“Staff reductions and reassignments led by DOGE are slowing the pace of claims processing as field offices lose longtime staff and gain a smaller number of inexperienced replacements. DOGE-driven changes to the agency\u2019s website are causing crashes almost every day, and phone customers complain about dropped calls and long wait times. A DOGE-imposed spending freeze is leading to shortages of basic office supplies, from printer cartridges to the phone headsets staff need to do their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And on Friday, Social Security leaders told employees that the agency was ending a security check, developed at DOGE\u2019s request, that was meant to root out allegedly fraudulent claims filed over the phone, according to three employees familiar with the situation and an email obtained by The Washington Post. But the measure – which involved placing a three-day hold on all phone claims as other staffers checked into the caller\u2019s background – had only identified a couple of potential fraud cases while causing significant delays in claims processing, two employees said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kathleen Romig, a former Social Security official who is now at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said there were already safeguards in place to detect fraud through the agency\u2019s phone service. DOGE\u2019s efforts have only delayed claims processing and, like most of the team\u2019s attempts to reshape Social Security, placed serious stress on the agency, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo much of this is self-inflicted wounds,\u201d Romig said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This account of turmoil within the Social Security Administration is based on interviews with eight current and former employees, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private deliberations. The Post also reviewed more than a dozen pages of internal agency records and communications.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n