In March 2025, a rumor spread that U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency was closing 47 Social Security Administration offices across the country.
The claim surfaced after Trump tasked DOGE at the beginning of his second term with shrinking the size of the federal workforce to make it more "efficient and effective."
Users spread the claim that SSA offices were closing on X, Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky, where one account shared a screenshot of the DOGE website and wrote: "DOGE is closing 47 Social Security offices throughout the country..... Who knows why DOGE is allowed to do this. On its website, DOGE lists 47 Social Security Administration field offices set for closure across the U.S." (archived, archived, archived, archived, archived)
(Blueksy user @fightingliberal.bsky.social)
Snopes readers also wrote in to ask us whether this claim was true.
In short, DOGE published a record of terminating the leases of 47 locations on its website. However, the SSA published a spreadsheet (archived) that showed it was not renewing leases on 64 locations, 17 more than the 47 listed by DOGE. The SSA also confirmed via email that
The DOGE website's "Real Estate" table, which posts purported savings made by canceling federal government leases, cites a variety of reasons for the listed 47 lease terminations. For example, some are marked as "true terminations — closed office," while others are noted as having been consolidated or moved to a different federal space.
However, the SSA specified that the majority of the closures were disused remote hearing spaces (these were spaces where beneficiaries could appeal decisions regarding their Social Security benefits).
The statement from the SSA spokesperson reads in full:
We are working with [the General Services Administration] to review our leases and ensure they are used efficiently. Most of the leases we are not renewing are for small remote hearing sites that are co-located with other Federal space. As the majority of our hearings are held virtually, we no longer need as many in-person hearings locations. In fact, in [financial year 2024], twenty percent of these offices held no in-person hearings. Other offices are non-public facing, being consolidated into nearby locations, or we had planned to close. Social Security continuously monitors and evaluates the use of our office space to maximize efficiency for the American taxpayer.
The GSA is an independent government agency that manages federal property and provides contracting options for government agencies.
The SSA's spreadsheet explained that the terminated leases applied to hearing sites that were "a room within another SSA office." The SSA directed us to contact the GSA to ask further questions about the closures.
Map of locations facing closure
The SSA spreadsheet of the 64 locations that have had their leases terminated includes mostly hearing spaces, but also a regional office, an area director office and parking. The SSA list corroborates the 47 closures noted by DOGE on its wall of receipts. However, sometimes a closed location was featured on the SSA's spreadsheet but not included in DOGE's data — and vice versa. The total number of lease terminations, factoring in both lists, is 69. It is worth noting that DOGE says the real estate in Logan, West Virginia, location is temporarily closed.
The SSA data also states that 202 people are employed across two locations, but that these face consolidation rather than closure.
Both the SSA and DOGE data sets were used to create the interactive map below, which you can use to explore the uses of the locations that have had their leases terminated and which states were affected. Hover your mouse over a state or use the search button at the top left.
The SSA said these lease terminations would save more than $4 million in rent each year.
Snopes has addressed other claims about Social Security, including that an interruption of benefits was imminent due to agency changes initiated by DOGE and a rumor that millions of people older than 100 were collecting benefit payments.