From a House Ways and Means Committee press release:
In response to a request from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX), the Social Security Administration (SSA) has outlined the urgent action field offices have taken to protect visitors from the summer heat. …
In its response, SSA reports that it has already taken a number of steps to address Congress’s concerns about maintaining the health and safety of visitors waiting in lines outside Social Security offices, including:
- Increasing in-person staff and service options to reduce waiting times at the busiest offices;
- Assigning some workloads to other offices, to free up the busiest offices for in-person service;
- Reconfiguring waiting areas to allow more people to enter climate-conditioned waiting areas; and
- Providing outdoor canopies, fans, and access to bathrooms and water fountains for those waiting outside of offices in the heat.