Take a listen to this 31 minute podcast interview with Laura Haltzel, a former Associate Conmissioner at Social Security who left the agency over the horrible changes brought about by the Trump Administration. Her testimony about the horrible pressures placed on agency employees is especially striking.
Haltzel should be lauded for her bravery in speaking out. The Trump Administration has dealt with its critics in extraordinary brutal ways.
From MSN:
The Social Security Administration’s plans to reduce its head count have resulted in more than 2,000 workers so far.
Of the 2,674 employees who accepted the voluntary separation incentive payment — which provides workers with a one-time payment to leave government service — before the March 14 deadline, 2,477 employees are confirmed to be eligible, the Social Security Administration said. ...
Employees could have also participated in the Deferred Resignation Program, or DRP, which was available until Feb. 12 to any employees in “non-mission critical” positions. Those workers — 345 eligible employees accepted the offer — were placed on paid administrative leave until Sept. 30. After that, they “must leave the agency,” the SSA said on its website. ...
Workers are also moving within the agency. The SSA offered employees the opportunity to “volunteer to be reassigned from a non-mission critical position to a local field office, teleservice center, processing center, payment center, workload support unit, or hearing office,” which also had a March 14 deadline. More than 2,200 employees will be reassigned on a “flow basis” and will receive training for these position changes, the SSA said.
I don't want to see the agency losing any good employees but this report is much better than I feared.
Here's the agency's announcement on this.
From: ^Human Resources Internal Communications <Human.Resources.Internal.Communications@ssa.gov>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2025 5:01 PM
Subject: Bargaining Unit Employees - Return to In-Person WorkA Message to All Employees
Subject: Bargaining Unit Employees - Return to In-Person Work
On Monday, January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum (PM) requiring all employees to return to work in-person full time. This message serves as your official notice that your telework agreement will be suspended effective March 16, 2025, with all employees expected to return to work in-person full time on March 17, 2025.
The Office of Personnel Management Guidance on exempting military spouses from agency return to work plans only applies to employees who are homestationed (i.e., are working from their residence under an approved homestationing agreement). For that reason, employees who are military spouses with existing telework agreements must also report onsite to their official duty station full time beginning March 17, 2025. Employees must return any agency equipment taken to their telework location to their SSA office location. Employees who have signed up for VSIP are exempted.
Reminder: As shared in the March 3, 2025 Non-bargaining Unit Employees - Return to In-Person Work and Cancellation of Expanded Flexible Bands HRIC, the Office of Human Resources will send more on placement of employees with homestationing agreements into onsite official duty stations in the near future. Employees with homestationing agreements should continue to hold for further guidance.
The return to work in-person does not currently apply to employees under approved reasonable accommodations (RA) authorizing telework, temporary work at home by exception (WAHBE) agreements for medical reasons, or temporary compassionate assignments (TCA). In addition, employees in the Office of Hearings Operations and Office of Financial Policy and Program Integrity may remain in their current telework posture.
If your location has a space limitation issue, your supervisor will notify you to provide the next steps. As a reminder, any episodic telework is granted on a case-by-case basis and only in situations where the requested telework will benefit the agency.
Any expanded flexible bands are cancelled as of March 17, 2025 as well. Employees must follow the flexbands in agency policy (see Personnel Policy Manual S610_3) or their collective bargaining agreements.
We understand that this transition will require an adjustment to employee work/life arrangements. Supervisors should be liberal with the approval of leave over the next 4 weeks to accommodate the changes. We encourage employees to review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) the agency has prepared on return to office topics. The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is also available to you using Access Code: ssaeap or 1-877-549-9528.
E. Tammy Kim at The New Yorker has a great piece going inside the work life of a current Social Security claims rep. The reporter was not supposed to have this kind of access.
I'm sure you've seen some cartoons from The New Yorker but you may not be all that familiar with the magazine. I've been subscribing for more than 50 years. I can tell you that articles in The New Yorker have an national agenda setting impact well beyond what most people could imagine.
I can't figure out a way to embed the video here but go to this link. Thank "X" for the download problem.
Here's your early afternoon roundup of Social Security news:
By the way, if the response from House Democrats to the crisis at Social Security seems tepid to you, just what do you think that the minority party in both Houses of Congress can do? Seriously, what would you have them do? I can suggest one thing -- force a government shutdown unless the White House agrees to end the madness throughout the government -- but they're doing that. Expect a government shutdown next week.
Social Security Announces Options to its Workforce
The following message was sent to agency employees today:
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will soon implement agency-wide organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions. Through these massive reorganizations, offices that perform functions not mandated by statute may be prioritized for reduction-in-force actions that could include abolishment of organizations and positions, directed reassignments, and reductions in staffing. The agency may reassign employees from non-mission critical positions to mission critical direct service positions (e.g., field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers). Reassignments may be involuntary and may require retraining for new workloads.
