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:
Northeast Region – Current Boston, New York, and Philadelphia regions
Southeast Region – Current Atlanta region
Mid-West/West Region – Current Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, and Seattle regions
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.
57 comments:
Wow, and a RIF to follow.
Operational leadership has been decimated. This will not be good to improve service to those who need it most.
Just clearing the decks for the new COSS and, to be sure, with the concurrence of that new COSS. Frankly, for all of us who deal with the extremely poorly run agency for the past few years from phones not being answered to slow processing of every aspect of the process, this can only be a relief. Unquestionably staff shortages have been a problem but not the only problem. When telephones went down for weeks, and no heads rolled, that was a failure that was independent of short staff. While I hate Trump, if the new COSS can show his expertise in systems processing and get this Agency to function efficiently, I will sing his praises.
Charles thank you so much for your time. Your blog is consistently foremost in getting news out, and provides an invaluable forum for discussion.
Improve? With this going on the only improvements is to the dump and it should have been known this would happen in November once the Commissioner who actually cared and fought for his employees resigned.
Notice that there are no permanent deputy commissioners
The real goal, after the chaos and fear tactics is to render SSA unsustainable and unfunded, leading to privatization...bingo!
what is the limit of change/ resignations where everything breaks? is this year zero crap? unbelievable.. I don't think this happens in the private sector like this--- unless it's a fire-sale by private equity.
Pretty clear Dudek is not calling these shots, he is but a useful stooge. Let's see how welfare-MAGAts start reacting when the checks are late or never show.
Most of them decided to abandon ship rather than show executive leadership and help their employees through a most difficult time. I thought that was what the SES corps was built to do.
To some out here it looks a little like cowardice. Maybe their leaving is a good thing if they are not up to the challenge.
New press release. Goal is cutting 7,000 jobs. https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2025/#2025-02-28
I am long time SSA employee.
Realistically they upper management was bloated and didn't do much.
It'll be fine. Regional leadership isn't that big a deal. There is still leadership. For the front line, the regional offices were often intrusive and an obstacle to getting things done. Especially in the smaller regions. The PSCs and TSCs remain. Long term, leaner management will be a vast improvement.
There's no chance of that happening. Everything will be MUCH worse with these cuts. They won't be replacing anyone with new hires and there are no magic AI solutions despite what they seem to think.
Just another step on the way to dismantling the entire agency and contracting everything out to private industry.
My understanding is that all permanent Deputy Commissioner positions will be political appointees and is why there are only Acting DCs until the COSS is confirmed and decisions made about the DC appointees.
work for the AC. Rif email today.
I have to hand it to Dudek. He out-Dorcas Hardy'ed Dorcas Hardy. She took a meat ax to the agency in 1986. He just dropped a nuclear warhead on it.
This can’t be an employee, of Social Security and must be a maga/musk worshipper.
But if the above person were familiar with the agency, they would know, under O’Malley (who was Senate confirmed) we used data driven approach and actually got the agency operating with a 50 year employment low serving the highest number of people In history.
This just shows that you need to stop watching the headlines and the BS and realize that this will cause Social Security to be destroyed by a musk takeover. The person that clearly violated ethics and title 18 laws but was elevated by the only actual felon president to the acting commissioner position.
100%
Which part?
Lol. Imagine being this obtuse.
The general population will not care about the Federal workforce until it impacts them and it will. If not through a program cut, or downsized, availability to the poor will be limited. What effects I see is the crime rate increasing, homelessness, and even more chaos in the future. Where is Congress??? Is this why the email gives the deadline it does. Look for Federal health benefits to be dramatically changed, Medicaid gutted at best, who knows about Medicare, oh and in my humble opinion CDRs in droves, most who will not be represented.
@ 4:46, this was quite obviously Bisignano and DOGE. Bisignano is known for streamlining and pushing bigger, central hubs. Fits this perfectly.
Your poor English is showing, Vlad
“Edited to make this memo a bit less unreadable than the original.”
Lol just Lol.
Our beloved President said he would not touch Social Security! How is that working out?
Useful stooge with a very limited 15 minutes of fame. He’s eventually going to be discarded, and nobody will remember him fondly. Way to go Lee.
Guarantee you one of the execs asked him what leve of reductions he expected in that meeting and he said "50," to keep it ambiguous, without technically lying, and to induce panic, work just enough time for people to put in their paperwork before the end of the month. Wouldn't be shocked if 3,000 left just today.
Nothing like a mid level manager who was quite literally under investigation for disclosing information that was not allowed, going in and licking the feet of Trump and Musk. Congratulations Leland. You will be remembered as spineless once your TEMPORARY tenure ends.
@5:34, my money is on "50% HQ, at least 50% RO" was taken out of context by some snoozing exec who then ran to the media about it.
@4:27 p.m. Cowardice? Its is apparent that you and your ilk have never managed anyone, had to inform someone that they are losing their job or had to explain devastating news to your staff who you lead. Federal employees are human too. But that seems to be lost on DOGE and MAGA folks. Don't worry, your time to suffer under this administration is coming!
This appears to be a lie/trolling. Thats a pretty awful thing to do to people
Ditto. Thank you Charles!
What did it say?
Hot take. That tells me you don’t actually know what the ROs do. They keep thousands of cases out of the offices and actually directly process workloads. When they had to dig a WSU out of a 20,000 claim backlog, it was the ROs who took on the cases. When millions of people lost Extra Help from Medicaid unwinding, it was the ROs the took the redeterminations. One thing frontline doesn’t always realize is how much effort is put into keeping workloads AWAY from the frontline.
