President Donald Trump’s recent initiative to reorganize the federal workforce has placed the Social Security Administration (SSA) in the center of a contentious policy battle. By revoking a reclassification program and accelerating workforce reductions, the administration seeks to eliminate civil service protections for tens of thousands of employees, potentially threatening the operations of an agency essential to 70 million Americans’ benefits.
The reclassification policy: From Schedule F to “Schedule Policy/Career”
Trump, in January 2025 signed an executive order renewing a revised version of his 2020 Schedule F plan, which had a new title: “Schedule Policy/Career“. The policy reclassifies federal workers employed in “policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating” jobs as at-will employees and strips them of their protection against arbitrary dismissal. Although the Trump administration asserts that this will bring accountability, its critics point out the loose definition of “policy-related” work has the potential to include almost 20% of the SSA workforce-approximately 10,000 workers.
The Office of Personnel Management estimates 50,000 federal workers nationwide would lose civil service protections under this rule. For SSA, groups such as Disability Determinations, Human Resources, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer already have been targeted for reclassification, although their work is largely administrative rather than political. Former SSA policy analyst Kathleen Romig warns this will leave critical functions, such as contracting and hiring, vulnerable to politicization.
Workforce cuts: A pattern of reductions
The SSA has already cut staff by 3,000 employees in the form of early retirements and buyouts since February of 2025 as part of a broader strategy to cut 7,000 jobs. Internal memos describe plans for future layoffs after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, reviewed the agency. DOGE determined the current cuts are not enough, suggesting further cuts despite the SSA’s current staff shortage.
To encourage voluntary separations, the agency provided up to $25,000 separation pay to the employees, based on grade. Despite the goal of the program being the reduction of involuntary employee separation, official spokespeople such as AFGE’s Rich Couture are against it creating institutional knowledge losses: “Losing experienced staff will disable our ability to process claims effectively.” Frontline workers are warning that already, staffing deficiencies are leading to delays in benefits processing, and wait times for disability claims and calls to the agency are already at record high levels. “People could die waiting for decisions if caseloads continue to increase,” reported one SSA employee. The elimination of two offices-the Office of Transformation and the Office of Civil Rights-has compounded the strain, leaving 190 employees on administrative leave.
Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative has ridiculed these complaints in favor of removing “waste and fraud” from the agency. Yet fellow-minded advocates like Social Security Works’ Nancy Altman disagree that the SSA needs more money, but less, to fix inherent under-staffing and out-dated technology.
Unions and experts sound the alarm
Labor unions and policy experts have all criticized the method of reclassifying. AFGE President Everett Kelley called it a “blatant power grab” that would substitute politically appointed apparatchiks for objective staff. Romig insisted procurement and human resources jobs must remain as apolitical as possible to avoid immoral contracting or hiring.
The Biden administration’s 2024 OPM rule, reinforcing civil service safeguards, complicates Trump’s endeavor but doesn’t completely deter it. Challenges will ensue through the courts, but the administration’s far-reaching executive authority regarding federal classification can temper the opposition’s alternatives.
Employee morale and institutional expertise at risk
Layoff fear has planted terror in the SSA. Jill Hornick, a 33-year veteran, characterized co-workers as “afraid they’re going to lose their jobs in the dead of night”. Voluntary separation offers have disproportionately helped senior workers, causing a brain drain that will take years to fill. As one worker stated, “New hires can’t replace decades of experience working on hard benefit cases”.
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