Social Security Announces New Transparency Measures 👉 Updatem News

Agency meetings are being recorded and shared online, along with other measures, to inform the public as well as staff.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) revealed multiple new initiatives on Monday to boost transparency and accountability under the new Trump administration.

The initiatives include publishing recordings of weekly meetings, optimizing real estate to save costs, cutting down the workforce, strengthening beneficiary identity verification, and providing an “honest and transparent view” of the agency’s national 800 number wait times, the SSA said in a March 24 statement.

“President Trump has been clear that good government must serve the people. This begins with being transparent in how its government makes decisions and operates as good stewards of the resources entrusted to it,” said Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security.

SSA conducts weekly operational report meetings in which officials discuss various issues. Since March 14, the meetings have been recorded and published on the department’s YouTube Channel.

The SSA is also releasing key information related to the various decisions taken by the acting commissioner. This is being published on the “Agency Actions” webpage.

The page details challenges faced by the SSA, options available to the agency to deal with these issues, and the final decision taken by the acting commissioner.

SSA has published an “Efficiencies and Cost Avoidance” webpage detailing site lease terminations initiated by the agency and whether these changes impact citizens.

According to the latest update, SSA is working with the General Services Administration to terminate 64 leases, which it says are expected to save more than $4 million annually in rental costs.

Another webpage run by the agency details information about the SSA’s workforce optimization push. So far, 345 workers have accepted a deferred resignation program. Another 2,674 employees have expressed interest in voluntary separations, out of which 2,477 have been confirmed eligible.

The agency said it “submitted its draft Reduction-in-Force (RIF) plan to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) by the deadline of March 13, 2025.”

“No date has been set when the plan might be approved or begin,” it said.

The agency is sharing information about wait times that people may experience when they call SSA’s national 800 number.

“More than 70 million people depend on Social Security benefits, and millions more reach out each year for other services like requesting a new Social Security card,” the agency said.

The SSA recently announced an initiative to strengthen identity verification for beneficiaries who do not use their “my Social Security account” when applying for benefits or requesting changes to direct deposit banking information.

Furthermore, the SSA has published an online resource to help people understand identity matters.

Court Order Against DOGE

The SSA has been working with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to identify ways to make the agency more efficient.

However, this joint effort suffered a setback this past week when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking DOGE from accessing personal information stored with the SSA.

The judgment came as part of a case in which plaintiffs argued that DOGE’s “nearly unlimited” access to SSA data violated privacy rights and posed security risks.

“The American public may well applaud and support the Trump Administration’s mission to root out fraud, waste, and bloat from federal agencies, including SSA, to the extent it exists. But, by what means and methods?” wrote Judge Ellen Hollander of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion.”

Trump administration lawyers argued that plaintiffs lacked standing because they did not suffer any injury.

DOGE has a 10-member team of federal employees at the SSA, with seven of the individuals granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information. The officials have received privacy training, with eight of them passing background checks, the lawyers said.

“Both the equities and the public interest support permitting the government to exercise its lawful authority to hire employees and give those employees access to systems as required for their job duties,” they said.

In the aftermath of the court order, Dudek suggested he may have to shut down the SSA, saying that everything being done in the agency involves personally identifiable information.

The court later issued clarifying guidance about the TRO related to DOGE employees and DOGE activities at the SSA, following which Dudek said he wouldn’t shut down the agency.

“President Trump supports keeping Social Security offices open and getting the right check to the right person at the right time. SSA employees and their work will continue under the TRO,” he said.

Last month, DOGE found millions of individuals aged 120 and above listed on SSA records, with many people recorded as being over 220 years old.

Dudek later said the agency was making “significant progress in identifying and correcting beneficiary records of people 100 years old or older.”

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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