"And Republicans fear that reductions in staff and field offices will boomerang on them"

Yes, this is starting to happen. Case in point, Republican Mike Lawler who won in a swing district in NY that Biden also won:

House Republican Outraged by Social Security Office Closing in His District: A Slap in the Face'

Donald Trump's interim Social Security chief suggested Thursday night he will effectively turn off the agency that manages the essential safety net program for seniors and the disabled, if Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) can't access the non-anonymized sensitive personal information and data of hundreds of millions of Americans, based on a judge's order.

So he plans to hold senior citizens hostage in response to a temporary restraining order? Seems like escalation and governmental overreach, don't you think? What's the rush? They will probably get what they want eventually after the judge ensurse due dilligence is being followed with regarding privacy concerns. Just follow the law:

Judge bars DOGE team from SS records in scathing ruling

A federal judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order barring Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency team from having access to personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration.

FTA:

Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander in a scathing ruling accused DOGE of launching a "fishing expedition" at the Social Security agency and failing to provide any reason why it needed to access vast swaths of Americans' personal and private data.

Hollander said the "defendants, with so called experts on the DOGE Team" never identify or articulate a reason why DOGE needs "unlimited access to SSA's entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government."

The order in U.S. District Court in Baltimore blocks the Social Security Administration, acting Commissioner Leland Dudek and Chief Information Officer Michael Russo, as well as all related agents and employees working with them, from granting access to any system containing personally identifiable information.

Per the lawsuit, personally identifiable information is defined as information that can be used to identify an individual, either on its own or when combined with other information. That includes Social Security numbers, medical provider information, medical and mental health treatment records, employer and employee payment records, employee earnings, addresses, bank records and tax information.

The judge also ordered the DOGE team members and affiliates to delete all non-anonymized personally identifiable information in their possession or control that they have accessed "directly or indirectly" since Jan. 20.

Hollander, noting the affiliates of DOGE have kept their identities hidden, wrote, "ironically, the identity of these DOGE affiliates has been concealed because defendants are concerned that the disclosure of even their names would expose them to harassment and thus invade their privacy."

"The defense does not appear to share a privacy concern for the millions of Americans whose SSA records were made available to the DOGE affiliates, without their consent," the judge wrote.

The judge also said that the administration has not "attempted to explain why a more tailored, measured, titrated approach is not suitable to the task."

"Instead, the government simply repeats its incantation of a need to modernize the system and uncover fraud," Hollander wrote. "Its method of doing so is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer."

I was notified last year when I logged in to review my benefits. So this security change has been in the works for over a year.
#70 | Posted by visitor_

You were notified what last year when you were logged in?

That manifestation of humanity and empathy was criminalized for many, many years
Humanity and empathy are under a full force attack by Trumpers.
Just read anything posted by our Trumpers.
It's all hate and apathy.
#15 | Posted by ClownShack

Yeah, because THEY ARE CRIMINALS.
The only follow up we need now is to find the employers of these 2 people for the last 35 years and toss them in jail for hiring illegals.
#4 | Posted by ScottS

"Gladys and Nelson, neither of whom have a criminal record. . ."

this couple had 35 years to attain legal status and never bothered to do so?
How did they work? Who was their employer, go after them, not these people.
#6 | Posted by oneironaut

You really should try reading the article before spouting off:

"While the couple tried numerous legal avenues to remain in the country over the years, including appeals to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Board of Immigration Appeals, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told The Orange County Register that the Gonzalezes had "exhausted all legal options to remain in the U.S. between March 2000 and August 2021," and were ultimately in violation of immigration law."

FTA:

My first entry into politics was through the hidden world of gay Republicans. I didn't know it, but looking back, odds are I never would have become a political consultant if it were not for what I later learned was known as the "Pink Mafia."

"Most fundamental to protecting SOCIAL SECURITY is assuring that all who receive it are eligible by citizenship, and by their age and ID verified and quarters paid into the system. This needs nailed down."

Code of Federal Regulations

401.45. Verifying your identity.

(b) Manner of verifying identity "(1) Request in person. If you make a request to us in person, you must provide at least one piece of tangible identification such as a driver's license, passport, alien or voter registration card, or union card to verify your identity. If you do not have identification papers to verify your identity, you must certify in writing that you are the individual who you claim to be and that you understand that the knowing and willful request for or acquisition of a record pertaining to an individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense.

(2) Request by telephone. If you make a request by telephone, you must verify your identity by providing identifying particulars which parallel the record to which notification or access is being sought. If we determine that the particulars provided by telephone are insufficient, you will be required to submit your request in writing or in person. We will not accept telephone requests where an individual is requesting notification of or access to sensitive records such as medical records.

(3) Electronic requests. If you make a request by computer or other electronic means, e.g., over the Internet, we require you to verify your identity by using identity confirmation procedures that are commensurate with the sensitivity of the information that you are requesting. If we cannot confirm your identity using our identity confirmation procedures, we will not process the electronic request. When you cannot verify your identity through our procedures, we will require you to submit your request in writing.

