While offices will be closed to the public earlier, SSA field office employees are expected to continue their regular hours. The time presently used to assist customers will be used to complete interviews and claims work without employees using overtime. This reduction comes over a year after office hours were reduced by half an hour. In August 2011, SSA issued a memo stating field office hours will be reduced by thirty minutes. At the time of this first reduction of hours, SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue issued a press release stating, “Congress provided our agency with nearly $1 billion less than the President requested for our budget this fiscal year, which makes it impossible for us to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as we have in the past.”

SSA officials have stated the newest reduction of field office hours is a result of Congress issuing a continuing resolution in lieu of a budget. In addition to the reduced times, it is expected that almost thirty field offices will close by the end of the year.