VOLUNTARY REASSIGNMENTS
Employees interested in voluntarily being reassigned to a mission critical position should indicate their interest here Reassignment Questionnaire by March 14, 2025.VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVES
Employees who do not wish to undergo the restructuring process may elect to separate from federal service through retirement or resignation. To further support employees considering these options, SSA is offering the following to ALL EMPLOYEES:VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT (VERA) OR “EARLY OUT”
- Availability: VERA is now available to employees in all components and positions, with no exclusions. Please see eligibility criteria below.
- Separation Window: VERA is available from March 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Employees not eligible now or who wish to retire later in the year under early out may do so, but may be subject to restructuring activities. Employees who are not yet eligible for voluntary early retirement, but who would like to apply later in the calendar year should alert management of their intent to do so and work with their servicing benefits specialists to process their cases as their dates become due. All eligible employees taking early retirement must separate by December 31, 2025.
- Eligibility: To be eligible for early out, employees must:
- Have 20 years of creditable service and be at least 50 years of age or have at least 25 years of creditable service at any age (this must include 5 years of civilian service).
- Must be serving under a non-time-limited appointment.
- Have been continuously on SSA's rolls at least 30 days prior to January 17, 2025.
- Cannot be in receipt of an involuntary separation decision for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance.
- Note: Retirement may affect your Federal Health Insurance eligibility. Please contact your Servicing Personnel Office (SPO) with questions.
VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS (VSIP)
- Availability: VSIP will be available until noon EST on March 14 to all employees electing to separate from service across all components and positions agencywide. VSIP is limited and available on a first come basis. VSIP may be paid for an optional retirement (full retirement age), voluntary early retirement (VERA), or resignation. VSIP is not available to employees who are participating in the Deferred Resignation Program.
- Eligibility:
- Employees must:
- Be serving in an appointment without time limit;
- Be currently employed by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government for a continuous period of at least 3 years;
- Be serving in a position covered by an agency VSIP plan (all SSA employees are covered in the agency plan);
- Apply for and receive approval for a VSIP from the agency making the VSIP offer; and
- Not be included in any of the ineligibility categories listed below.
- Employees in the following categories are not eligible for a VSIP:
- Reemployed annuitants;
- Have a disability such that the individual is or would be eligible for disability retirement;
- Have received a decision notice of involuntary separation for misconduct or poor performance;
- Previously received any VSIP from the Federal Government;
- During the 36-month period preceding the date of separation, performed service for which a student loan repayment benefit was paid, or is to be paid;
- During the 24-month period preceding the date of separation, performed service for which a recruitment or relocation incentive was paid, or is to be paid; and
- During the 12-month period preceding the date of separation, performed service for which a retention incentive was paid, or is to be paid.
- Separation Window: Employees must opt in by March 14 and separate from the agency no later than April 19, 2025. Employees may be placed on administrative leave through April 19, 2025.
- How to Sign Up: Employees must complete the VSIP Sign Up as soon as possible, but no later than March 14, 2025 noon EST. Please let your manager know immediately if you sign up for VSIP.
- Note: Completing the form does not guarantee VSIP.
- Incentive Payment: Payments will be the following amounts for the grade level of your permanent position. All payments are subject to taxes and normal deductions from income. Employees are strongly encouraged to read the rules for VSIP payments.
Up to GS 8 $15,000 GS 9 – 12 $20,000 GS 13 and up $25,000 OPTIONAL RETIREMENT
Employees who have reached their full retirement age may apply for optional retirement at any time. Employees serving under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) should see the OPM eligibility information for FERS, which is generally 30 years of service, plus reaching minimum retirement age. Employees serving under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) should refer to the OPM eligibility information for CSRS, which is generally 30 years of service and age 55. Additional provisions and options are available for both FERS and CSRS.RESIGNATION
Employees may resign from federal service at any time. Employees who resign would be eligible for a payout of their annual leave and may be eligible to apply for a Deferred Retirement when they reach their minimum retirement age. Please see the attached table explaining the differences between resignations and retirements and the benefits that would apply.OBTAINING FURTHER INFORMATION
General retirement information is available on the Benefits Portal. The Benefits Portal also includes information about accessing the GRB Platform, which provides calculators for computing estimated retirement benefits. We strongly encourage employees to use the retirement calculators in the GRB Platform to obtain initial annuity estimates and to request an official annuity computation. You may also contact your SPO (listed below) with questions.
Note that employees have the option of asking reassignment to a “mission critical” position which are those in field offices, teleservice centers and processing centers. That certainly sounds like those already in a “mission critical” position have little to fear. Remember they are deliberately trying to induce panic. Make smart decisions.
