Emergency Order Sought

      From the Associated Press:

A group of labor unions are asking a federal court for an emergency order to stop Elon Musk ‘s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the sensitive Social Security data of millions of Americans.

The motion for emergency relief was filed late Friday in federal court in Maryland by the legal services group Democracy Forward against the Social Security Administration and its acting commissioner, Leland Dudek. The unions want the court to block DOGE’s access to the vast troves of personal data held by the agency.

What Could Go Wrong?

      From ABC News:

The Department of Government Efficiency is sifting through $1.6 trillion worth of Social Security payments -- records that include a person's name, birth date and how much they earn -- in an anti-fraud effort that has advocates worried the Trump administration could start denying payments to vulnerable older Americans.

Details on the effort were confirmed in a recent letter to Congress by acting Social Security Administrator Lee Dudek and by several sources familiar with the project.

In addition to combing through sensitive data, DOGE staffers also have been inquiring about the Social Security Administration'stelephone service, sources told ABC News, which a significant portion of beneficiaries use to file initial claims. DOGE's inquiries about the telephone service have raised concerns that it may be planning either to replace the telephone service with private call centers or eliminate it as an option for filing claims, sources said. …

Going Back To 100% Overpayment Withholding

      I warned this might happen. From Social Security’s blog:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced it will increase the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security beneficiaries to 100 percent of a person’s monthly benefit. The Office of the Chief Actuary estimates this change will result in an increase in overpayment recoveries (i.e., a program savings) of about $7 billion in the next decade. …

As of March 27, the agency will begin mailing notices about the new 100 percent withholding rate, rather than the recent adjustment of just 10 percent. The withholding rate change applies to new overpayments related to Social Security benefits. The withholding rate for current beneficiaries with an overpayment before March 27 will not change and no action is required. The withholding rate for Supplemental Security Income overpayments remains 10 percent. …

     They announced this late on a Friday afternoon.  I wonder why.

     O’Malley’s change should have been placed in the regs where it wouldn’t be so easily reversed.

Maine Enumeration At Birth Mess May Not Be So Easy To Fix

     A former federal contracting officer writes that correcting the mess created by cancelling Social Security's enumeration at birth contract with Maine (and perhaps other states) may not be so easy. As he writes, "One thing drilled into the heads of contract specialist and contracting officer by their lawyers is that there 'ain’t breathing no life into a dead contract. Dead is Dead.'” Starting all over again on a federal contract isn't something done quickly.

Dudek Takes The Fall

 

Statement from Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner: Correcting Recent Decision Impacting People of Maine 

“I recently directed Social Security employees to end two contracts which affected the good people of the state of Maine. The two contracts are Enumeration at Birth (EAB), which helps new parents quickly request a Social Security number and card for their newborn before leaving the hospital, and Electronic Death Registry (EDR) which shares recorded deaths with Social Security. 

In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent. For that, I apologize and have directed that both contracts be immediately reinstated. EAB and EDR continue in place for every state and were not affected.

As a leader, I will admit my mistakes and make them right.”

DOGE Cancelling Enumeration At Birth Contracts Creating Additional Work For SSA

      From the Portland Press Herald

The Social Security Administration is requiring new parents in Maine to register for a Social Security number for their newborn by visiting one of the state’s eight Social Security offices and no longer allowing them to simply fill out a form at a hospital, according to an email sent by Maine officials this week.

Advocates for pediatrics in Maine immediately criticized the move as burdensome, unnecessary and unfair. …

The email notice sent on Wednesday by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to “birth certifiers” says that “effective immediately, the option for parents to participate in the enumeration at birth process will be suspended.” …

     There’s a report that these contracts have been cancelled in five other states! The reason may be that the states collect information on the race of the children but I thought all states did that.

Are You Willing To Talk With A Reporter?

     I must have gotten a half dozen calls from reporters all asking the same thing -- can I put them in touch with Social Security employees willing to talk with them. I've had to say no. I don't know anyone willing to talk with them. I know most of you are scared to talk with a reporter and I understand why. However, some of you might be willing to talk as long as your identity is kept secret. Reporters will do that. If you're interested in talking, send me an e-mail. There's a contact form on this blog, to the right of where you're reading now. You'll have to give me a valid e-mail address, at least. Voices from within Social Security should be heard.

