From Wired:
As the U.S. government shutdown stretches into its second month, agency leaders at the Social Security Administration (SSA) are becoming increasingly worried about how the key government department, which provides benefits to roughly 70 million Americans, will continue to operate.
WIRED obtained meeting notes from a Thursday SSA call for the administration’s field offices, where over a thousand managers from around the country spoke with field operations chief Andy Sriubas about the acute and damaging effects of the government shutdown. During the call, managers spoke candidly about staffers who can no longer afford to drive to work and a crisis of confidence in the agency.
“People are coming to me saying they cannot put gas in their car and they cannot afford to come to work anymore, and they'll need to get other jobs,” said one employee on the call. “Pretty soon they won't be able to afford to work at the agency.” ...
Another employee tells WIRED that some field offices have set up food pantries to help colleagues who are on the brink. “People are angry and … betrayed,” they added. ...
Employees are also struggling with a daunting workload and a backlog of cases. On the call, Sriubas said that he had spoken with SSA’s general counsel, who said that just because SSA’s workload was “excepted” didn’t mean the agency had to do it. “So we can decide not to do it,” said Sriubas. “So if [the shutdown] does go into next week, I ask folks to start thinking about what are the workloads … to say, look, we're just not doing that going forward until the shutdown ends.” ...
23 comments:
Andy told the managers not to worry because once this all over, we’ll have OT funding which isn’t taxable thanks to the bill this year.… Someone forgot to tell him that literally everyone on the call is exempt from OT pay lol
The managers were drinking the MAGA Kool-Aid and now they are upset? They had no problems barking out orders but now the the shutdown is hitting home.
No one will care until they turn off the checks.
What in the world are you talking about??
Managers went along with this administration. Can you specify when they have complained publicly of the current working conditions? It was until the managers starting missing paychecks that they found their voice.
Well of course they aren’t going to criticize publicly. You don’t either since you post anonymously.
Political ignorance on flamboyant display. The overtime exemption won’t even have a noticeable impact on anyone’s tax liability, and it phases out right around a manager’s (typically GS-13) salary. So the impact is going to amount to pennies. The whole exemption is nothing but a shiny diversion intended to make it easier for “job creators” to coax uneducated laborers into working even more brutally long hours so that they no longer need to spend so much money hiring new workers. It’s fuel on the unemployment crisis fire, brought to you directly by your orange god and his coterie of oligarchs.
SSA employees have criticized this administration in news articles with their names included but I have yet to read a manager say anything.
The Republican talking points. By the way, why have House Republicans been on vacation for a month?
We recognize this is a stressful and challenging time for SSA employees who are currently working without pay because the Democrats won’t reopen the government,” the spokesperson said.
Senate Democrats on Friday proposed voting for a continuing resolution to end the shutdown, in exchange for a one-year extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) called the plan a “nonstarter.”
Management style.. crack that whip!
A fourth manager said during the call that it is “hard to keep morale going,” and that employees know that “as soon as the shutdown is over, we’re going to hit them hard” with a backlog of casework.
“It’s very frustrating when we have to keep those staff motivated — and we need them for the long haul. Not just for this fiscal year, the next fiscal year,” the manager said.
Captains of the Titanic and we know how that ended.
“I understand that that’s going to happen, and nobody wants to close an office. You guys are all captains of your ship, and everybody wants to make sure that that’s never going to happen. But I also understand that people have to live their lives, and they have limited means to do that when you’re now missing your second full paycheck,” he said. “So if putting people on furlough is the only thing you can do, if it’s the best thing for the employee, that’s what we’re going to have to do.”
Some managers said employees are frustrated, because they want to keep working during the shutdown, but are financially squeezed and unable to telework.
“We do have employees that have been embarrassed to come to me and say that they can’t afford to come to work, and they want to telework instead of being furloughed, and I understand that’s not an option,” another manager said. “There really are people that are struggling with the decision between finding a way to get to work, and wanting to work, and our only option is being furloughed.”
When have managers not had this attitude in the 21st century? This has been going on since I started with SSA 15+ years ago. You either have to have an insane level of intellectual dishonesty or be borderline listing level incompetent to spew half the BS they shower on us. It’s a bunch of do-nothings that have to create multiple meetings per day to justify their existence.
"You either have to have an insane level of intellectual dishonesty or be borderline listing level incompetent to spew half the BS they shower on us."
An eloquent and concise description of SSA management indicating THEY will never promote you.
And next Congress will want to know why all goals for the year were not met…
Happy Holidays Federal Employees! 🦃
Senators ended a rare Saturday session at the Capitol with no votes, no text of a three-bill “minibus” and few signs of progress toward a possible shutdown offramp.
Lawmakers are now eyeing a possible vote on Sunday, when senators will gather again to try to find a solution to the 39-day funding impasse.
Senate GOP leaders decided against holding a vote late Saturday afternoon as negotiators push forward in a bid to wrap up a deal on the three-bill “minibus” to fund Military Construction, Agriculture and the Legislative branch for all of fiscal year 2026. According to two GOP sources, Republican senators are expected to huddle over lunch on Sunday and potentially vote once again on the House-passed stopgap spending bill.
Mission accomplished. Having the public lose confidence in public services and institutions was always the goal.
The current administration is trying to take down SSA. One step at a time and they’ve already got the inch, foot, and mile.
They are doing exceptionally well and our very management is rolling with the punches because none of the changes affect them. They don’t answer the phones, they don’t interview, they don’t talk to the people. They crack the whips and find ways to make talking points to convince the minions of the office, the ones actually doing to work, that all is good. Meanwhile, we are losing sleep, hair, and a sense of well-being. All to push an agenda with no assistance from those who are in a place to share our voice.
Trump & Company want this shutdown to keep running, the longer the better. The more people who suffer enough to quit the better. I would also plan on back pay taking longer than expected. I would assume they will fight that in court just to delay payment even longer to really twist the knife.
And don’t forget, when we finally get our back pay, it won’t be for the full amount. The check will be treated the same way bonuses or OT is, taxing at a higher rate and leaving you with a lower net that you won’t actually get back until you file your taxes. So just be aware of that as you make your financial plans. It could be months before we are made financially whole.
I have not found that to be the case after past shutdowns, but I guess ymmv.
Social Security considers pausing more work, as shutdown takes a toll on employees
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/government-shutdown/2025/11/social-security-considers-pausing-more-work-as-shutdown-takes-a-toll-on-employees/
I personally don't know any management that are saying all is good, but we do need to proceed forward as best we can. We can't sit around and whine. It is what it is. We do the best we can with what we have.
Untrue
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