Federal Agency
Appears in 2 stories
Undergoing largest operational restructuring in decades
For decades, roughly 1,250 Social Security field offices operated as independent mini-agencies, each staffed with employees who knew their local communities and state-specific rules. On March 7, 2026, the Social Security Administration replaced that model with two centralized systems that route beneficiaries to any available representative anywhere in the country. When a retiree in Maine calls about a claim, they may now speak with an employee in Arizona who has never handled that state's rules.
Updated Mar 7
Subject of ongoing litigation over data access
The Privacy Act of 1974 was written to prevent exactly this: government employees using federal databases containing Social Security numbers, health records, and bank account information for unauthorized purposes. For nearly a year, Department of Government Efficiency staffers did it anyway—copying the records of 300 million Americans to unsecured servers, sharing files with outside political groups, and coordinating with election-denial activists to match voter rolls against Social Security data.
Updated Jan 26
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