The SSA could soon lose thousands more employees as the Trump administration pushes a controversial plan to reclassify federal workers and strip them of key civil service protections, making it easier to fire them.
According to a Reuters report, Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek has ordered internal departments to reclassify critical roles including IT, disability determinations, acquisitions, and HR under a new “schedule policy/career” status. That could expose up to 10,000 SSA employees to politically motivated dismissals, critics have said.
President Donald Trump announced last week that his administration would press ahead with plans to reclassify tens of thousands of government employees doing policy work into “at-will” workers. The Office of Personnel Management estimates approximately 50,000 federal workers will be affected, about 2% of the total civilian workforce.
Union leaders say the effort amounts to a sweeping overreach dressed up as a performance management reform. “This plan is a draconian overreach that has nothing to do with the administration’s supposed goal of ensuring policymakers toe the line,” said Rich Couture, with the American Federation of Government Employees. “It’s about giving SSA the ability to summarily fire employees who have nothing to do with policy-making.”
The SSA already eliminated about 3,000 jobs through early retirements and buyouts, nearly halfway toward a stated 7,000-position reduction. But with the Dudek reclassification order in place, observers warn the cuts could go far beyond those initial estimates.
That kind of restructuring risks politicizing integral parts of the agency, said Kathleen Romig, a former SSA employee who is now director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “You don’t want grants politicized or contracts that could lead to self-dealing,” she said. “There’s a tremendous potential for abuse.” The SSA thus far has declined to comment publicly on the reclassification effort, but watchdogs and policy experts alike are sounding the alarms. Many say the move imperils the stability of an already-strained agency battling understaffing, technology outages, and delayed payments.
This latest development fuels growing anxieties over how second-term reforms by Trump could affect the operations of Social Security and, by consequence, the millions of Americans reliant on the program for their retirement, disability, and survivor benefits.
As the plan advances, pushback will likely come from Capitol Hill to grassroots advocacy groups, setting the stage for a high-stakes battle over federal employment protections and the integrity of America’s largest benefit program.
- Clover Bracelet as a Thoughtful Gift: Spreading Luck and Love - November 24, 2025
- How to Size a Men’s Wedding Ring: Getting the Perfect Fit - November 24, 2025
- How To Sell On Facebook? Let’s Discuss Everything - August 29, 2025
