DOGE recommends closure of Social Security office in Rockford, Illinois

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is recommending the closure of Rockford’s Social Security Administration (SSA) building, as part of an effort to reduce taxpayer waste.

According to the DOGE website, the SSA building, at 502 E Jefferson Street, has an annual lease cost of $36,768.

“Eliminating local access to these services will create unnecessary hardships, forcing residents to travel farther, endure longer wait times, and navigate a system that is already difficult for many to access online. In a time when two-thirds of Americans believe we should be investing more in Social Security, cutting services and closing offices is simply unacceptable,” said 13th Ward Alderman-elect Tamir Bell.

The agency expects to save more than $2.4 million a year by closing additional federal facilities in Illinois, in Chicago, Hoffman Estates, Rock Island, Champaign, Springfield, and O’Fallon.

Last week, the SSA announced it was planning for “significant workforce reductions,” reassigning employees from “non-mission critical positions to mission-critical direct service positions to align with the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of federal government.

The termination of leases for Social Security sites across the U.S. is listed on the DOGE website.

Social Security is one of the nation’s largest and most popular social programs. A January poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that two-thirds of U.S. adults think the country is spending too little on Social Security.

The program faces a looming bankruptcy date if it is not addressed by Congress. The May 2024 Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report states that Social Security’s trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. Then, Social Security would only be able to pay 83% of benefits.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NOTE: A prior version of this story incorrectly gave the wrong address.