Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and three Senate colleagues sent a letter to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano on July 29 asking for detailed information about SSA field office operational status and whether offices have closed to the public. The Senators point out SSA shed approximately 7,500 feds in the past year and raises concerns about the agency’s ability to effectively serve the American public.

In the letter, Warren, joined by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), cite Bisignano’s “promise to keep field offices open,” but note more than a dozen offices that have been closed to the public for extended periods of time. They seek detailed information from SSA, including average wait times to schedule appointments, specifics about staffing and availability at field offices, and information about any field office that has been closed for 72 hours or more. To view all of the questions included in the letter, you can read it in full here.

For its part, SSA has maintained a consistent public position that no field office is closed or limited "due to staffing issues." In a statement, the agency has said temporary closures reflect structural problems, planned renovations, required maintenance, or facilities issues that the agency is actively working with GSA and building owners to resolve.

The Senators asked SSA to respond by August 17.