Citizenship is not a requirement to pay or receive Social Security.
#64 | Posted by snoofy

It's a little more complicated than that:

#61 *Funeral homes fill out Form SSA-721 and notify Social Security of someone's death.

And why not check to make sure that person didn't die and their checks weren't being swindled by their care taker.
#57 | Posted by fishpaw

How is DOGE going to check? BTW, funeral homes notify the SSA when somebody dies:

How to report a death
Funeral homes generally tell us when someone dies. So, you don't typically need to report a death to us.

If a funeral home isn't involved or doesn't report the death for some reason, you should call us and provide the name, Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death for the person who died.

This change was in the works for some time. I received notification last year.
Posted by visitor

Really? No one I know who is on SS received such a letter. Even if this plan was in the works since last year, it was not scheduled to be accompanied by firing 7000 SSA employees and closing multiple SSA offices across the country.

Maybe having one of his close friends targeted by Trump and MAGA will cause Kavanaugh to rethink his support for making Trump into a king. We can only hope Kavanaugh, Roberts and ACB think twice before giving DonOLD carte blanche in all the cases that will be coming before them regarding Trump and his bid for unfettered executive powers.

this judge was on fisa court that allowed spying on the trumo campaign.
he has a daughter who works for a group that helps illegals stay in the country
and finds them taxpayer money
makes sense you fckm dopes like this piece of garbage.
GD idiots.
#24 | Posted by shrimptacodan

Reposting this just for you, STD:

Judge Boasberg was SC Justice Kavanaugh's roommate in law school and was first appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush. Roberts appointed him to the FISA court:

When Biden bragged about defying SCOTUS (in this case we are talking about a single federal judge with an ideological axe to grind, not SCOTUS) over student loan forgiveness, you all cheered it on.
#24 | Posted by BellRinger

I'm just glad some Democrats have figured out that Republicans aren't going to listen to you anymore and there's nothing you can do to stop them.
Keep having your activist judges flail there arms in the air and we will just keep laughing.
#36 | Posted by Bluewaffles

Judge Boasberg was SC Justice Kavanaugh's roommate in law school and was first appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush. Roberts appointed him to the FISA court:

During Boasberg's formal investiture ceremony elevating him to a federal judge, he sat beside Brett Kavanaugh, his close friend and housemate at Yale Law School and then a federal appeals judge in the D.C. Circuit. Kavanaugh conducted the rites at the ceremony.

it's eugenics. Elon Musk is a Nazi.
#26 | Posted by Alexandrite

Obviously the elderly and disabled are NPCs who have outlived their usefulness and need to be killed off
by the only people that count, Musk and Trump.

Suddenly claiming someone died a year and a half ago sounds kind of DOGE-Y to me, and I bet we are going to hear more and more stories like this:

90 year-old veteran wrongly declared dead struggles to restore Social Security benefits
March 19, 2025

Kind received a letter from his healthcare provider addressed to his estate, notifying him of his own death that supposedly occurred a year and a half ago in October of 2023.

"To the estate of Thomas Kind. We're sorry to hear about the recent loss of Thomas Kind. We want to share some information without placing any extra burden on you at this time," the letter read.

Kind's reaction: "What a bunch of crap."

For the past 10 days, Kind has been unable to resolve the situation despite multiple attempts to contact officials.

"You can't talk to anybody," Kind said. "You can't get through. You sit on the phone for an hour waiting and making requests for customer service. I'm just looking for whoever has some ideas to turn the benefits back on."

The situation is particularly challenging for Kind, who has limited mobility.

"It's tough to have to deal with something like this when I'm here living 24/7," he said. "I can't get out. I don't have a car anymore."

Who receives SS?
Disabled and old people

Also dependents of a worker who dies, i.e., children under 18, and I think also the spouse of the deceased worker. These are called survivor benefits.

The horror and hits keep coming.
Please STOP the madness, read the link. We need marches and protests!

The SSA is being significantly undermined. Please read beyond the Trump/Musk propaganda. Or don't. As for the rest of us, we are not content with being so smug and gullible:

Between the lines: "People have a lot of trouble with the identification process," says Jen Burdick, a lawyer who provides free legal services for Americans trying to get Social Security disability benefits.

A recent client tried to drop by an office last week and was told to make an appointment by phone. On the phone, they were put on hold for six hours on Monday, five hours on Tuesday and two blocks of time, each three hours, on Wednesday, she said.

These proposed changes are "a way they're trying to use red tape to literally block people from getting benefits," Burdick said.

"At the same time, the agency will expedite processing all direct deposit change requests " both in person and online " to one business day. Prior to this change, online direct deposit changes were held for 30 days.
#2 | Posted by gracieamazed

"SSA recently required nearly all agency employees, including frontline employees in all offices throughout the country, to work in the office five days a week. This change ensures maximum staffing is available to support the stronger in-person identity proofing requirement."
#3 | Posted by gracieamazed

One business day after you get an appointment if you need to go in person. Getting that appointment can already take a long time and even requiring employees to work in the office 5 days a week isn't going to compensate enough to deal with the influx of increased appointments the agency anticipates:

Because the SSA serves a large population that is either older or physically disabled, many cannot access the internet. Under the new system, this would force these populations to visit an office to have their claim processed. The Diaz memo estimates it would require 75,000 to 85,000 in-person visitors per week to SSA's offices to implement the policy.

