Social Security announces "massive reorganizations" and a "target" of 7,000 job cuts
An email to all SSA employees on Thursday threatens "involuntary" reassignments. UPDATE: A Friday memo announces departures and major agency consolidation.
All employees of the Social Security Administration on Thursday received an email announcing “massive reorganizations,” warning of “involuntary” reassignments that could include field offices or teleservice centers, and seeking volunteers for “early retirement” or “separation” — a plan to upend the agency responsible for paying out more than $1.5 trillion in benefits this year.
The plan was being discussed earlier this week by Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, as The American Prospect’s David Dayen reported on Wednesday:
The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) requested in a meeting on Tuesday that managers present him with a plan for a 50 percent reduction in staff, a mass firing that could affect tens of thousands of employees across the country.
Dudek — the second acting commissioner since Trump took office, who took over under questionable circumstances — is “a seasoned information technology (IT) and security leader,“ per the lead of his Social Security Administration bio. But now, he’s taking dramatic steps at the agency as the interim leader.
On Thursday afternoon, the email — “Organizational Restructuring - Availability of Voluntary Reassignment, Early Out Retirement, and Separation Incentive Payments to ALL ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES“ — went out. Law Dork reviewed the email, and has confirmed its contents with multiple employees.
The email has echoes of the “Fork in the Road” email, and I would reiterate, as I wrote then, that no employee should take action on this email without consulting a lawyer.
[UPDATE, 3:30 p.m. February 28: Acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Leland Dudek announced his threatened massive reorganization of the pivotal agency on Friday in an internal memorandum obtained by Law Dork, including the departure of two dozen senior staff, the consolidation of the agency's 10 regions into 4 regions, and significant headquarters consolidation.
From Dudek’s memo:
I reported the Friday announcement initially on Bluesky.]
[UPDATE, 4:45 p.m. February 28: In a news release issued later Friday afternoon, the Social Security Administration confirmed much of Law Dork’s reporting, albeit without the specificity, and also announced a “target” of eliminating 7,000 positions in the agency.
Per the release:
The agency plans to reduce the size of its bloated workforce and organizational structure, with a significant focus on functions and employees who do not directly provide mission critical services. Social Security recently set a staffing target of 50,000, down from the current level of approximately 57,000 employees.
Again, Dudek is running the agency in an acting capacity.]
The key paragraph in SSA’s Thursday email to employees stated:
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will soon implement agency wide organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions. Through these massive reorganizations, offices that perform functions not mandated by statute may be prioritized for reduction-in-force actions that could include abolishment of organizations and positions, directed reassignments, and reductions in staffing. The agency may reassign employees from non-mission critical positions to mission critical direct service positions (e g., field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers). Reassignments may be involuntary and may require retraining for new workloads.
The email came on a day when, as Marisa Kabas reported and Law Dork has confirmed, the acting general counsel of SSA, Grace Kim, announced her unexpected retirement. Mark Steffensen, the former senior executive vice president and general counsel for HSBC North America Holdings Inc., is taking over the job. Law Dork reported on February 21 that Dudek announced that day that Steffensen was starting as a “senior advisor” in the Office of the Commissioner on February 24.1
[UPDATE, 3:30 p.m. February 28: One of the biggest changes announced at Social Security Administration headquarters is a consolidation of power to the general counsel. Steffensen, after joining the office on February 24 as a “senior advisor” and being named acting general counsel on Thursday, became acting deputy commissioner on Friday.]
The primary sections of the “Organizational Restructuring“ email sent to employees on Thursday are:
“Voluntary Reassignments” — This section asked employees interested in “voluntarily being reassigned to a mission critical position” to fill out a questionnaire by March 14.
“Voluntary Early Retirement (VERA) or ‘Early Out’” — The program is available to employees with at least 20 years of “creditable service” if they are 50 years old or older or 25 years of “creditable service” at any age. According to the email, “VERA is available from March 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Employees not eligible now who wish to retire later in the year under early out may do so, but may be subject to restructuring activities.“ There are additional eligibility requirements listed, and all employees taking this option must retire by the end of the year.
“Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP)” — This program purportedly offers incentive payments to those who are taking “optional retirement (full retirement age), voluntary early retirement (VERA), or resignation,“ but is “limited and available on a first come basis“ until noon March 14. Notably, the email stated that the incentive payments are not available to anyone in the deferred resignation program (aka, the “Fork in the Road” email program).
The final sections are “Optional Retirement“ or “Resignation,” which are self-explanatory.
[Update, 9:15 p.m.: The Social Security Administration posted most of Thursday’s email — albeit with a different subject line, “Social Security Announces Options to its Workforce“ — on its website this evening. It was not posted online as of 5 p.m.]
This is a breaking news story. Check back at Law Dork for the latest.
This paragraph was added after initial publication, with the final update at 11:15 p.m.
The staff at SSA are so helpful! I worked with them to set up benefits for my kids when my husband died suddenly, and again when I retired. This is horrible. I will say the same for the staff at IRS. I hate to lose these valuable public servants. This destruction is wrecking the lives of ALL Americans, including 100% of taxpayers and 100% of retired people.
I just saw the official government message and boy is it full of crapola … they basically accuse people of being useless and not willing to work… such lies!