On Friday, Maryland senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, along with several other senators, sent a letter to Charles Ezell, Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). In the correspondence, the senators focused on the Feb. 6 deadline for federal workers to submit resignations and how that might impact the already depleted Social Security Administration (SSA).
More than 72 million Americans get Social Security benefits. According to the letter, during the previous Trump Administration “harsh union contracts” and other employee development lapses led to an increase in staff departures. The letter cites surveys showing more than half of SSA employees thought about leaving the agency due to low compensation and burnout.
The letter asserts the Biden Administration reversed some of the policies and morale problems under the leadership of former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley who served as SSA Commissioner. The “buy out” offer, the return-to-work mandate and hiring freezes may turn around improvements in SSA morale and retention and trigger departures of qualified workers, according to the letter.
The letter outlines important questions regarding SSA employment in the face of new payouts to approximately three million retirees. It also asks for plans to attract new employees to the SSA and metrics in handling responses to questions from beneficiaries.
Van Hollen and Alsobrooks joined Senator Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) on the letter along with Senators Shaheen (D-NH), Blumenthal (D-CT), Hirono (D-HI), Warnock (D-GA), Duckworth (D-IL), Padilla (D-CA), Lujan (D-NM), Whitehouse (D-RI), and Reed (D-RI).
The letter requests a response by no later than Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.