An Emotional Martin O'Malley Talks Of The Hard Times For Social Security Employees

    I can't figure out a way to embed the video here but go to this link. Thank "X" for the download problem.

Even Dudek Is Starting To Back Away From DOGE Ordered Chaos

     From the Washington Post:

...  In a meeting Tuesday with his senior staff and about 50 legal-aid attorneys and other advocates for the disabled and elderly, acting SSA commissioner Leland Dudek referred to [Elon Musk's] cost-cutting team as “outsiders who are unfamiliar with nuances of SSA programs,” according to a meeting participant’s detailed notes that were obtained by The Washington Post.

“DOGE people are learning and they will make mistakes, but we have to let them see what is going on at SSA,” Dudek told the group, according to the notes. “I am relying on longtime career people to inform my work, but I am receiving decisions that are made without my input. I have to effectuate those decisions.” ...

On Thursday morning — three hours after the publication of this story — an all-staff email went out to SSA employees informing them they would be prevented “effective today” from accessing certain websites on their government devices, including “online shopping,” “general news” and “sports.” ...

Even some Republicans privately acknowledge discomfort with Dudek, who was appointed as acting commissioner when the career senior executive in the role abruptly retired after refusing his push to give DOGE employees unauthorized access to private data. ...

Meeting with advocates on Tuesday, Dudek sought to cast himself as someone on their side. He described his parents as blue-collar workers with little formal education who divorced when he was young, according to the notes obtained by The Post. His mother was injured and went on disability benefits, he explained. In high school, he would eat leftovers from the school cafeteria trash, he said.

 Dudek said the old ways of “setting goals, doing studies, discussion, getting information and data before making decisions” are gone. Those in charge now “will make mistakes, but I need to move them in a direction that is best for SSA,” he said, and asked the advocates for their support. ...

Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank, said shrinking Social Security’s roughly $15 billion operating budget would represent just a small fraction of the program’s $1.5 trillion in annual costs.

“If you’re talking about Social Security solvency, this stuff is a drop in the bucket,” Biggs said. “It doesn’t make any sense at all.” ...

Andrew Saul, who served as SSA commissioner in Trump’s first term, said he welcomed the cuts — but he was adamant that without corresponding modernization of the agency’s many aging technology systems, service will suffer.

“You can’t replace all of these people without the proper systems,” Saul said. “And it takes time to develop them.” ...

In interviews, eight employees described chaos and the dissolution of a system they have been proud to serve, fueled by DOGE-led cuts to staff, spending and operating systems.

Wait times for basic phone service have grown, in some cases to hours, according to some employees, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal details. Delays in reviews of disability claims and hearings before administrative law judges are already starting. ...

Meanwhile, supervisors have little time to give guidance or advice, the employee said, because they are constantly pulled into lengthy meetings to dissect the latest guidance from the Trump administration on return-to-office orders, firing of probationary employees and a Musk-led campaign requiring federal workers to send weekly bullet points laying out their accomplishments.

“Morale is in the toilet,” the employee said. “We all know what DOGE wants to do, which is just break us, so they can privatize us.”

Due to a DOGE-driven spending freeze on federal credit cards, some offices can’t pay phone bills, the employee said, while one office was forced last week to cancel three disability hearings because the staff could not use charge cards to pay for interpreters who speak foreign languages or American Sign Language. One claimant has a terminal illness, and another is in danger of losing their house, the employee said. No new hearings have been scheduled.

Meanwhile, a DOGE-led campaign to cancel contracts deemed “wasteful” across the government is also hurting Social Security. The agency lost a contract that paid for medical experts to testify at disability hearings, the employee said, along with another contract for mold removal from offices. ...

As the agency prepares for a mandated return to in-office work, space constraints in some offices have left supervisors to consider assigning employees to work at desks in supply closets, the worker said.

“It’s just chaos, people are terrified, and no one knows anything, including our supervisors,” the employee said. ...

    Apparently, access to this blog is being banned through Social Security's web access. Remember, you have cell phones and home computers!

Yeah, AI Is Totally Ready To Take Over Major Duties At Social Security

     The Daily Beast reports that “The Los Angeles Times removed its new AI-powered “insights” feature from a column after the tool tried to defend the Ku Klux Klan.”

Chasing An Imaginary Problem

     A press release:

Social Security Addressing Aged Records
Actions Support President’s Priorities

The Social Security Administration (SSA) today shared its significant progress in identifying and correcting beneficiary records of people 100 years old or older. The data reported in the media represent people who do not have a date of death associated with their record. While these people may not be receiving benefits, it is important for the agency to maintain accurate and complete records.

