Washington, D.C. – In what would be yet another example of the Biden Administration’s willingness to reward political allies at the expense of the public on his way out the door, recent reports say that the Biden Administration’s outgoing Social Security Commissioner signed a midnight agreement to lock in the Social Security Administration’s failed telework policies until at least 2029. In response, Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) blasted the move as a threat to seniors and other hardworking Americans who already struggle to access services from the Social Security Administration:

“President Trump was elected specifically on the promise of greater accountability in our federal government, yet, if these reports are to be believed, the outgoing Administration – having been overwhelmingly rejected by the American people – is undermining the will of the people and the incoming Administration’s ability to provide service to the roughly 68 million Americans who rely on Social Security. By guaranteeing that front-line employees at the struggling Social Security Administration can work from home up to two days a week instead of providing face-to-face service to the approximately 170,000 Americans who visit Social Security offices each day, the Biden Administration makes it clear that they value federal employee unions over the American public. This comes after another unilateral decision by the now former Social Security Commissioner to shutter Social Security offices to give random days off to workers without consideration for the impact to beneficiaries.”

In May, in the midst of a public service crisis, the Biden Administration’s former Commissioner of Social Security announced the unilateral decision to provide additional administrative leave to employees. Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Drew Ferguson (GA-03) wrote to the then-Commissioner in a letter:

“With less than 48 hours advance notice, Congress was informed that you made the decision to provide all Social Security employees with administrative leave and shutter all SSA offices on the afternoons of Friday, May 10, and Friday, May 24. As a result, the public will be turned away from offices, telephones will go unanswered, claims will not be processed, and the more than 7,500 Americans who had appointments at SSA field offices scheduled for those afternoons – some of whom have already waited months – will have to wait longer. Most importantly, service for all Americans who need to conduct business with the SSA will be delayed as a result.”