There’s also this from the Washington Post:
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Office of Personnel Management to rescind directives that initiated the mass firing of probationary workers across the government, ruling that the terminations were probably illegal, as a group of labor unions argued in court. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered OPM to rescind its previous directives to more than two dozen agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Science Foundation and others identified in a lawsuit. The ruling — a temporary restraint on the government that will be revisited in the coming weeks — is one of the biggest roadblocks so far to President Donal Trump’s effort to slash the federal workforce.
And this lawsuit about OPM’s powers is far from the only theory being pursued to block the layoffs. DOGE has done a terrible job of minding the details and it is hurting them in court.
From The American Prospect:
The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) requested in a meeting on Tuesday that managers present him with a plan for a 50 percent reduction in staff, a mass firing that could affect tens of thousands of employees across the country. ...
“I’m getting conflicting reports on what was discussed in that meeting,” said Rich Couture, spokesperson for the Social Security General Committee of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), adding that some reports indicated that field offices would be spared. But one manager present at the meeting indicated that the 50 percent trim was at all levels. And cuts that have dribbled out over the past several days appear to impact field offices where a majority of SSA employees work. ...
In an email to the Prospect, SSA would not confirm any reductions in its workforce beyond the abolition of two small internal offices announced this week. “We have not set any reduction targets, however we will continue to pursue efficiencies within the agency and align like missions,” an SSA spokesperson said. “We have no further information at this time.” ...
Anything like this would, of course, render the Social Security Administration immediately incapable of carrying out any of its functions. This might not be popular with voters.
From: ^Human Resources Internal Communications
From Government Executive:
The Social Security Administration on Thursday gave 41 probationary employees in the agency’s headquarters and regional offices the choice to be reassigned to frontline agency work or to get caught up in the ongoing governmentwide purge of recently hired or promoted workers….
Rich Couture, spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees’ Social Security General Committee, which represents more than 40,000 SSA employees, confirmed the initiative and said while the union appreciates giving probationary workers who weren’t subject to the agency’s exemptions a chance to stay employed, the agency needs more workers, not fewer.
“We are grateful that the probationary employees on the front line were not terminated,” he said. “With 10,000 new beneficiaries each day and a 50-year low in staffing, now is the time to be adding to our frontline staff . . . Should all [of the 41 probationary employees] accept reassignment, we still need to prevent attrition and add 20,0000 new hires to be able to deliver Americans their earned benefits efficiently and accurately.”
The Presidential Rank Awards are out. These four SSAers won awards:
Meritorious Executive (SES)
So, what are you going to do if you’re a Social Security employee ordered to implement a blatantly illegal order? Pretend that if the President orders it, that it can’t be that illegal? Try to drag your feet? Tell yourself that you only have a small role in the process so what you do doesn't matter. Refuse to be concerned about it since you have no non-citizen friends or family? Implement the order because you like the policy even if it's illegal? Refuse to implement the order and get fired? Quit your job so you don’t have to implement the illegal order?
In general, I have enormous sympathy for Social Security employees but on this I expect that few of you will have the courage to quit or court firing. Prove me wrong but I can hear you now. “I’ve got a family to feed.” “Refusing to implement the illegal order will do no good. If I don’t do it, someone else will.” “I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know what the law is.” “I was just following orders.”
I doubt this exact scenario will happen but somewhat less dramatic illegality is almost certain. Trump is already saying he'll end citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the U.S. illegally. That's a clear violation of the 14th Amendment. The obvious first step in ending birthright citizenship would be to deny Social Security cards to children born in the U.S. to those present in the country illegally. Would you want to implement a cruel policy that's clearly illegal?
From Customer Wait Times in the Social Security Administration’s Field Offices and Card Centers, a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General:
From the Partnership For Public Service report on Best Places to Work ranking for the Social Security Administration. (The rankings are of agencies with large workforces):
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Parts of the agency are also ranked against all federal agencies. The personnel under the Deputy Commissioner for Hearings Operations ranked 429 of 459 agencies. The personnel of Social Security's Office of Inspector General ranked 430 of 459 agencies. The personnel under the Deputy Commissioner for Operations ranked 456 of 459 agencies.
A former Social Security Administration employee has been charged with one count of wire fraud after officials say he defrauded the organization for over three years. …
According to court documents, Christopher Markham, 40, had been employed by the administration and assigned to an office in Anderson.
Between February 2019, and June 2022, documents say Markham “made it appear” he was teleworking his full-time job for the SSA during regular workdays. But instead, he was working as a home inspector for his own company, Markham Inspection Services.
Markham continued to collect his full federal salary and benefits from the SSA at the time, attorneys said.
The release says Markham “routinely” performed home inspections, making it appear as though he was teleworking while working for the SSA, while hiding that he was not performing administrative work by allowing his wife and mother access to his Social Security Administration computer to send emails. …
