected agency. But in an unprecedented move, GSA has cut SSA out of the loop. That would explain why SSA appears to be clueless, with plausible deniability.”
Though the press release blames the media for the confusion, Altman said, the blame “falls squarely on Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”
Long Wait Times Remain the Norm
Shannon Benton, the executive director of the Senior Citizens League, said the office closure discussion is part of a bigger and longstanding issue with Social Security’s operations.“We’re still hearing the same complaints as always: long wait times on the phone, lengthy delays for appointments, and so on,” Benton told ThinkAdvisor. “Keeping track of all the changes, reversals, and misinformation has become increasingly difficult. This is exactly why we’re advocating for any changes to Social Security benefits and policies to be rolled out gradually.”
This would give the vulnerable populations who rely on these benefits time to adjust and prepare.
“The constant back-and-forth is adding unnecessary stress to an already struggling group,” she concluded.
Continued Attempts to Disparage Social Security
Separately, Musk and his allies have continued to speak derisively about the Social Security program in speeches and media appearances, often likening the retirement insurance program to a Ponzi scheme.
“Using comments that tracked those of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Elon Musk repeated the Trump administration’s lies [just last night] about Social Security,” Altman observed, providing a link to a Fox News interview given Thursday. “He made the absurd claim that 40% of the over 78 million Americans who call Social Security’s 1-800 number every year are ‘fraudsters.’ Like Lutnick, he said that those ‘who scream the loudest’ are ‘the fraudsters.’”
The truth, Altman said, is that Social Security has a fraud rate of 0.00625%, as shown in a recent analysis from the Brookings Institution.
“That is far lower than private sector retirement programs,” Altman said. “It is Musk and DOGE who are inviting fraudsters. Scammers are already rushing in to take advantage of the confusion created by DOGE’s service cuts. No one who thinks Social Security is a criminal Ponzi scheme should be anywhere near our earned Social Security benefits or the sensitive data we provide the Social Security Administration.”
Pictured: John Manganaro
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