Are You Willing To Talk With A Reporter?

     I must have gotten a half dozen calls from reporters all asking the same thing -- can I put them in touch with Social Security employees willing to talk with them. I've had to say no. I don't know anyone willing to talk with them. I know most of you are scared to talk with a reporter and I understand why. However, some of you might be willing to talk as long as your identity is kept secret. Reporters will do that. If you're interested in talking, send me an e-mail. There's a contact form on this blog, to the right of where you're reading now. You'll have to give me a valid e-mail address, at least. Voices from within Social Security should be heard.

An Emotional Martin O'Malley Talks Of The Hard Times For Social Security Employees

    I can't figure out a way to embed the video here but go to this link. Thank "X" for the download problem.

Even Dudek Is Starting To Back Away From DOGE Ordered Chaos

     From the Washington Post:

...  In a meeting Tuesday with his senior staff and about 50 legal-aid attorneys and other advocates for the disabled and elderly, acting SSA commissioner Leland Dudek referred to [Elon Musk's] cost-cutting team as “outsiders who are unfamiliar with nuances of SSA programs,” according to a meeting participant’s detailed notes that were obtained by The Washington Post.

“DOGE people are learning and they will make mistakes, but we have to let them see what is going on at SSA,” Dudek told the group, according to the notes. “I am relying on longtime career people to inform my work, but I am receiving decisions that are made without my input. I have to effectuate those decisions.” ...

On Thursday morning — three hours after the publication of this story — an all-staff email went out to SSA employees informing them they would be prevented “effective today” from accessing certain websites on their government devices, including “online shopping,” “general news” and “sports.” ...

Even some Republicans privately acknowledge discomfort with Dudek, who was appointed as acting commissioner when the career senior executive in the role abruptly retired after refusing his push to give DOGE employees unauthorized access to private data. ...

Meeting with advocates on Tuesday, Dudek sought to cast himself as someone on their side. He described his parents as blue-collar workers with little formal education who divorced when he was young, according to the notes obtained by The Post. His mother was injured and went on disability benefits, he explained. In high school, he would eat leftovers from the school cafeteria trash, he said.

 Dudek said the old ways of “setting goals, doing studies, discussion, getting information and data before making decisions” are gone. Those in charge now “will make mistakes, but I need to move them in a direction that is best for SSA,” he said, and asked the advocates for their support. ...

Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank, said shrinking Social Security’s roughly $15 billion operating budget would represent just a small fraction of the program’s $1.5 trillion in annual costs.

“If you’re talking about Social Security solvency, this stuff is a drop in the bucket,” Biggs said. “It doesn’t make any sense at all.” ...

Andrew Saul, who served as SSA commissioner in Trump’s first term, said he welcomed the cuts — but he was adamant that without corresponding modernization of the agency’s many aging technology systems, service will suffer.

“You can’t replace all of these people without the proper systems,” Saul said. “And it takes time to develop them.” ...

In interviews, eight employees described chaos and the dissolution of a system they have been proud to serve, fueled by DOGE-led cuts to staff, spending and operating systems.

Wait times for basic phone service have grown, in some cases to hours, according to some employees, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal details. Delays in reviews of disability claims and hearings before administrative law judges are already starting. ...

Meanwhile, supervisors have little time to give guidance or advice, the employee said, because they are constantly pulled into lengthy meetings to dissect the latest guidance from the Trump administration on return-to-office orders, firing of probationary employees and a Musk-led campaign requiring federal workers to send weekly bullet points laying out their accomplishments.

“Morale is in the toilet,” the employee said. “We all know what DOGE wants to do, which is just break us, so they can privatize us.”

Due to a DOGE-driven spending freeze on federal credit cards, some offices can’t pay phone bills, the employee said, while one office was forced last week to cancel three disability hearings because the staff could not use charge cards to pay for interpreters who speak foreign languages or American Sign Language. One claimant has a terminal illness, and another is in danger of losing their house, the employee said. No new hearings have been scheduled.