Congratulations to Lee Dudek and leadership team supporting him.
Consolidation of functions and removing
executives that are calcified is a great leap towards creating a modern functioning organization.
Did you get it 100% right? No but you made a decisive leap and can tweak from here.
All you folks who are reading this will say I’m Lee but I’m not. This was a long long time coming and I am thrilled that we have finally started to unshackle this agency.
Out of curiosity, are you still with the agency and were/are you on the front line?
The RIFs go hand-in-hand with field office closures (already underway) and the already-accomplished firing of the IT employees who were improving the public's access online. The intent is not to help SSA but to kill SSA and, with it, Social Security. It's an underhanded way to accomplish that goal without DJT getting his fingerprints on it. IMO, upper management retired rather than kowtow to DJT/DOGE; don't blame them, there's no scenario where they could avert catastrophe given the DOGE steamroller.
To the person who thinks this is good for your clients: not in your dreams. This is not done to improve service.
Let's not forget that Social Security does not contribute a penny to the nation's deficit because the Trust Funds are still solvent and pay for all benefits and admin costs. So DOGE's mandate to get rid of the deficit does not apply to SSA. [I know SSI comes from general tax revenues, but that's another fight such as over Medicaid. Social Security itself does not contribute to the deficit.]
Your putting the quality review function UNDER the very component that is BEING reviewed. Conflict of interest much? What genius thought of that, Elon Musk?
I'm excited for where this can go. Clearly we were a bloated agency in some ways. With that said, its extremely hard to believe we arent going to need to hire a bunch of production workers in short order. Either that or I hope somebody has been hiding a bunch of amazing new tools which will allow us to super efficiently serve customers with far less people.
Just because Leland's names is on these missives, doesn't mean they are his decisions. He is absolutely on board with them, but he isn't making these calls.
"I'm not Lee."
Okay, Leland. We believe you.
The reorganization does not make sense. Consider the regions:
Northeast Region – Current Boston, New York, and Philadelphia regions
Southeast Region – Current Atlanta region
Mid-West/West Region – Current Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, and Seattle regions
Southwest Region – Current Dallas and San Francisco regions
The Atlanta region remained the same. However, the servicing area for the Northeast and Southwest regions are huge. The population for the regions should be consistent. This is a disservice to the public! This is a nightmare!
This is the wrong way to combat waste, fraud and abuse or make service better and more efficient. How do you know that the right folks are leaving or will get RIFed. Service will go further downhill. It will take years to rebuild or even outsource. Speaking of outsourcing, do you think the private sector will protect you. Think again..Next stop is to slow, reduce or even take away your retirement or disability benefits. Your parents will suffer, you family will suffer, your siblings will suffer, your friends will suffer. Slash and burn hurts everyone.
Hope the private takes good care of you. Think again. They are in it for the money and not to care about you. Financial institutions will steal your money. And by the way, there is no fraud, waste and abuse in the private sector. ;)
Hand my retirements to a private company. I forgot that there is no waste, fraud and abuse in the private sector. Good luck with that. Send disability to STD/LTD companies. All they care about is profit. That is your tax money. I agree that we need to cut out waste, fraud and abuse.
Next stop, moving the trust funds to Wall Street where they will make money off your money and not give it to you. Are you really sure they will not commit fraud? Yea, right fraud has never occurred on Wall Street or financial institutions will steal. And think about this if they do, where are they going to get the money to pay your benefits, back to you not them by raising your taxes.
I thought a reorganization above the Division level at SSA requires Congressional notification and publication in the Federal Register.
This will immediately reduce waste, fraud and abuse. Make the services better. Rearranging the deck chairs always seems to work. The new DCs that come will fix everything. It will be so mucked that all the folks coming in are from the financial world so far. What do you think they will do. Shift the Trust Fund to Wall Street. Take the billions from the SSA operating budget and give it to their Wall Street friends to run the Financial Institutions. By the way, they never commit fraud or lose money. Good luck with that.
Wow - that would be a very big deal. Do you have any further info/source you can share? SSA has always had only a handful of DC positions that were political. Also, by law (section 704 of the Soc Sec Act) SSA is limited to a grand total of 20 political appointees (whether execs, OC staff, senior advisors, etc), so if all DCs are political they'd probably crash right through that limit....
One would like to believe that RO's worked hard, but employees have seen zero evidence of that. The folks squawking now are the ones losing overpaid, cushy gigs. Sorry they're unhappy, but frontline employees have been subjected to sweatshop working conditions for ages, with none of these superfluous RO or HQ personnel losing any sleep over it.
This guy is an absolute clown. If you think for a second he's doing anything remotely resembling running SSA, you're a dolt. He's not taking a bathroom break without Elon's blessing. Shame on the RC's for not speaking out as they ealk...
Lee DuDick should be investigated by the OSC for illegal activities. Lee, I know you’re reading this, you’re nothing but a slimy Quisling. One day when you’re unceremoniously relieved from your lackey position you’ll be all alone at night, friendless. Good luck.
This is an abomination. DOGE and their henchmen take pleasure in ruining people’s lives, and the public is going to suffer for it. I know people who worked in OCREO who were unceremoniously let go with zero notice. And now this mid-level twerp has made a mockery of career civil servants who are not obviously leaving of their own volition. I hope Karma has extra special things in store for Dudek, Musk, and all the other goons.
Dude gonna be eating lunch by himself when he goes back to his old job. If it still exists.
It's kind of you to support your bootlicker son, Mrs. Dudek.
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