The New Yorker magazine has posted a long article on the sorry state of affairs at Social Security. Here’s one paragraph for the piece:
… Every previous Administration had launched pilot projects and fiddled with the system, but they had given managers like Jean sufficient notice and resources to train their people. Bisignano’s S.S.A. appeared to lurch from one initiative to another. Last February, it had discussed, then denied discussing, the possibility of cutting the workforce in half. It had eliminated, then partly reinstated, the option of making direct-deposit changes by phone. It had said that it would stop issuing public-policy updates, except via X, then continued to send e-mails and publish news on its website. It discouraged walk-in service, then told field offices to make the option available. It instituted a strict clawback policy for accidental overpayments, then reverted to a gradual one that gave beneficiaries a financial buffer. Changes made in response to doge’s accusations of fraud, waste, and abuse were abandoned: there was no good reason to block employees’ access to news sites, no need for redundant “I.D. proofing.” The Administration listed field offices for closure, then delisted them, though some rural outposts, in Iowa, Montana, and West Virginia, offer only phone service owing to the loss of staff. The agency is on a “slow march to implosion,” Jean said. “We’re living in a world of nobody knows anything, and nobody has any details about anything.” …
There is this coda tacked on at the end of the piece:
The New Yorker is committed to coverage of the federal workforce. Are you a current or former federal employee with information to share? Please use your personal device to contact us via e-mail (tammy_kim@newyorker.com) or Signal (ID: etammykim.54).
Yesterday, Frank sent out an email to everyone celebrating his 1 year anniversary of having been able to sell half a billion dollars worth of stock and never having to pay taxes on it.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Frank you evil bastard,
Sincerely,
From a beleaguered and miserable workforce.
Such hyperbole! My office is running just fine these days. Frank’s biggest sin is not closing offices and allowing as many to telework. His five day RTO has destroyed my component. If he reinstated telework he’d be a hero.
ReplyDelete@7:52 I am guessing you are not in a field office. Or if you are, one that is abundantly staffed.
DeleteThe reality of the field (and I suspect the same for WSU and PC) is we are drowning. No time to actually do our job processing claims because we are busy chasing Franks goal of 30-second phone answering on the 800#. Nothing else matters.
Because the recent widows waiting for SUR payments. And DIB folks dying waiting for an appointment does not seem to matter.
Can confirm. WSUs are drowning.
DeleteHave been drowning for the past 6 years, and whats even more genius move is pulling staff for the 800#. For example a level 1 off of say 18 employees they pull 1 employee for 800# and a level 2 office of 8 they pull 1 employee, that is catastrophic to the small office and we are basically told to smile and enjoy it.
DeleteZero life rafts only anchors, it has been a downward trend for the past 20 years and for our office specifically we will have lost 6 people in the past 5 years,
Nationwide calendar is fixing everything just smile.
WSU get way more OT than FO!!
DeleteGuessing the SES wanted to get in front of this piece with their pathetic, boot licking op ed in the Sun
ReplyDeleteThis blog is pretty funny - it calls a positive article about the new commissioner citing multiple people in the agency a "fluff" piece and treats a little whining by "Jean" as gospel.
ReplyDeleteDid you read the OP ED from SSA execs saying everything is perfect and the low wait times? They must never call or visit the office.
ReplyDeleteAre SSA executives high on their own supply? Genuine question: To what degree do they believe their own numbers/narrative? Do they believe that the numbers are good across the board and that Frank is making meaningful positive change, or are the whole lot of them fully aware that they are just lying straight to our faces?
ReplyDeleteI can't trust any of the solutions being offered because it seems pretty obvious that we can't even agree that there's a problem.
Decision-writing is definitely a problem at SSA. I do only federal court work. In the last year, SSA has voluntarily remanded about 60% of my cases. Even so, I am winning most of the cases SSA is briefing. Good for me personally, but a sign of bad times at SSA, especially OGC.
ReplyDeleteBecause OGC is short-staffed, too. Staffing across the board is the primary problem since even before DOGE and worse after (as well as effective management of the poor quality performers who remain, which has been a longstanding issue). Yet, goals are increased with less staff; we’re told performance metrics were carefully crafted to fairly account for the time spent on work; and if we don’t meet these metrics, the worker is the problem. Let’s see a manager jump in and do it then! It’s an endless cycle of moving the work and passing the potato until someone actually takes the time to do the thorough and thoughtful job that should have been done the first time.
DeleteOGC lost so many attorneys last year and they took away almost all workplace flexibilities (zero telework, moving us from offices to cubicles, taking away the flexband, to name a few changes). All while we’re juggling more cases at once and seeing worse and worse quality ALJ decisions. Wonder how high the total amount of EAJA fees paid in a year will need to be before they realize this isn’t working.
Deletehttps://archive.is/2026.05.07-112226/https://www.newyorker.com/news/deep-state-diaries/the-real-cost-of-downsizing-social-security
ReplyDelete