“I thank President Trump for highlighting these inconsistencies during his speech last night to a joint session of Congress,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “We are steadfast in our commitment to root out fraud, waste, and abuse in our programs, and actively correcting the inconsistencies with missing dates of death.”

The agency follows long established program integrity initiatives that identify people who have a higher likelihood of being deceased due to their age or incomplete death reports. For example, SSA receives data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of individuals who have not used Medicare Part A or Part B for three or more years. SSA uses the data as an indicator to select and prioritize cases of individuals age 90 or older, who are currently in pay status and living in the United States, to determine continued eligibility for Social Security benefits. The agency attempts to conduct an interview with these individuals to verify they are still alive. If the agency identifies someone is deceased, it immediately stops payment and reports any suspicions of fraud to SSA’s Office of the Inspector General.

Early Afternoon Roundup -- News Coming In Hot And Heavy

     Here's your early afternoon roundup of Social Security news:

• Federal officials have taken down that list of federal properties for sale but a new list is "Coming Soon."
• AARP is urging its members to contact their representatives in Congress to tell them that Social Security must be protected.
• 152 House Democrats have written the Acting Commissioner of Social Security to express "grave concern" over office closings and workforce reductions.
• No link on this but House Democrats plan to introduce three bills tomorrow to keep Social Security offices open, block DOGE access to Social Security data and to compel the President to account for DOGE activities at Social Security to this point.
• Jack Svahn, former Commissioner of Social Security, thinks that Congress won't act on Social Security's long term funding problems until things become critical. He's right. There's no point wringing your hands over it today. Nothing will happen for several years. 
• A current Social Security employee talks movingly about the trauma being inflicted on agency employees.
• A retired Social Security employee writes about the cuts at his old agency. 

    By the way, if the response from House Democrats to the crisis at Social Security seems tepid to you, just what do you think that the minority party in both Houses of Congress can do? Seriously, what would you have them do? I can suggest one thing -- force a government shutdown unless the White House agrees to end the madness throughout the government -- but they're doing that. Expect a government shutdown next week.

Headquarters Buildings Listed For Sale

       From a list of federally owned properties for sale in the Baltimore area:

ALTMEYER BLDG	WOODLAWN	219,798
ANNEX TO SOC SEC	WOODLAWN	439,698

     The Trump Administration has talked about relocating the headquarters of federal agencies outside the area of the nation’s capitol. I don’t believe any such relocations have been announced yet. That shoe or set of shoes has yet to drop. I’m not saying that’s what these listings are about. I don’t know.

Did You Really Expect That Trump Would Tell The Truth About Social Security?

      In his State of the Union address Donald Trump said that "1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159, and over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are age over 160 years old.” You could call that true but only in the most narrow, misleading way possible. By any reasonable standard, it’s a flat out lie but, as we know, Donald Trump lies the way some people chew gum.

     I don’t know why Trump doesn’t sign an executive order that Social Security must immediately cut off benefits to anyone 115 or more years old. Easily ordered. Easily implemented. Get on with it!

“A Prelude To Privatization”

      From Government Executive:

… At a press conference Monday, Senate Democrats accused the administration and Musk of sabotaging the agency as the first step in an effort to strip Americans of their earned benefits and sell off the agency’s functions to private industry.

“If you take the system today, with these superb statistics that 99.7% of retirement benefits are paid accurately and on-time, and you start hollowing it out, which is essentially what they’re doing, and then they’ll say, ‘Oh my goodness, we need the private sector here, or we won’t have a program,’” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “This is kind of the history of these kinds of efforts. It’s a prelude to privatization.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called Trump and Musk’s actions at SSA as akin to “taking a wrecking ball” to the agency and its services. …

"Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Savings"

     A press release:

Social Security Identifies Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Savings

Actions Support the Administration’s Priorities

The Social Security Administration (SSA) continues to make good on President Trump’s promise to protect American taxpayers from unnecessary spending while continuing to ensure it delivers on its mission.

“For too long, SSA has operated on autopilot,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “We have spent billions annually doing the same things the same way, leading to bureaucratic stagnation, inefficiency, and a lack of meaningful service improvements. It is time to change just that.”

