The Social Security Administration Is Gutting Regional Staff and Shifting All Public Communications to X

The Social Security Administration will not communicate with the media and the public through press brochures and “dear colleague” messages, because it transformed its public communication exclusively. The news comes amid discounts in the agency’s major employees.

“We no longer plan to issue press or dear colleague’s messages to inform the media and the public of software and service changes,” said SSA regional commissioner Linda Kerr Davis at a meeting with managers earlier this week. “Instead, the agency will use X to communicate with the press and the public … so this will become our communication mechanism.”

Previously, the agency used a colleague of my dear colleague to interact with the call groups and third -party organizations that help people reach the advantages of social security. Modern messages covered everything again the agency ID verification procedures SSA accuracy updates Death records (“Less than 1 percent has been reported by the error to be corrected.” Elon Musk Claims).

The messages and press data were also a decisive communication tool for SSA employees, who used it to stay in agency news. Since SSA staff cannot subscribe to social media on government computers without submitting a special safety request, change may have negative consequences for employees’ ability to perform their jobs.

It can also affect people who receive the advantages of social security who rely on messages for information about the advantages of access. “Do you really expect the elderly to join this platform?” One current employee request. “Most managers are not even on it. How is this not conflicting interests?” Another employee added: “This will guarantee that the public does not get the information he needs to stay on a permanent knowledge.”

Linda Kerr Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment by WIRED.

“This reports are misleading,” says Liz Huston, a White House spokeswoman. “There was no decrease in the workforce. Instead, to improve the provision of services, employees from regional offices are reset to front-lines assistance-allocating limited resources as they are needed. President Trump will always protect social security.”

Elon Musk, who leads this charge to reduce the size of the federal workforce on behalf of President Trump, X (then Twitter) in October 2022. He fought the platform for years the spread of wrong information. After the company bought, Musk launched the content managers of the contract and converted the contents of the content to the factory examination tool from the public sources called Notes Community. In 2023, European Union official warned The platform was a major source of fake news, based on a study with a commission that “Twitter has the highest possibility to discover” misinformation.

The workforce in the regional office will soon be reduced by about 87 percent, and the sources have been told. Regional office staff manages information technology support, policy questions, labor relations issues, reasonable residency directives, and public relations. Since February, SSA has reduced 7000 jobs, according to Washington Post.