Trump’s Social Security Administration: “We do not need space in White Plains”
WHITE PLAINS, NY – Today U.S. Representative George Latimer (NY-16) released the below statement after receiving an unsatisfactory response from the Social Security Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek to a letter Rep. Latimer and Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins sent last month. The letter Rep. Latimer and County Executive Jenkins sent was a second offer of county space for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to use for the White Plains Hearing Office when the lease for its current location ends later this month.
Rep. Latimer said, “I am deeply disappointed by the response I received from Acting Commissioner Dudek. I am frustrated on behalf of my elderly and disabled constituents. It is clear that this administration has no intention of helping Americans receive benefits they have earned. When the Hearing Office closes on May 31st, Westchester residents will have to travel to New Haven, CT or downtown Manhattan to fight for their rights. Using county space would have saved the federal government money and maintained services here in White Plains. This really is unconscionable and shows how little regard President Trump and his administration have for everyday Americans; we deserve better.”
County Executive Jenkins said: “It’s clear that no matter how reasonable the offer, the Social Security Administration simply doesn’t want a hearing office here in Westchester County. This isn’t about politics or party lines — this is about our parents, grandparents, and most vulnerable friends and neighbors being left with no access to Social Security services when there is a problem. The reality is that traveling to another hearing office an hour or more away, to another county or even another state is a privilege. For those who find travel difficult or impossible, they are being completely shut out by the Social Security Administration. Westchester is the largest County in the Hudson Valley and should have a hearing office.”
In March, Rep. Latimer and County Executive Jenkins held a press conference officially offering up county space to the federal government to keep the White Plains Hearing Office in White Plains. They sent a letter to Acting Commissioner Dudek following the press conference. They sent a second letter at the beginning of April re-stating the goal of keeping a Hearing Office in the Westchester area. Without further action, the current hearing office will be closed on May 31st and residents will have to travel much farther for their Social Security hearings.
Commissioner Dudek’s letter can be found HERE.