The Social Security Administration is considering whether to put more of its in-person services on hold, as employees working without pay during the longest government shutdown can no longer afford the cost of coming into the office.
SSA’s Chief of Field Operations Andy Sriubas told managers on a call Thursday afternoon that the agency may need to stop issuing replacement Social Security cards, if the shutdown continues, given concerns about short staffing.
Several managers also told Sriubas, in a recording of the call obtained by Federal News Network, that some field office employees working without pay are asking to be furloughed, because they can no longer cover commuting costs.
Many federal employees have missed two full paychecks during the shutdown, and received one partial paycheck.
“If this goes into next week, I asked folks to start thinking about what are the workloads … we’re just not doing that, going forward, until the shutdown ends,” Sriubas said.
Depending on when Congress reaches a deal to end the shutdown, it’s possible that SSA employees receive a partial paycheck before receiving the rest of their retroactive pay.
Replacement Social Security cards are one of the biggest reasons individuals show up at Social Security offices. Last year, about 7.7 million people requested replacement cards. The agency stopped issuing replacement Social Security cards in previous shutdowns.
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