The Social Security Administration (SSA) will be forced to scale back field visits in the first half of next year. Field offices have long been community-based branches that serve as the public face of the SSA, which provide in-person help for people applying for retirement and disability benefits, getting Social Security cards and other important services.

In an operating plan shared with media houses by the SSA, it outlines a proposed target of 50 per cent fewer field office visitors in fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal year 2025, or no more than 15 million field office visits by members of the public. Agency field offices saw more than 31.6 million field office visits from SSA recipients from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, according to the agency document.