There are people lining up two hours before a Social Security field office is set to open in Iowa. Also, I expect in every other state. Some lined up are big DOGE supporters.
There are people lining up two hours before a Social Security field office is set to open in Iowa. Also, I expect in every other state. Some lined up are big DOGE supporters.
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Is there a non-pay way to access?
“The government you elect is the government you deserve.”
Thomas Jefferson
“I think the DOGE thing is great,” he said. He echoed Trump’s widely disproven assertion that scores of people “over 160 years old” remain on the benefits rolls. “There are massive amounts of people signed up for Social Security that shouldn’t be,” added Moughler, who is 72.
The long lines outside FOs, the increasingly long waits for telephone services and service disruptions on internal and public systems are the result of actions being taken by those who know nothing about SSA operations. Things are so bad that within days, the public will begin experiencing delays in getting their payments. The upheaval brought to the FO, PSC, TSC, DOC, OHA, HQ and disbanded Regional Office employees is costing the government a fortune in lost time and productivity that far outweighs any stated found savings. The disruption of these highly-skilled support employees lives is incalculatable. Certainly morale will take years to re-build. This has to be brought out in the national media and there is nothing being done by the various employee unions or Congressional leaders to bring this to the attention of the public. This SSA travesty has gone much further and deeper than the electorate expected.
SSA internal operations are seriously damaged and is on life support. The national press needs to put out the real stories of what is happening. The employees in the PSCs, TSCs, DOC, the late Regional Offices and the FOs are being treated like dirt. The employees with years specialized supporting skill sets are being reassigned to positions where it will take 10 months of training to do the job and the Training staffs have been eliminated. How does that serve anyone? Long lines at the FOs is only the beginning, the system is failing, not because of some illusionary computer system problems, but from direct directions from people unfamiliar with SSA internal operations.
I hope their support is worth the wait.
This is nothin new. Been happening the entire 20 years I worked for the agency.
For what it's worth, if one calls the field office directly (I just moved), I waited 30 seconds the first time (but they screwed it up so I had to call back...dunno how one can screw up a change of address, but it happened last time too), and waited no longer than 10 minutes to fix it. That being said, my local SSA office, accessible only by boat or plane, is somewhat small considering some other ones out there, but still serves tens of thousands of people. THAT being said, I don't know why I am giving out my secret to good service! I dread when the cuts finally reach us.... I live in a super rural state. So far so good, but I am still terrified as hell! There isn't any "showing up waiting in line" for the vast majority of SSA recipients in my state....not unless one is an expert swimmer, private pilot or a wiz at kayaking.
Many skilled and experienced SSA front line employees have taken the buyout offer and left.also skilled computer programmers .
The OPM site is touting these departures as DOGE success, saving taxpayers money. It’s costing the public far more in lost SSA service, than the dollars “saved”.
At the TSC I lost some of our longtime employees to retirement because they don’t want to go through this anymore. I had to take over extra duties because of it.
Just wait until Bisignano arrives and the RIFs start. It’s in the works already.
Frank will be on a tight leash. The administration will not even allow him to hire a
Secretary without permission from the White House.
Service has been bad for years. Lines have been long for a while now. Long waits for phone calls have been common for a long time. Some offices you can't even get on the phone and this has been the case since the pandemic. To act like this is new and is Trump and Musk's fault is simply dishonest.
RIF’s aren’t happening. So many people took VISP/Fork/VERA that it won’t be necessary.
"Some lined up are big DOGE supporters."
I interpret that to mean they are dumb a** trump supporters.
SSA only publishes office phone numbers for rural offices. Most people in the country just see the national 800 number when they look up their field office by zip code.
And, I hope they spend hours standing in line and it takes months to fix their problems. FAFO is the only way they will learn anything.
And why has service been bad for years? Because GOP has been choking SSA's budget for years. So yes, I put about 100% of the blame on Republicans.
4:01, you have no idea whatsoever if service has gotten worse since Trump and Musk took over. All indications are that service has deteriorated since the January inauguration. . Unfortunately the worst is yet to come, when the full impact of the recent SSA staffing cuts are felt.
I put 90% of the blame on the Republicans and 10% on the Democrats for letting them get away with it.
This is like every corporate take over I’ve experienced - people come in and say they are the vanquishes and saviours of the company /stockholders/ agency for the American public. And like every dot com, the vanquishes leave with their tails behind their legs as they realize the work is too much, complicated or overwhelming.
SSA has lost dedicated staff who tirelessly worked to preserve the trust and assist with programs like SSI. Staff have also been bullied, threatened, and belittled. For nothing more than being a public servant.
Now were some of these employees useless? - ABSOLUTELY, some also include the new SESrs and I applaud the administration for kicking some of those to the curb, but we also lost career people who cared and made a difference every day - dedicating and working tirelessly many times for free to ensure people received proper payments to live. To live.
Dedicated staff who departed their office, and continued to work at home.
Leadership is about serving and being a a voice to those who don’t have any or much. Where are you President Trump? Do you serve the 95% or 5%? We know Musk’s plan - to integrate and provide back door access to the agency data for personal interest to creating value for his organization.
It looks like Musk and DOGE will be departing shortly reporting from AP - what do you think the results will be at SSA once system fails, waiting times increase and payments to recipients slow/ fail. Who will you blame then? Like every dot commer - they will have moved on, but you have 3+ years.
And Frank, ask yourself this - You retired from a company / pretty successful. If you started again as a new CEO of another organization would you come to a company that was gutted without a word or thought from you?
What do you think you rate of success would be?
Just wait until the RIFs start. SSA was well under the 7,000 employee threshold.
Do you have numbers or just belief? ACOSS posted numbers that come up to almost half of the 7000 first goal.
The agency started going downhill under Kilolo. Zero executive leadership skills. Her background was academia and special interest. She rolled over to the advocates while creating burdens on the FO that will take forever to recover. The internet/attorney/electronic signature fiasco created a nightmare. Missed an opportunity to fundamentally change in person service when we returned from COVID.
O’Malley came with his heart in the right place but everyone’s obsession to look good put a vice grip on the field. He blindly allowed a culture to form that forced the idea that we had to improve at any cost. Every layer down food chain the ratchet was clicked tighter and tighter. Instead of taking inventory and reporting to Congress “we can’t do X” without resources. He ended his tenure with the later but missed the former. He threw thousands of hires to the 800# to artificially improve phone service in a component with the worst retention rate.
He then abandoned us on the verge of collapse with unmeetable expectations in an untenable situation. His final knife was implementing appointment focused service without any of the automation in place to support it.
Someone should ask those DOGE supporters why DOJ hasn't taken quick action to prosecute the "tens of millions of ' fraudsters receiving the checks that are going to the 150 year olds. After all, DOGE says they saw the records. And while they are at it, maybe DOGE could hand over the info on the millions of illegal immigrants receiving SSA payments so DOJ and ICE can go after them.
I did not know that! Thank you for teaching me that info! Much appreciated.
because there aren’t any 150 yr olds or illegal immigrants getting ssa just cutting cost by reducing staff. sad
Those numbers don’t include VERA, which is ongoing. Just the buyouts/Fork got them to almost half those numbers. I imagine a ton of people take VERA, although the Trump administration tanking the stock market is doing a great job of making people reconsider. The stupidity knows no bounds.
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