DOGE website says Franklin’s Social Security office to close
The Department of Government Efficiency was established by executive order on Jan. 20, 2025.
Whitehouse.gov photo
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been eager to propose federal budget cuts that purport to save taxpayers money, but as the proposed cuts trickle down to the neighborhood level — like closing the U.S. Social Security Administration office in Franklin — residents are just as eager to show their disapproval.
“It would be so detrimental to everyone who lives here and is on Social Security or who needs to go in there to sign up or has a question on Social Security,” said Cathy Howman, a Macon County resident who currently receives Social Security retirement benefits. “I mean, where would they go?”
The DOGE website features a “wall of receipts” listing contract terminations, grant terminations and lease terminations totaling more than 9.5 million square feet across 748 facilities nationally. The lease terminations would supposedly save $660 million in total over the life of the leases.
In North Carolina, 20 such leases are listed, from the mountains to the coast.
Other agencies with North Carolina offices on the list include two Natural Resources Conservation Service offices, two IRS offices, two Farm Service Agency offices — including one in Hendersonville — two Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offices, an EPA office, an Employment Standards Administration office, an FDA office, a U.S. Geological Survey office and a U.S. Small Business Administration office.
Besides Franklin, additional Social Security Administration offices in Elizabeth City, Greenville and Roanoke Rapids are also listed as subject to lease termination.
Related Items
Rocky Allen showcase in Macon
Shine the light on backdoor dealings
Congress needs to do its job
GOP does not own the Bible
Social Security offices provide a range of services related to benefits, records and Medicare.
At the offices, people can apply for various benefits, including retirement, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicare. Those who are denied benefits can also file appeals.
For those already receiving benefits, they can update direct deposit information, request a benefit verification letter or report changes in income, marital status or other factors affecting benefits.
Offices also handle Social Security card services, such as applying for a new card, replacing a lost or stolen one, updating surnames after marriage or divorce or correcting errors.
For Medicare-related services, people can apply for coverage, replace a lost Medicare card or update their information.
While many of these tasks can be completed by phone or online at ssa.gov, internet service isn’t universally available or affordable in rural Southern Appalachia, so visiting an office in person may the most convenient option, although it’s strictly necessary in certain cases.
For example, some disability claims require in-person interviews, and people applying for a Social Security card for the first time must show up in person.
“A lot of elderly people are better in person than on the phone or, God forbid, on a website trying to figure it out, and I am just afraid that's the first step to Musk doing away with Social Security for all of us,” said Howman, who added that she’d visited the office maybe two years ago to correct a paperwork error and was largely satisfied with her visit.
Of the 37 pre-DOGE Social Security offices in North Carolina, Franklin’s serves North Carolina’s westernmost residents and is the only one west of Asheville’s office, 68 miles from Franklin. Another office in Toccoa, Georgia, more than 50 miles distant, may also be an option for residents of the far west.
Bob Scott, a veteran, former law enforcement officer, former journalist, former Franklin mayor, esteemed photographer and social security recipient, lamented the lack of public or private transportation that could get someone from Macon County to Asheville and back.
“I guess if you had to be there in person, well, I don’t know,” Scott said. “I think you would be stuck. Years ago, we had Trailways bus service, but we don’t have any commercial transport services here. If you have to leave town, you’re in trouble.”
Scott is also upset about DOGE’s operations in general.
“It’s the way I feel about everything that’s coming out of Washington, D.C., right now. There is a total lack of compassion and humanity. Excuse me, but America is not Trump’s golden tower. It’s not a business,” he said. “They have completely overlooked that the government is a service.”
Betsy Baste, another Macon County resident, said her husband currently receives Social Security retirement benefits, and although she’s currently eligible, she decided a few months ago to wait to apply in order to qualify for higher payments. Her concern wasn’t as much for retirees who depend on services provided at the office but rather for those who receive benefits because of a disability and may need in-person help.
“I think about the people not who are older, but there are plenty of people who are on Social Security who are disabled or younger dependents that that need that to survive," Baste said. “I don't understand how they're going to get help that they need.”
The DOGE website says that the lease for the 8,995 square-foot office costs $276,309 each year, and that the termination of the lease will save just over $1 million.
Although the Social Security Administration’s website suggests the office is still operating under its usual 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours Monday through Friday, DOGE’s information on the Franklin office says that the listing is a “True Termination — Agency Closed Office,” which came as quite a surprise to an operator reached in the Franklin office by The Smoky Mountain News on the afternoon of March 3.
The operator appeared to be shocked by the news of the closing and said they hadn’t heard anything about the possibility. An office manager subsequently directed all comment to the Social Security Administration’s regional public affairs office in Atlanta. No one answered the phone at the public affairs office, and no one has yet responded to a voicemail or email inquiry.
Public records show the parcel upon which the Franklin Social Security Office is located is owned by the Urban Investment Research Corporation, which leases it to the U.S. General Services Administration. A spokesperson reached today at UIRC’s office outside of Chicago said that company policy was not to comment on aspects of its business.
Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) hasn't assured constituents that their concerns about cuts to Social Security and Medicaid are unfounded, including in 2022, when an advocacy group asked for just such a pledge. Edwards did not respond to an interview request regarding the Franklin Social Security office from The Smoky Mountain News earlier today.
