Richard Sexton, a man from Effingham who has been receiving disability benefits, said last week that his Social Security account and his retired wife’s account became inaccessible six months ago.

He was at the Social Security District Office in Champaign again trying to resolve those issues.

He said the office is always busy so he’s had to travel multiple times to Champaign.

“In six months I’ve been here 12 times,” Sexton said. “We sit and wait and go see a young lady … and she tells me she doesn’t handle the internet. And I said, okay, can I talk to somebody who does? That’s when I asked if I could talk to management.”

He said the answer is “Sit, go back, sit down, wait another hour.”

Despite his ongoing frustration, Sexton expressed sympathy for staff. 

“They have a hard job and they deal with assholes like me every day. I do have to give ’em a lot of credit for that,” he said.

Despite a record demand for services​, the Social Security Administration is experiencing significant disruptions due to policy changes and staffing reductions initiated by President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

According to the DOGE website, these measures include plans to cut approximately 7,000 jobs and close 47 agency field offices, leading to the agency’s lowest staffing levels in 50 years. 

There are more than 29,000 social security recipients in Champaign County receiving about $49 million a month, according to Social Security records. 

Local and out-of-town residents said in interviews last week that the social security website has repeatedly crashed due these operational overhauls, leaving beneficiaries unable to access their accounts or check benefit statuses.

The strain is especially visible at local offices, like the one in Champaign on South Country Fair Drive.

An employee at the office declined to comment on the status of the location and its services and referred questions to the Social Security press office. The office is not currently on the list of offices to have their leases ended.

At the Champaign office on April 2, residents expressed concern about the service quality potentially getting worse at the already-overwhelmed administration. Clients, many of them elderly or disabled, were seen sitting on the floor, leaning against walls and taking turns using the limited seating inside the office waiting area and foyer. 

Nichelle Thompson, 27, a Champaign resident on disability, said she waited for two hours as she walked out said to reporters, 

“I’m done waiting,” Thompson told CU-CitizenAccess last Wednesday. “There are people in there that’ve been in there for hours. It’s not fair.” 

Thompson said the office shouldn’t close, but expand. 

“It needs to get bigger. More people are living in Champaign now,” she said.

Inside the building, visitors described a lack of seating and long delays. 

“They just need to add a little more seating.” Thompson said. 

Randall King, 75, from Farmer City, said he traveled nearly an hour to Champaign. 

“I came all the way to this SS office because Bloomington doesn’t answer their phone,” he said.

CC Williams, 30, from Champaign, took one look at the crowd and left immediately. 

“It’s too packed,” she said.

Even first-time visitors commented on the tension. “It’s my first time here, and I hope to do things online from now on,” 67-year-old John Carner told reporters he believed the field office was a great resource. 

Adao Kisimbika, 52, a Portuguese immigrant, said he has been waiting since February for his Social Security card. 

“They said February, but it still isn’t here,” he said. “Taking too long.”

On March 27, the SSA website published a statement “Correcting the Record about Social Security Office Closings,” and said the recent media reports by AP, Newsweek, and Economic Policy Institute about closings were false. The agency said  that since Jan. 1, 2025, it has not permanently closed or made plans to close any offices. 

But in the same statement, the agency seemingly confirmed the cost savings list published by DOGE saying, “The agency provided GSA [the General Services Administration) a list of sites for termination. Most of these are small hearing rooms with no assigned employees. Since most hearings are held virtually, SSA no longer needs these underutilized rooms.”