The agency has thus far identified over $800 million in cost savings or cost avoidance for fiscal year (FY) 2025 in areas of payroll, information technology, contracts and grants, and space savings (i.e., real property), and other savings through new, common-sense approaches to printing, travel, and purchase card policies.

• List of Savings


• Payroll: Froze SSA and Disability Determination Services (DDS) hiring and drastically reduced overtime - $550 million.


• Information Technology Systems (ITS) Budget: An ITS budget reduction of $150 million by cancelling non-essential contracts and identifying reductions in other ITS contracts.


• Non-ITS Budget: 70 percent Reduction in Travel - $10 million.


• Contracts and Grants:
  • Contracts Terminated - $15 million.
  • Grants Terminated - $15 million.
• Real Property:
  • Planned non-public facing usable square footage (USF) reductions:
  • Achieved Savings to date - 270,000 USF - $102 million.
  • Anticipated Additional Savings thru EOY FY 2025 - 30,000 USF - $1.5 million.
  • Soft-Term Lease Terminations – Over 60 lease terminations with assistance from the General Services Administration (GSA) - $4.0 million in annual rent savings once terminations are complete. Most sites are co-located; others are non-public facing, consolidations, or preplanned closings.
   
• Guards: Plan to implement protective security officer staffing model and policy for field offices - estimated $30 million beginning in FY 2025.
 
• Printing and Postage: Made SSA-1099 and SSA-1042 notices available online, and 5.4 million customers opted out of paper notices - $3 million cost avoidance.


• Centralized Print Printing: Contracted with vendors to centrally print and mail notices rather than having frontline staff print and mail them locally - $28 million in workyear savings.


• Travel and Purchase Card Policy: Revised card policy to save millions in purchase card obligations.

Social Security remains committed to identifying more ways to save taxpayers money and implementing more solutions that free up frontline employees to help more customers.

Telework Ending For Non-Union Employees On March 5 But The Notice Was Sent To All Employees

 Subject:  Non-bargaining Unit Employees - Return to In-Person Work and Cancellation of Expanded Flexible Bands

On Monday, January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum (PM) requiring all employees to return to work in-person full time.  This message serves as your official notice that your telework agreement will be terminated effective March 4, 2025 with all employees expected to return to work in-person full time on March 5, 2025.  Additionally, all expanded flexbands for non-bargaining unit employees are cancelled.  Non-bargaining unit employees must follow the flexbands in agency policy (see Personnel Policy Manual S610_3).  Employees must return any agency equipment taken to their telework location to their SSA office location. 

The return to work in-person does not currently apply to employees under approved reasonable accommodations (RA) authorizing telework, temporary work at home by exception (WAHBE) agreements for medical reasons, or temporary compassionate assignments (TCA).  In addition, employees in the Office of Hearings Operations and Office of Financial Policy and Program Integrity may remain in their current telework posture.

Any outstationed employees with an assigned SSA office location must also begin working at their assigned agency location full time as of March 5, 2025.  Their telework agreements are terminated as indicated above.

The Office of Human Resources will send more on placement of employees with homestationing agreements into onsite official duty stations in the near future. 

Employees may reapply for an episodic telework agreement or a TCA for temporary, short-term needs.  Additionally, if your location has a space limitation issue, your supervisor will notify you to provide the next steps.  As a reminder, any episodic telework is granted on a case-by-case basis and only in situations where the requested telework will benefit the agency.

We understand that this transition will require an adjustment to employee work/life arrangements.  Supervisors should be liberal with the approval of leave over the next 4 weeks to accommodate the changes.  We encourage employees to review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) the agency has prepared on return to office topics.  The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is also available to you using Access Code: ssaeap or 1-877-549-9528.

Supervisors will upload a copy of this telework termination notice to employees’ e7B files.

It’s All Joe Biden’s Fault

 

A Poll

 

online polls

Elon Musk Rummaging Through Social Security Databases

      The Speaker of the House of Representatives speaking of Elon Musk on Face The Press today:

We meet late into the night in his office and we've looked at that. What he's finding with his algorithms crawling through the data of Social Security system is enormous amounts of fraud, waste, and abuse.

     A couple of thoughts: Are he and his crew authorized to do this and when will we get to find out about all this fraud, waste and abuse? Also, he’s not keeping a copy of this data, is he?

Repeating A Post From Eight Years Ago

 

    I am reminded that a college friend once told me that the hammer is the greatest of all tools because if you can't fix it with a hammer by the time you're done with it, it can't be fixed.

