Staffing issues at the Social Security Administration could lead to closures of the agency's field offices across the country, The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has warned.
The AFGE pointed out that a field office in Southeast Cleveland, Ohio, was closed due to what they claim were "chronic staffing and attrition issues." The union, which represents 750,000 federal and D.C. government employees, argues that the SSA lacks enough funding to operate effectively, which has contributed to the lowest staff levels within the agency in almost three decades.
"Most Americans do not have a choice to pay into the Social Security system through their paychecks, yet for the last decade, Congress has acted like it has been a choice to fund the program's operating costs and staff the agency properly to meet public demand and delivery timely benefits and services," Jessica LaPointe, president of the National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals (AFGE Council 220), said in a statement.
The lack of enough funding for the agency is partly why the SSA is struggling to deal with its staffing issues.
"Due to high turnover of staff due to inadequate pay, benefits, and out of control workloads, and Congress' failure to fund the agency to replace staffing losses, improve working conditions, and offer a competitive pay and benefits package, it has been death by a thousand cuts," LaPointe said.
Newsweek contacted AFGE and the SSA via email for comment on Tuesday.
The SSA has indicated recently that it was looking to add to its budget. In March, head of the agency Martin O'Malley noted that as part of President Joe Biden's budget, the Social Security Administration was requesting more than $15 billion in "discretionary budget authority—a $1.3 billion or 9 percent increase over the 2023 enacted level—to improve customer service at SSA's field offices."
The AFGE in its statement suggested that it will be holding demonstrations along with the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans around the state to bring to attention to what they describe as the SSA's budgetary issues.
The SSA's office is facing more demand as the number of retirees rises, LaPointe added.
"Baby boomers have been reaching their retirement age at a rate of 12,000 a week since 2011 and will continue to do so until at least 2033," LaPointe said in the statement. "Yet, Congress has failed to meet this growing demand for earned benefits by responding with a 20 [percent] slash in Social Security operating allowance over the last decade."
Newsweek reached out via email to Speaker of the House of Representative Mike Johnson's office for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Omar Mohammed is a Newsweek reporter based in the Greater Boston area. His focus is reporting on the Economy and ... Read more
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