SSA offices do not currently have the resources to handle an influx of in-person appointments of this size. In 2023, the most recent data available, there were about 119,128 daily visits, on average, to SSA offices. Eight-five thousand more week visits would be a 14% increase. SSA offices no longer accept walk-ins and the wait time for an appointment, even before these changes, averaged over a month.

The memo anticipates creating a huge surge in demand for in-person appointments as the SSA slashes staff and closes offices. Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek has announced that he will terminate 7,000 workers, about 12% of the workforce. Meanwhile, dozens of SSA offices are being shuttered. Some people need to travel more than 100 miles to get to the nearest location. As the SSA limits services that could be provided over the phone, it is ending in-person services at some offices, converting them to phone-only.

An SSA source told Popular Information that there are "no significant concerns about fraud at intake" because no benefits are being distributed. And there are already multiple layers of identity verification in place before a claim is approved. The source said they believe the new ID verification steps are an effort to "create additional hurdles to filing claims and overwhelm the system."

The memo acknowledges that the policy changes would create increased "challenges for vulnerable populations." This seems to concede that many elderly and disabled people are physically unable to travel to an in-person office. It is unclear how these populations will be able to receive benefits at all.

The combination of fewer workers, fewer offices, and a massive increase in the demand for in-person services could sabotage the Social Security system " effectively denying many Americans the benefits they are due.

All of this is directly acknowledged in the Diaz memo. The memo predicts "service disruption," "operational strain," and "budget shortfalls." It also says preventing people who cannot use the internet or travel to an in-person office from receiving benefits could result in "legal challenges and congressional scrutiny."

Anecdotally, I know there have been a number of local protests over the past weeks. As people become more aware, upsetand worried, and as the weahter improves, I'm wondering if these protests will continue and perhaps increase. I hope so: Good site to look up protests by date and location:

The Big List of Protests

Resistance is alive and well in the United States

Protests of Trump may not look like the mass marches of 2017, but research shows they are far more numerous and frequent--while also shifting to more powerful forms of resistance.

Many underestimate resistance to the current Republican administration because they view resistance through a narrow lens. The 2017 Women's March in particular--immediate in its response, massive in its scope and size--may inform collective imaginations about what the beginning of a resistance movement should look like during Trump 2.0.

In fact, our research shows that street protests today are far more numerous and frequent than skeptics might suggest. Although it is true that the reconfigured Peoples' March of 2025--held on Jan. 18-=saw lower turnout than the 2017 Women's March, that date also saw the most protests in a single day for over a year. And since Jan. 22, we've seen more than twice as many street protests than took place during the same period eight years ago.

In February 2025 alone, we have already tallied over 2,085 protests, which included major protests in support of federal workers, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, Palestinian self-determination, Ukraine, and demonstrations against Tesla and Trump's agenda more generally. This is compared with 937 protests in the United States in February 2017, which included major protests against the so-called Muslim ban along with other pro-immigrant and pro-choice protests. Coordinated days of protest such as March Fourth for Democracy (March 4), Stand Up for Science (March 7), rallies in recognition of International Women's Day (March 8), and protests demanding the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil suggest little likelihood of these actions slowing down. These are all occurring in the background of a tidal wave of lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's early moves.

FTA:

Hands off our Medicaid.
Hands off our Social Security.
Hands off our public lands.
Hands off our jobs.
Hands off public education.
Hands off veterans' benefits.
Hands off our undocumented neighbors.
Hands off our trans siblings.
Hands of Ukraine aid.
Hands off our diversity programs.
Hands off Canada, ffs.
Hands off our reproductive rights.
Hands off our democracy.
Hands off _____.

Social Security Works
@socialsecurityworks.org
We are organizing rallies at Social Security field offices around the country as part of the mass mobilization on April 5th.

Join us to tell Elon Musk and Donald Trump to keep their hands off our earned benefits!

Say hi to TonyRoma for me. I respect his decision to not come back. And I figured I must have been an irritant with my racist pastiche comments so I hope I didn't drive him away. If that is a thing that happened I'm sorry. He did have good things to say. So did Sully. I often felt like if both Sully and I agreed on something, there was no other way to slice it.
#20 | Posted by snoofy

I'll tell him you said hi. No, I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything you or anyone here said. He's gone cold turkey on following the news because he finds Trump et al so vile and despicable.

Yav, Alex, Snoofy: You are all well-informed and bring much to the table, and we really do need all hands on deck. There are people who have gone, who I miss--like TonyRoma. Now he was well-informed. I've tried to get him to come back, but so far, he's a hard no. But, hey, Snoofy came back, so you never know.

"We should all be more like Gal Tuesday. Including Gal Tuesday."

LOL This is true, I do need to be more like myself.

In these troubling times, we need Gal Threesday.
#27 | Posted by snoofy

If I didn't already have a BlueSky account, I think might go with Gal Threesday. Has a certain ring to it.