O’Malley Predicts Benefits Interruption

      From CNBC:

Social Security has never missed a benefit payment since the program first began sending individuals monthly benefits more than eight decades ago.

But the recent actions at the U.S. Social Security Administration by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are putting monthly benefit checks for more than 72.5 million Americans at risk, former commissioner and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley told CNBC.com.

“Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley said. “I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days.”

     For the record, I’m pretty sure that O’Malley is wrong on the threat of interrupted benefits. Social Security does not initiate payment of benefits nor does it even maintain the database of those who should be paid. The Department of the Treasury does that. Social Security just gives Treasury new info — people to be added or subtracted from the list.  Treasury does the rest. So unless Treasury is itself terribly affected they will continue to make the payments. It’s just that they may be making less accurate payments including, ironically, paying some dead people who should have been cut off benefits.

7,000 To Be Let Go

      I’m seeing a report that the total layoffs at Social Security will be 7,000. It’s mathematically impossible to achieve this without losing mission critical personnel.

Even If All Of This Was A Good Idea, It Would Still Be Insane To Do It All At The Same Time

MEMORANDUM

Date:​February 28, 2025

To:​Senior Staff

From:​Leland C. Dudek /s/

​Acting Commissioner

Subject:​Executive Personnel Assignments – INFORMATION I have several announcements.

The following Senior Staff have announced their separations. I wish all of these dedicated employees the best after their many years of public service:

• Christopher Ferris, Associate Commissioner for Security and Emergency Preparedness, Office of Budget, Finance, and Management 
• Joseph Lytle, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Hearings Operations
• Craig Bedard, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Strategy, Learning, and Workforce Development, Office of Human Resources (OHR)
• Kristen Medley-Proctor, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, OHR
• Frank Barry, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Customer Service, Office of Operations (DCO) 
• Howard Bowles, Regional Commissioner, Denver/Seattle, DCO
• Rose Mary Buehler, Regional Commissioner, Atlanta, DCO
• Vikash Chhagan, Assistant Regional Commissioner for Management and Operations Support, Seattle, DCO
• Sue Cumming, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Public Service and Operations Support, DCO
• Ray Egan, Regional Commissioner, New York, DCO
• Tonya Freeman, Deputy Regional Commissioner, Kansas City, DCO
• Roderick Hairston, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Electronic Services and Technology, DCO
• Rick Lenoir, Regional Commissioner, Chicago, DCO
• Joe Lopez, Assistant Regional Commissioner for Management and Operations Support, Dallas, DCO 
• LeeAnn Stuever, Regional Commissioner, Philadelphia, DCO
• Deon Wilson, Deputy Regional Commissioner, Dallas, DCO
• Timothy Amerson, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Information Security, Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)
• Stephanie Hall, Senior Advisor, OCIO
• Timothy May, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Information Security, OCIO
• Joseph Stenaka, Executive Advisor for Cybersecurity, OCIO
• Jeremy Weibley, Executive Advisor for IT Transformation, OCIO
• Laura Haltzel, Associate Commissioner for Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, Office of Retirement and Disability Policy
• Dennis Foley, Deputy Associate General Counsel for Program Law, Office of the General Counsel 
• Natalie Lu, Senior Advisor

 

To support President Trump’s priorities to streamline functions, I am making the following organizational changes:

Historically, SSA has operated with a regional structure consisting of ten regional offices. We can no longer afford to operate in this fashion. We will reduce the regional structure in all agency components down to four regions as follows:

 

1. Northeast Region – Current Boston, New York, and Philadelphia regions 

2. Southeast Region – Current Atlanta region 

3. Mid-West/West Region – Current Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, and Seattle regions

4. Southwest Region – Current Dallas and San Francisco regions

 

In addition, we have an outdated, inefficient organizational structure at Headquarters, so I am reorganizing Headquarters components. We will now have seven Deputy Commissioner level organizations as follows:

1. Deputy Commissioner for Operations

2. Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication 

3. Deputy Commissioner for Mission Support 

4. Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs 

5. Deputy Commissioner for Legal and Policy 

6. Chief Information Officer 

7. Chief Actuary

 

Deputy Commissioner for Operations

• Doris Diaz will remain Acting Deputy Commissioner (DC).  
• Delma Cardona is Assistant Deputy Commissioner (ADC), DCO.   
• Sean Balser is Acting ADC, DCO.
• Anatoly Shnaider is Regional Commissioner (RC), Northeast Region. 
• Darrell Sheffield is Acting RC, Southeast Region. 
• Linda Kerr-Davis is RC, Mid-West/West Region. 
• Travis Dodson is RC, Southwest Region.

