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).
5 comments:
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.
Congrats 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.
Guessing the SES wanted to get in front of this piece with their pathetic, boot licking op ed in the Sun
This 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.
@7:52 I am guessing you are not in a field office. Or if you are, one that is abundantly staffed.
The 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.
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