Since January, DOGE has said it’s been shrinking the federal government by hunting for waste, fraud, and abuse. The SSA installed the new phone system on May 9.
“These days, the difficulty and confusion trying to reach local Social Security offices by phone raise the emotional level,” said Jen Burdick, a Social Security expert and a divisional supervising attorney with Community Legal Services, which serves low-income Philadelphians at no cost.
SSA staffing has been reduced from 57,000 nationwide to 50,000 on DOGE’s watch, according to agency figures.
Justice in Aging, a national nonprofit with a focus on low-income elderly, sued both DOGE and the SSA in April on behalf of people unable to access services.
“The overall loss of experience at Social Security is devastating,” said Kate Lang, the organization’s director of federal income security.
What’s especially frustrating, Lang and others say, is that changes are being rapidly made to an SSA system that garnered a reputation for functioning at high levels not so long ago.
