18-03-2025
Social Security workers in Maine raise alarm over DOGE's plan to cut jobs, shutter offices
Social Security claims specialists Christine Lizotte (left) and Ray Thompkins (right) retired Lewiston resident Kathy Davis. All three shared their concerns about proposed cuts to the Social Security Administration at a press conference organized by the Maine AFL-CIO on March 18, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Maine AFL-CIO)
Social Security Administration employees in Maine are raising the alarm about the impact that proposed cuts — including the possible closure of an office in Presque Isle — would have on the 355,000 Maine people who rely on the program.
During a press conference in Hallowell on Tuesday, 73-year-old Lewiston resident Kathy Davis, who is completely dependent on her monthly Social Security check, called on Maine's congressional delegation to 'not bow and cower to political pressure' but stand up to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
The Trump administration has announced plans to cut up to 12% of the Social Security Agency's workforce, at a time when its staffing is at a 50-year low. It has also floated closing several offices, including the only office in Aroostook County, and eliminating the agency's phone support service.
Andy O'Brien, communications director for the Maine AFL-CIO, pointed to Musk's repeated comments that Social Security is a 'Ponzi scheme,' describing it as 'scare tactics and false claims meant to discredit the agency, which has never missed a payment in the over 85 years it's been around.'
The agency has been 'tremendously successful at keeping 22 million people out of poverty,' O'Brien continued, saying that it's not just for retirees but also serves as a 'life insurance program for survivors and a social safety net for millions of people with disabilities.'
At the press event, workers emphasized how devastating DOGE's proposals would be.
Christine Lizotte, a claims specialist and Secretary Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1164, explained the importance and complexity of the work. Despite that, she said agency workers are 'constantly asked to do more with less.' Should more of her colleagues get fired or accept buyout offers, 'the rest of us will shoulder the workload,' she said.
'That's why we are greatly concerned that the DOGE team is pressuring the administration to make deep cuts in staff,' Lizotte said, 'that will delay payments, cause more errors and could even crash the whole system within months.'
Davis said after paying into the system for 46 years, she now has several medical conditions that prevent her from working, making her completely dependent on the less than $2000 a month that she receives from Social Security.
'It really is very frightening to think that I could have that all taken away from me,' she said of concerns that the agency will collapse from the disinvestment. 'Without that meager amount of money, I would be on the street, I'd probably be dead.'
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