The Social Security Administration plans to cut field office visits by 50%. What it means for you
WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security Administration hopes to cut visits to field offices by half next year; It’s a move that defends the agency’s fear signals more closure They are coming.
Field offices have long been community-based branches that serve as the public face of the SSA, providing personal assistance to people applying for retirement and disability benefits, obtaining Social Security cards and providing other important services.
The November internal field office operating plan shared with The Associated Press outlines a proposed goal of 50% fewer field office visitors in fiscal 2026 compared to fiscal 2025, or more than 15 million field office visits by the public. The agency’s field offices saw more than 31.6 million field office visits from SSA recipients from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, according to the agency document.
Field offices will continue to provide front-line services to about 75 million Americans who receive monthly payments, said a Social Security spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity as a preview of the administration’s plans for the agency. But the spokesperson noted that more and more Americans are choosing to manage their benefits online or by phone.
Nextgov/FCW first reported the agency’s field office pedestrian traffic reduction plan.
At least 7,000 SSA Workers were moved out of the agency this year as the Trump administration proposed a series of plans to streamline services at SSA.
SSA following backlash from MPs and public in March leadership partially backtracked on a plan This will require all new and existing beneficiaries who cannot use the agency’s online portal to go to a Social Security field office to verify their identity.
Jessica LaPointe, the union leader for 30,000 Social Security workers through the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said field offices are part of a quality-of-life agenda within communities, especially for “people who don’t have the resources to purchase technology to navigate the online world and need to be able to walk into an office to get help.”
He said SSA wants to “allow artificial intelligence and the internet to replace a well-educated, well-supervised workforce.”
Many field offices in rural areas of the United States have already closed this year due to staff shortages.
The Social Security website lists closed offices as well as closed offices I can only help by phone until further notice.
Chris Delaney, a Social Security claims specialist and president of AFGE Local 3343 in Hudson, says he can’t imagine how SSA could have a goal of reducing foot traffic when his office is seeing an increase in foot traffic and an aging population tied to SSA revenue. The Hudson office sees about 30 to 60 visitors a day with questions about its benefits.
“Many people fail to pass authentication login.govand just because they have a cell phone doesn’t mean they can create an account online,” Delaney said. “It’s important for people to be in the office when they need to be.”
The 2026 action plan also requires all requested appointments to be scheduled within 30 days, instead of the current rate of 78.3% of all appointments scheduled within 30 days.
Social Security is one of the nation’s largest and most popular social programs. A January poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that two-thirds of U.S. adults Spending too little on Social Security.
The agency has faced multiple lawsuits over the Trump administration’s plans to overhaul the agency.
In October, Democracy Forward, a legal group challenging the Trump administration’s policies, filed a lawsuit to force the SSA to release public records about service cuts and policy changes.
“After making the largest staffing cut in the 90-year history of Social Security, they are trying to deal with a problem they created without meaningful debate,” LaPointe said. “What they are doing invalidates public input.”
