are running out of pens, paper, and printer toner because the US DOGE Service, on February 26, placed a $1 spending limit on each government-issue credit card that managers use to make purchases and pay for services. They cannot pay their phone bills, or for translation services, for example. Less than a dozen people at SSA, an agency with 1,300 work locations, are now authorized to make decisions on any purchase requests, causing lengthy backlogs and delays.

How’s that for making government more efficient?

 

Less than a week ago, Wall Street billionaire Frank Bisignano was confirmed 53-47 by the Senate to serve until January 2031 as SSA Commissioner. A self- described “DOGE person,” he was called out by the usually mild-mannered Oregon Senator Ron Wyden for lying to the Senate Finance Committee, when he denied having worked with DOGE and Trump’s Acting SSA Commissioner, Leland Dudek, for months before his confirmation. It was during this time that the SSA website crashed 3 times in 10 days, in March. Bisignano, who comes with a reputation for slashing jobs and treating workers disrespect- fully, has said that he intends to replace SSA 800-number agents with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

 

Speaking of AI, SSA has already been utilizing it to some extent in the disability determination process. The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) has formed a task force that issued a report last month citing a number of concerns. One is the presence of bias in medical care and in medical record-keeping.

 

How do we identify and mitigate it? NASI believes it imperative that hu- mans make the adjudicative decisions, including whether to obtain additional existing medical evidence or request a consultative exam paid for by SSA.

 

SSA had more than 84,000 employ- ees in 1980, compared to about 50,000 today, with half as many Americans receiving benefits compared with today. Each of 1,200+ field offices had at least one SSA field representative to reach those who lived far from an office and needed a home visit, or to be served at one of the Agency’s hundreds of con- tact stations (sites like courthouses and social service agencies, most at no cost to SSA). They also made presentations to educate people about SSA programs. There are no more contact stations, and no more field representatives. With SSA having largely withdrawn from communities across our nation, it shouldn’t surprise us that lies about Social Security are believed by too many Americans. Why else would anyone agree with Elon Musk that Social Security is a 90-year Ponzi scheme, that benefits are being paid on the records of 150-year-olds, or that undocumented workers are receiving payments (they’re not!)?

 

Incorrect payments, which include underpayments as well as overpayments, are about 1 percent of total benefits paid. Incorrect payments (which could be greatly reduced by restoring staff) and fraudulent payments are not the same thing, and there is, in fact, very little fraud. Reports of changes that affect eligibility or payment amount are received by SSA, but often go unworked for many months due to job cuts. Implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act, which restored benefits for public retirees who had been subject to Government Pension Offset or the Windfall Elimination Provision, is also being slowed by staffing losses. Nearly three mil- lion records require adjustment, but some won’t be processed for a year. Of 182,000 new applications filed by those who hadn’t applied previously because no payments were due before the law was changed, 15 percent have not been processed.

 

The Trump administration intends to strip all civil service and union rights from about 20 percent of the SSA workforce, including the Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) who conduct dis- ability hearings and render decisions. That would make it easy to intimidate or remove ALJs who allegedly approve too many cases.

 

Thankfully, we have been getting some help from the courts and others. In April, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction to block DOGE from accessing the sensitive personal information in SSA records. On May 7, 15 House Republicans (none from Washington) wrote to Bisignano to express concerns about staff cuts and office closures. Two days later, another judge issued a two-week temporary restraining order blocking implementation of a February 11 executive order directing major “reorganizations” at SSA and 19 other agencies. The Administration appealed to the 9th Circuit within hours. H.R. 2550, the Protecting Ameri- ca’s Workforce Act, which would restore federal employee rights that have been stripped away, already has 220 House co-sponsors.

 

We have a long and difficult fight on our hands, but we can and must win it. We have to pull back the curtain and reveal what’s really going on in the other Washington, reach out wherever possible to tell the story to others, and take action by attending rallies and/or calling members of Congress from both parties.

 

Steve Kofahl is a former President of AFGE 3937, representing Social Security workers, a member of PSARA's Executive Board, and Co-Chair of PSARA's Social Security Task Force.