Meanwhile, a DOGE-led campaign to cancel contracts deemed “wasteful” across the government is also hurting Social Security. The agency lost a contract that paid for medical experts to testify at disability hearings, the employee said, along with another contract for mold removal from offices. ...

As the agency prepares for a mandated return to in-office work, space constraints in some offices have left supervisors to consider assigning employees to work at desks in supply closets, the worker said.

“It’s just chaos, people are terrified, and no one knows anything, including our supervisors,” the employee said. ...

    Apparently, access to this blog is being banned through Social Security's web access. Remember, you have cell phones and home computers!

Yeah, AI Is Totally Ready To Take Over Major Duties At Social Security

     The Daily Beast reports that “The Los Angeles Times removed its new AI-powered “insights” feature from a column after the tool tried to defend the Ku Klux Klan.”

Chasing An Imaginary Problem

     A press release:

Social Security Addressing Aged Records
Actions Support President’s Priorities

The Social Security Administration (SSA) today shared its significant progress in identifying and correcting beneficiary records of people 100 years old or older. The data reported in the media represent people who do not have a date of death associated with their record. While these people may not be receiving benefits, it is important for the agency to maintain accurate and complete records.

“I thank President Trump for highlighting these inconsistencies during his speech last night to a joint session of Congress,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “We are steadfast in our commitment to root out fraud, waste, and abuse in our programs, and actively correcting the inconsistencies with missing dates of death.”

The agency follows long established program integrity initiatives that identify people who have a higher likelihood of being deceased due to their age or incomplete death reports. For example, SSA receives data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of individuals who have not used Medicare Part A or Part B for three or more years. SSA uses the data as an indicator to select and prioritize cases of individuals age 90 or older, who are currently in pay status and living in the United States, to determine continued eligibility for Social Security benefits. The agency attempts to conduct an interview with these individuals to verify they are still alive. If the agency identifies someone is deceased, it immediately stops payment and reports any suspicions of fraud to SSA’s Office of the Inspector General.

Early Afternoon Roundup -- News Coming In Hot And Heavy

     Here's your early afternoon roundup of Social Security news:

• Federal officials have taken down that list of federal properties for sale but a new list is "Coming Soon."
• AARP is urging its members to contact their representatives in Congress to tell them that Social Security must be protected.
• 152 House Democrats have written the Acting Commissioner of Social Security to express "grave concern" over office closings and workforce reductions.
• No link on this but House Democrats plan to introduce three bills tomorrow to keep Social Security offices open, block DOGE access to Social Security data and to compel the President to account for DOGE activities at Social Security to this point.
• Jack Svahn, former Commissioner of Social Security, thinks that Congress won't act on Social Security's long term funding problems until things become critical. He's right. There's no point wringing your hands over it today. Nothing will happen for several years. 
• A current Social Security employee talks movingly about the trauma being inflicted on agency employees.
• A retired Social Security employee writes about the cuts at his old agency. 

    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.

Headquarters Buildings Listed For Sale

       From a list of federally owned properties for sale in the Baltimore area:

ALTMEYER BLDG	WOODLAWN	219,798
ANNEX TO SOC SEC	WOODLAWN	439,698

     The Trump Administration has talked about relocating the headquarters of federal agencies outside the area of the nation’s capitol. I don’t believe any such relocations have been announced yet. That shoe or set of shoes has yet to drop. I’m not saying that’s what these listings are about. I don’t know.

Did You Really Expect That Trump Would Tell The Truth About Social Security?

      In his State of the Union address Donald Trump said that "1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159, and over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are age over 160 years old.” You could call that true but only in the most narrow, misleading way possible. By any reasonable standard, it’s a flat out lie but, as we know, Donald Trump lies the way some people chew gum.

     I don’t know why Trump doesn’t sign an executive order that Social Security must immediately cut off benefits to anyone 115 or more years old. Easily ordered. Easily implemented. Get on with it!