‘Exactly backwards’: Trump’s order wiped this Social Security department for being ‘wasteful’— but it was working on making it easier to access services

What was the Office of Transformation?

Set up in 2023, the Office of Transformation, worked on modernizing and moving the SSA online and included a team that worked on SSA.gov, reports Nextgov/FCW. The focus was on making the agency more customer-centric and efficient by using technology.

Some of its agency-wide initiatives reportedly included removing requirements for wet signatures on SSA forms and launching digital signatures and electronic document uploads at the agency. A press release from September said there are now more than 30 forms available that can be signed electronically, which represents 90% of the most commonly used forms by Social Security customers.

In October, Marcela Escobar-Alava, the former chief information officer, and Betsy Beaumon, the former chief transformation officer, appeared on IBM’s “The Business of Government Hour” podcast to discuss the transformation efforts. One example they provided of simplifying and standardizing processes across the organization was consolidating document management systems so that customers need to provide documents only once.

"We have a vision ... it’s about putting the customer at the center of everything we do and also making sure that our employees are equipped and empowered to do their jobs,” noted Beaumon.

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How will this closure impact Social Security beneficiaries?

Kathleen Romig, director of social security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Nextgov/FCW the move seems “exactly backwards” since the goal of the office was to reduce red tape and modernize SSA’s technology and processes for the people who need Social Security.

“If there's a website problem, I don’t know who's gonna fix it,” Betsy Beaumon told Nextgov/FCW.

“This was the only team who actively determined what digital services are actually needed at the agency,” said Escobar-Alava to Nextgov/FCW.

“Only 25% of the [agency’s] services are currently available online. This team was working hand in hand with the IT team to work through the hurdles of the decades-old systems to bring additional capabilities to the forefront,” she said. “Without them … the public will be hitting major dead ends when they try doing things online or via the tele-service centers.”