In addition, I am realigning all Processing Centers to report to the Office of Central Operations and all Teleservice Centers to report to the newly formed Office of Telephone Services (OTS). Chris Chapple is AC, OTS and Tiffany Countess is Acting DAC, OTS. 

I am also merging the Office of Public Service and Operations Support and the Office of Electronic Services and Technology to form the Office of Analysis, Integration, and Performance Oversight (OAIPO). Jeremiah Schofield is AC, OAIPO. Sam Richardson and Karen Girardeau are DACs.

Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication I am establishing the Office of Disability Adjudication (ODA), which will be comprised of the Offices of Hearings Operations (OHO), Appellate Operations, Disability Determinations (ODD), and Quality Review. Jay Ortis, will serve as the Acting Deputy Commissioner (DC), ODA, concurrently while serving as Acting Chief Administrative Law Judge. Jim Parikh is ADC, ODA. 

Chad Poist will be ADC, ODA. Hank McKnelly will be AC for the Office of Hearing Operations (OHO). While Chad continues to serve as Acting Deputy Chief of Staff, Hank McKnelly will serve as Acting ADC, ODA. Monique Cephas will be DAC, OHO. Leroy Weeks is the Assistant Associate Commissioner (AAC) for the newly formed Office of Management. James Van Der Schalie will be AC, ODD.

Deputy Commissioner for Mission Support

I am combining our administrative support functions in the Office of Budget, Finance, and Management and the Office of Human Resources to form the Office of Mission Support (OMS). Sean Brune will serve as the Acting DC, OMS. His permanent position will be ADC, OMS, overseeing the Offices of Financial Policy and Program Integrity (OFPPI), Budget (OB), and Acquisition and Grants. Florence Felix-Lawson will serve as the Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, and ADC, OM. Florence will oversee the Offices of Human Resources, and the newly formed Office of Facilities and Security Management (OFSM), which merges the Offices of Facilities and Logistics Management, and Security and Emergency Preparedness. Jennifer Stevenson is AC, Office of Human Resources. Jenni Greenlee is AAC, Lauren Palguta and Mary Ann Jett are Deputy, AACs (DAAC). 

Dan Callahan is AC, OFSM. Marc Mason is AAC, OFSM, Tim Beavers and Dawn McCrobie are DAACs.  Christian Hellie is AC, OFPPI.

Also in OMS, I am reassigning all agency budget functions and employees to OB. Due to their unique nature, the ODD budget staff will remain with ODD. 

I am also reassigning all agency facilities and security functions and employees to OFSM.

Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs: To improve our responsiveness to Congress, our stakeholders, and the public, I am merging the Office of Communications (OCOMM) and the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs (OLCA) to form the Office of External Affairs (OEA). Jeffrey Buckner will serve is Acting DC, OEA. His permanent position will be ADC, OEA/OCOMM. Dustin Brown will serve as Acting ADC, OEA/OLCA. Dawn Bystry will be AC, OCOMM. Erik Hansen is AC, OLCA. Kala Shah, currently the Executive Secretary, will be a Senior Advisor, OEA. 

Stephen McGraw will be Acting Executive Secretary in the Office of the Commissioner.

Deputy Commissioner for Legal and Policy: To increase our effectiveness in implementing the Administration’s priorities, I am merging the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy (ORDP), and the Office of Labor Management and Employee Relations (OLMER), to form the Office of Legal and Policy (OLP). Mark Steffensen, currently a Senior Advisor in OC, is Acting DC, OLP and Acting General Counsel. Stephen Evangelista will be the ADC, OLP overseeing Policy. We will soon name an ADC overseeing Legal and OLMER. 

Susan Wilschke is AC, ODP. Bob Weathers is DAC, ODP. Jessica Burns MacBride will remain AC in the Office of Income Security Programs (OISP) and Anya Olsen is Acting DAC, OISP.  Eddie Taylor is AC, OLMER.

The Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; the Office of Data Exchange, Policy Publications, and International Negotiations; and parts of the Office of Research, Demonstration, and Employment Support will be realigned to the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Chief Information Officer

Joseph Cunningham, who has been serving as the Acting Deputy, AC for the Office of Information Security (OIS) since December 2024, is the Acting AC, OIS and Acting Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

Consistent with other organizational changes that I have made to align like mission functions, I am reassigning all agency employees in the IT Specialist (2210) occupational series to OCIO.

Please join me in congratulating our colleagues on their new assignments. I will continue to update you as we move further along with our streamlining efforts, but please know that we will continue to review the agency structure and explore additional consolidations and elimination of redundant functions. I am counting on each of you for your support and continued collaboration during this transition.

Edited to make this memo a bit less unreadable than the original.

What In Hell Is Happening?

 

Don’t Let Them Panic You

      A press release:

Social Security Announces Options to its Workforce

The following message was sent to agency employees today:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will soon implement agency-wide organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions. Through these massive reorganizations, offices that perform functions not mandated by statute may be prioritized for reduction-in-force actions that could include abolishment of organizations and positions, directed reassignments, and reductions in staffing. The agency may reassign employees from non-mission critical positions to mission critical direct service positions (e.g., field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers). Reassignments may be involuntary and may require retraining for new workloads.

VOLUNTARY REASSIGNMENTS
Employees interested in voluntarily being reassigned to a mission critical position should indicate their interest here Reassignment Questionnaire by March 14, 2025.

VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVES
Employees who do not wish to undergo the restructuring process may elect to separate from federal service through retirement or resignation. To further support employees considering these options, SSA is offering the following to ALL EMPLOYEES:

VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT (VERA) OR “EARLY OUT”

• Availability: VERA is now available to employees in all components and positions, with no exclusions. Please see eligibility criteria below.
• Separation Window: VERA is available from March 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Employees not eligible now or who wish to retire later in the year under early out may do so, but may be subject to restructuring activities. Employees who are not yet eligible for voluntary early retirement, but who would like to apply later in the calendar year should alert management of their intent to do so and work with their servicing benefits specialists to process their cases as their dates become due. All eligible employees taking early retirement must separate by December 31, 2025.
• Eligibility: To be eligible for early out, employees must:
• Have 20 years of creditable service and be at least 50 years of age or have at least 25 years of creditable service at any age (this must include 5 years of civilian service).
• Must be serving under a non-time-limited appointment.
• Have been continuously on SSA's rolls at least 30 days prior to January 17, 2025.
• Cannot be in receipt of an involuntary separation decision for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance.
• Note: Retirement may affect your Federal Health Insurance eligibility. Please contact your Servicing Personnel Office (SPO) with questions.

VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS (VSIP)

• Availability: VSIP will be available until noon EST on March 14 to all employees electing to separate from service across all components and positions agencywide. VSIP is limited and available on a first come basis. VSIP may be paid for an optional retirement (full retirement age), voluntary early retirement (VERA), or resignation. VSIP is not available to employees who are participating in the Deferred Resignation Program.
• Eligibility:
  • Employees must:
  • Be serving in an appointment without time limit;
  • Be currently employed by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government for a continuous period of at least 3 years;
  • Be serving in a position covered by an agency VSIP plan (all SSA employees are covered in the agency plan);
  • Apply for and receive approval for a VSIP from the agency making the VSIP offer; and
  • Not be included in any of the ineligibility categories listed below.
  • Employees in the following categories are not eligible for a VSIP:
  • Reemployed annuitants;
  • Have a disability such that the individual is or would be eligible for disability retirement;
  • Have received a decision notice of involuntary separation for misconduct or poor performance;
  • Previously received any VSIP from the Federal Government;
  • During the 36-month period preceding the date of separation, performed service for which a student loan repayment benefit was paid, or is to be paid;
  • During the 24-month period preceding the date of separation, performed service for which a recruitment or relocation incentive was paid, or is to be paid; and
  • During the 12-month period preceding the date of separation, performed service for which a retention incentive was paid, or is to be paid.
• Separation Window: Employees must opt in by March 14 and separate from the agency no later than April 19, 2025.  Employees may be placed on administrative leave through April 19, 2025.
• How to Sign Up: Employees must complete the VSIP Sign Up as soon as possible, but no later than March 14, 2025 noon EST. Please let your manager know immediately if you sign up for VSIP.
• Note: Completing the form does not guarantee VSIP.
• Incentive Payment: Payments will be the following amounts for the grade level of your permanent position. All payments are subject to taxes and normal deductions from income. Employees are strongly encouraged to read the rules for VSIP payments.

