Congressional Budget Cut Forces Social Security Offices to Begin Closing Early
All field offices will close 30 minutes earlier each day
July 22, 2011
A one billion dollar cut by Congress in the Obama budget proposed for Social Security will cause the agency to begin closing field offices
nationwide to the public 30 minutes early each day. The new hours will begin on August 15, according to an announcement today by the
commissioner.
Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, explained, as an example, that a field office that is usually open to the public
Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. will close daily at 3:30 p.m.
While agency employees will continue to work their regular hours, this shorter public window will allow us to complete
face-to-face service with the visiting public without incurring the cost of overtime for our employees, he said.
Congress provided our agency with nearly $1 billion less than the President requested for our budget this fiscal year,
which makes it impossible for us to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as we have in the past.
Most Social Security services do not require a visit to an office. For example, anyone wishing to apply for benefits,
sign up for direct deposit, replace a Medicare card, obtain a proof of income letter or inform us of a change of address or telephone number
may do so at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing our toll-free number: 1-800-772-1213 (TTY
1-800-325-0778).
July 22, 2011
A one billion dollar cut by Congress in the Obama budget proposed for Social Security will cause the agency to begin closing field offices
nationwide to the public 30 minutes early each day. The new hours will begin on August 15, according to an announcement today by the
commissioner.
Proposals include raising payroll tax cap, raising retirement age, adding public workers