Meryl Kornfield

Callers to Social Security wait for hours to get help. Hear their ordeals. Millions of seniors and disabled people call Social Security’s 1-800 number every month. What they experience is often maddening.

Here's what it's like to call Social Security these days: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

The mysterious rise of cancer among young adults in the Corn Belt Communities across the Corn Belt are confronting a rise in cancers among young adults — and few clear explanations.

“Cancer rates among young adults in the Corn Belt, a patchwork of golden fields and straight-line highways stretching across the heart of the Midwest, are rising more rapidly than in the country as a whole, a Washington Post data analysis reveals.” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working.

Amid this broader convo about SNAP, I'm re-upping our story about what's coming for Social Security benefits, including a rule change to rescind a Biden-era expansion of SSI eligibility for people in households receiving SNAP or other public assistance. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Photograph of ongoing demolition of the East Wing of the White House.

Monday's photo from the Washington Post

NEW: After The Washington Post reported Monday on the demolition of the "East Wing facade," a new picture obtained by Law Dork that was taken on Tuesday shows that a substantial portion of the entirety of the East Wing has been demolished.

Shutdown layoffs target services for vulnerable students, homeless, seniors The most at-risk Americans will suffer from the Trump administration’s latest layoffs, current and former federal officials warned.

Employees who help regulate hazardous waste. Inspectors who check the quality of federal housing. An office that makes sure students with disabilities get the help they need. These are the targets of the latest government layoffs: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

JUST IN: Chicago journalistsa re suing DHS and ICE over force used against reporters:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working.

The Trump administration wants to make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202... @merylkornfield.bsky.social

Trump administration moves to defund inspector general watchdog group The decision marks the latest example of the administration’s push to limit government oversight activities.

The Trump administration plans to end funding starting Wednesday for an oversight group that helps inspectors general root out waste, fraud and abuse.

Trump administration moves to defund inspector general watchdog group The decision marks the latest example of the administration’s push to limit government oversight activities.

Read @washingtonpost.com on administration plans to end funding of CIGIE.

“I think this is just another star in the constellation of dismantling the federal inspector general community.”
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

#IGs #OMB #InspectorsGeneral #Watchdogs @merylkornfield.bsky.social

As shutdown looms, federal agencies have no public plans for one How the Trump administration would handle a shutdown and who it plans to furlough remains a mystery.

"Federal agencies are just eight days away from seeing their funding lapse and having to shutter their offices, though which employees will be sent home remains unknown." www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

What happens now that the D.C. emergency order has ended? Plus: Solving the mystery of a new helicopter, and trying to get Congress to cough up more money for police.

D.C. usually gets blamed for local crime, but Congress also a role to play. Specifically, the feds are supposed to reimburse D.C. for the costs of using local police for things like big protests and motorcades. But congressional funding hasn't kept up with costs: 51st.news/trump-dc-tak...

In case you might be wondering, VA's secretary did not say anything publicly when Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade suggested that mentally ill homeless people, which includes many veterans, should be killed.

But he did criticize a reporter for seeking comment from officials.

Most Americans critical of Trump on crime, economy and other issues, poll finds The Post-Ipsos survey paints a downbeat picture of Trump’s presidency, as Americans disapprove of his performance by double-digit margins on a broad range of issues.

Most Americans are critical of Trump on crime, the economy, immigration and other issues, a new Post-Ipsos poll finds. The survey paints a downbeat picture of the first eight months of Trump’s presidency www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

The impending retirement that could rock Capitol Hill The director of the Government Accountability office will step down in a few short months, leaving a void atop the agency that has found the White House guilty of violating congressional spending law.

A new ref in the separation-of-powers battle? When the legislative branch’s chief watchdog retires soon, Trump will get to nominate his replacement www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

X post by Milo Yiannopoulos: "28 pilots have been suspended or fired so far after I made their airlines aware of gruesome remarks made about Charlie Kirk’s death. Of the big three, Delta has the biggest problem by far; United the smallest."

Hard to think of a more on-the-nose encapsulation of how far the online speech wars have swung in the year of our lord 2025 than major U.S. corporations racing to fire people whose tweets offended Milo Yiannopoulos

“Officials organized the state visit to minimize the president’s public exposure. Most of the pomp and ritual unfolded behind Windsor’s manicured hedges and its stone parapets”

The group behind Project 2025 wants a ‘Manhattan Project’ for more babies A draft position paper from the Heritage Foundation proposes massive revisions to U.S. economic policy to encourage heterosexual married couples to have more children.

The group behind Project 2025 wants a ‘Manhattan Project’ for more babies @jacobbogage.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Social Security announces a phone service fix after denying there was an issue The Social Security Administration has conceded an issue with phone service, after denying it to NPR, and has announced a fix.

The Social Security Administration has conceded an issue with phone service, after denying it to NPR, and has announced a fix.

Former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith faces investigation by Office of Special Counsel Jack Smith, who pursued two cases against Donald Trump, is being investigated for potentially violating the Hatch Act.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel says it’s investigating Jack Smith, the former Justice Department official who oversaw two federal prosecutions of Donald Trump, for potentially violating the law barring federal officials from political activity.

The change has not yet been posted on the regulation website. I'll update this thread when it is. Meanwhile, I do wonder if a revision would have happened if AARP hadn't written its letter and if reporters didn't ask questions.

Wednesday afternoon, I heard back from the agency. It would be changing its policy documentation to say it's optional. It said the PIN verification was encouraged but callers could still go through the existing authentication method and no one was required to go to field offices.

Former SSA official @kathleenromig.bsky.social also pointed out to me that an anti-fraud measure that is considered optional could be easily evaded by a fraudster simply opting out. I asked the agency about that too.

I -- and other reporters -- pointed out to the press office that the documents the agency had posted in its policymaking didn't say it was optional. And the agency itself had said more people might need to go to field offices.

I was told "on background" that reporting that more people would need to go to field offices was "factually inaccurate and entirely misleading." A SSA spokesperson (who wouldn't share their name) said the anti-fraud measure was optional. But that's not what the policy said.

AARP published a letter to SSA this week requesting the agency reconsider its plans and warning that it could lead to seniors facing more issues getting help for simple transactions. That letter got media attention. I and other reporters reached out to SSA to find out more.

SSA has said in policy planning documents that it expects half of callers who encounter the new anti-fraud check will complete it, but others would likely go to field offices instead. Some seniors and people with disabilities might have issues going through the online portal.

Starting in mid-August, instead of answering personal questions by phone, seniors and people with disabilities would need to go to the SSA website and complete an online check to get a PIN to give to phone agents, according to the new policy.

🧵A thread on covering Social Security this week... Earlier this month, the agency had quietly announced that it would now require people calling the main 1-800 number for some routine tasks to go through a multi-pronged authentication to prove they aren't fraudsters.

We sought this number for months, and we finally got it this week when @merylkornfield.bsky.social and @hannahnatanson.bsky.social presented their own tally — compiled through reporting from sources and constant calls to more than a dozen agencies. No one else has been able to report it until now.

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work Early resignation offers and other programs have reduced the workforce, but critics say the moves are also wasting money.

ANOTHER EXCLUSIVE from the
@washingtonpost.com : The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work. Great reporting from
@merylkornfield.bsky.social @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @laurameckler.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...