Up to GS 8	$15,000
GS 9 – 12	$20,000
GS 13 and up	$25,000

OPTIONAL RETIREMENT
Employees who have reached their full retirement age may apply for optional retirement at any time. Employees serving under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) should see the OPM eligibility information for FERS, which is generally 30 years of service, plus reaching minimum retirement age. Employees serving under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) should refer to the OPM eligibility information for CSRS, which is generally 30 years of service and age 55. Additional provisions and options are available for both FERS and CSRS.

RESIGNATION
Employees may resign from federal service at any time. Employees who resign would be eligible for a payout of their annual leave and may be eligible to apply for a Deferred Retirement when they reach their minimum retirement age. Please see the attached table explaining the differences between resignations and retirements and the benefits that would apply.

OBTAINING FURTHER INFORMATION
General retirement information is available on the Benefits Portal. The Benefits Portal also includes information about accessing the GRB Platform, which provides calculators for computing estimated retirement benefits. We strongly encourage employees to use the retirement calculators in the GRB Platform to obtain initial annuity estimates and to request an official annuity computation. You may also contact your SPO (listed below) with questions.

     Note that employees have the option of asking reassignment to a “mission critical” position which are those in field offices, teleservice centers and processing centers. That certainly sounds like those already in a “mission critical” position have little to fear. Remember they are deliberately trying to induce panic. Make smart decisions.

     There’s also this from the Washington Post:

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Office of Personnel Management to rescind directives that initiated the mass firing of probationary workers across the government, ruling that the terminations were probably illegal, as a group of labor unions argued in court.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered OPM to rescind its previous directives to more than two dozen agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Science Foundation and others identified in a lawsuit. The ruling — a temporary restraint on the government that will be revisited in the coming weeks — is one of the biggest roadblocks so far to President Donal Trump’s effort to slash the federal workforce.

     And this lawsuit about OPM’s powers is far from the only theory being pursued to block the layoffs. DOGE has done a terrible job of minding the details and it is hurting them in court.

You Might Say That Social Security Employees Are Concerned

     Here's a chart of hits on this blog dating back to 2011.

Click on image to view full size

 

Unsolicited Advice For Frank Bisignano

     Don’t walk away from the job as Social Security Commissioner. RUN!

Who’s Going To Maintain The Website?

      From Government Executive:

… Feds in the transformation office received emails Monday informing them that they will be fired, one affected employee told Nextgov/FCW. SSA didn’t respond to questions on the status of the employees in affected offices.

“Your further employment at the agency would not be in the public interest,” read the memo emailed to them on Monday. They didn’t get any advance notice, the affected employee said. 

With the office’s elimination, it’s not clear what will happen to the agency’s website, the affected employee further told Nextgov/FCW, as that office housed the SSA team that works on SSA.gov, the online front door to the agency that provides critical benefits to millions of Americans.

Work to overhaul that website, which was recognized with a Service to the Citizen award in 2023, was ongoing. 

“If there's a website problem, I don’t know who's gonna fix it,” said Betsy Beaumon, the agency’s former chief transformation officer under the Biden administration who was recently chosen to receive a Fed100 award for her work last year. “There are some contractors who do some of the actual hands-on work, but the people that work with them are on this team.” …

At Last Five Regional Commissioners Resign

      From Government Executive::

Most of the Social Security Administration’s regional commissioners have decided to retire at the end of this week, following mysterious meetings with agency leaders about plans to slash its workforceAt least five of the eight regional commissioners whose offices oversee and support the agency’s frontline offices across the country are leaving this week, according to a source familiar with the agency and an SSA employee not authorized to speak on the record.  … 

“After 35 years of rewarding service with the Social Security Administration, I have decided to retire from my position as regional commissioner in the Western region, effective February 28, 2025,” one regional commissioner, Howard Bowles, wrote in an internal email obtained by Government Executive, though he did not specify the reason for his departure.. “It has truly been an honor to serve the American people during my tenure.”

Regional commissioners LeeAnn Stuever, Rick Lenoir, Rose Mary Buehler and Raymond Egan are also leaving, according to a source familiar with the situation. …

     To put it mildly, this is an earthquake. Almost inconceivable.