Kelly, Colleagues Demand Social Security Head Keep Field Offices Open

Today, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) sent a letter 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. Kelly joined a coalition of over 100 congressional Democrats in this letter. 

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. 

To read the full letter, click here.