{"id":648,"date":"2026-07-29T10:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=648"},"modified":"2026-07-29T10:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:41:13","slug":"dem-senators-demand-answers-on-ssa-field-office-closures-despite-bisignanos-vow-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=648","title":{"rendered":"Dem senators demand answers on SSA field office closures despite Bisignano\u2019s vow"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This story has been updated at 4:30 p.m. ET.<\/i><\/p>\n

A group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday demanded information on how staffing shortages and reassignments are impacting the Social Security Administration\u2019s ability to keep its 1,200 field offices open to the public.<\/p>\n

Read more IRS and Social Security bar employees from taking advanced leave<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year, after years of chronic underfunding of SSA\u2019s administrative functions already brought its workforce to a 50-year low, the Trump administration shaved the agency\u2019s headcount by another 7,500 employees. According to OPM data, SSA had around 49,500 employees as of May. Bisignano has also reassigned more than 1,500 employees from the field offices and other subcomponents to man Social Security’s 1-800 customer service line.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Bisignano wrote in a private letter to Warren that he would \u201ckeep every field office open\u201d and ensure they are \u201cproviding better and high-quality service.\u201d But over the last several months, dozens of field offices have been listed at various points either closed entirely or only offered services via telephone. As of Monday afternoon, 16 field offices across the country provided no or limited services.<\/p>\n

In a to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and three other Democrats requested information on these temporary closures and the underlying reasons for each shuttering.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of these offices were reportedly closed to the public due to maintenance needs or other operational issues\u2014which may be a valid reason,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cBut several offices appear to have been effectively closed due to staffing shortages, and some of these offices have allegedly remained \u2018temporarily closed\u2019 for an extended period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last April, union leaders spoke to Government Executive <\/em>about three rural field offices that had already been closed for over a year. Two of those locations\u2014Bloomsburg, Pa., and Logan, W.Va.\u2014remain on SSA\u2019s list of closures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese closures are not unprecedented, and have occurred under previous Republican and Democratic presidents,\u201d Warren wrote. \u201cBut in your case, these temporary closures to the public come after you made explicit commitments not to close offices, and have made a series of ongoing staffing cuts and assignment changes that appear to have added to the threat of closures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more AI\u2019s growing role in rulemaking raises new transparency questions<\/a><\/p>\n

Additionally, Bisignano testified\u2014falsely\u2014last month that his predecessor, former Commissioner Martin O\u2019Malley, instituted a policy for field offices by which members of the public were \u201cturned away\u201d if they had not previously scheduled an appointment. But as of Monday afternoon, the field office in Silver Spring, Md., offers only \u201climited in-person service with an appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawmakers wrote that the field offices mostly likely to suffer from staffing shortage are often the most rural locations, and their temporary closure create greater challenges for Americans seeking in-person service.<\/p>\n

\u201cClosing field offices and resident stations for in-person services also means Americans must travel further to get assistance,\u201d they wrote. \u201cIn fact, recent analysis finds the closure of any field office would double the time it takes the average American to drive to their second-closest office.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement Tuesday, an SSA spokesperson contested Warren and union officials\u2019 assertion that the closures are at least partially due to staffing gaps. They said both the Bloomsburg, Pa., and Logan, W.Va., field offices remain closed due to structural issues but did not give a timeline for their reopening or replacement.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of SSA’s field offices are closed or offering limited service due to staffing issues,\u201d the spokesperson wrote. \u201cThe field office closures listed on the Social Security website are not permanent. The offices are temporarily closed or providing limited service due to planned renovations, required maintenance, or facilities issues that we are actively working with GSA and building owners to resolve. SSA\u2019s resident stations are located in rural areas and typically have one or two employees assigned to provide in-person services.\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more New documentary recounts \u2018free-for-all attitude of cruelty\u2019 toward axed federal employees<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just weeks after the Social Security commissioner falsely accused his predecessor of turning away members of the public, lawmakers say Bisignano has done just that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oversight"],"yoast_head":"\nDem senators demand answers on SSA field office closures despite Bisignano\u2019s vow - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=648\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dem senators demand answers on SSA field office closures despite Bisignano\u2019s vow - 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