Warren, Wyden, Gillibrand, Schumer, 100+ Lawmakers Demand Social Security Head Keep Field Offices Open
Volunteers across country to visit 50+ field offices in support, deliver copies of lawmakers’ letter, emphasize harm of shutting down offices
“Field offices provide vital services to Social Security recipients, and beneficiaries need the opportunity to seek assistance from SSA in person…Closing any of these field offices will make it harder for individuals to access their benefits.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Ranking Member on the Senate Special Committee on Aging Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) led a coalition of over 100 Congressional Democrats in writing to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), Leland Dudek, to demand that he keep Social Security field offices open. Americans will also deliver the letter in-person to Social Security field offices across the country today, in a show of support for Social Security workers and the services they provide.
“Hardworking staff at Social Security offices across the country make sure Americans get the benefits they’ve paid into over their whole working lives. Co-presidents Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to shut down those offices and rip away people’s benefits. We’ve got a message for Trump and Musk: get your hands off of Americans’ Social Security,” said Senator Warren.
Multiple reports have revealed that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) directed SSA to close field offices across the country — only to reverse course after public backlash and deny the plans altogether. Given the lack of transparency surrounding the status of field offices nationwide, the lawmakers pressed Dudek to ensure that DOGE does not close the offices that so many Social Security beneficiaries rely on for services and assistance.
Approximately 170,000 Americans visit a Social Security field office for assistance with Social Security benefits each day. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has threatened to close dozens of these offices as part of its attack on the SSA.
“[B]eneficiaries need the opportunity to seek assistance from SSA in person…Closing any of these field offices will make it harder for individuals to access their benefits,” wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers include a list of every SSA field office across the country and press Dudek to commit to keeping every single one of them open.
On Thursday, Social Security Works, Indivisible, P Street, and AFGE organized volunteers to deliver copies of the lawmakers’ letter to field offices across the country — in blue, red, and purple counties — in support of the field offices and their staff. Volunteers plan to visit at least 50 offices in Arizona, Nebraska, California, New Jersey, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, New York, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Oregon, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.
The initiative is part of Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, a coordinated effort to fight back against the Trump administration’s attack on Americans’ Social Security. The War Room coordinates messaging across the Senate Democratic Caucus and external stakeholders; encourages grassroots engagement by providing opportunities for Americans to share what Social Security means to them; and educates Senate staff, the American public, and stakeholders about Republicans’ agenda and their continued cuts to Americans’ Social Security services and benefits.
The following Senators joined in signing the letter: Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai’i), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Me.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
The following Representatives joined in signing the letter: Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Gilbert Cisneros (D-Calif.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), John Larson (D-Conn.), John Mannion (D-N.Y.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Dave Min (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Josh Riley (D-N.Y.), Deborah Ross (D-Pa.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Debbie Wasserman Shultz (D-Fla.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai’i), Norma Torres (D-Calif.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).
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