Iowa Independent: “Hinson Celebrates Reopening of Social Security Office Closed by DOGE Cuts She Supported”
Iowa Independent: “Hinson Was a Vocal Supporter of President Donald Trump’s [DOGE] Cuts to Federal Government Staffing, Including at the Social Security Administration. Hinson is Claiming Credit for the Reopening of a Social Security Field Office in Decorah”
KCRG: “The Impact in Decorah Meant Seniors Needing In-Person Support Had to Drive at Least 90 Minutes Each Way to Visit Offices in Waterloo, Madison, WI or Rochester, MN.”
DES MOINES – In a June 10th press release, Ashley Hinson took credit for the reopening of a Social Security office in Decorah that had been closed because of DOGE cuts she supported, according to a new report from the Iowa Independent.
Massive DOGE cuts at the Social Security Administration last year led to the layoffs of thousands of staff members, leaving local field offices that help millions of seniors access the retirement benefits they’ve earned without any staff. After its sole remaining staff member retired in late 2025, the Decorah Social Security office became a “ghost office” that was unable to function because of these DOGE staff cuts. Hinson “was a staunch supporter of President Trump’s DOGE cuts, telling the Des Moines Register in February 2025 it is ‘exactly what the federal government needs.’”
Following the Hinson-supported DOGE cuts, “the impact in Decorah meant seniors needing in-person support had to drive at least 90 minutes each way to visit offices in Waterloo, Madison, WI or Rochester, MN.”
“Iowans remember that Ashley Hinson supported the massive, indiscriminate cuts that left Iowa seniors without access to help receiving Social Security benefits they earned,” said Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Drew Myers. “Iowa seniors remember that Hinson let them down when they needed her the most. Her attempt to rewrite history will fail, and Iowans will hold her accountable in November.”
Iowa Independent: Hinson celebrates reopening of Social Security office closed by DOGE cuts she supported
- Iowa Republican Rep. Ashey Hinson was a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency cuts to federal government staffing, including at the Social Security Administration. Now Hinson is claiming credit for the reopening of a Social Security field office in Decorah.
- The office had been closed since the end of 2025 due to a lack of staffing. DOGE’s cuts to the federal workforce were behind the layoffs of more than 8,000 Social Security Administration employees between January 2025 and April 2026, including 32 in Iowa, according to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
- Hinson’s June 10 press release announcing the reopening cited her “relentless advocacy” of reopening the office. “The fact that this office was closed for six months was unacceptable,” Hinson said. “I wasn’t going to take no for an answer on this. Service is now resumed, and I will keep fighting to protect Social Security for all of our Iowa seniors.”
- According to a report by KCRG-TV9 in Cedar Rapids, the Decorah office had been closed due to the retirement of its sole remaining staff member in late 2025. The closure, the outlet reported, was part of a national trend of “ghost offices,” Social Security field offices left unable to function for months at a time by staffing shortages.
- According to the American Federation of Government Employees Council 220, which represents Social Security Administration field employees, the staff reductions created ghost offices in Decorah and eight other locations.
- KCRG noted in its report that some Decorah residents had driven 90 miles in each direction to get Social Security assistance at other offices during the closure.
- [Hinson] advocated for replicating DOGE at the local level during an April 2025 telephone town hall.
- “It is important that we are doing DOGE at every level,” she said in response to a question from a constituent about whether she’s doing anything to address rising property taxes, which fund local school districts in Iowa. “I think it is really, really important — when we think about DOGE happening, it needs to happen at the school-district level, it needs to happen at the county level, and it needs to happen — obviously, it is happening at the federal level.”
- Hinson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
KCRG: Social Security “Ghost Office” reopens in Iowa
- A Social Security Field Office in Decorah has reopened after being closed for months due to a lack of staffing.
- The office’s prolonged closure is part of a trend nationally of so-called “ghost offices.” That happens when a Social Security field office is closed for months at a time due to low staffing fueled by federal cuts.
- Rep. Hinson was a staunch supporter of President Trump’s DOGE cuts, telling the Des Moines Register in February 2025 it is “exactly what the federal government needs.”
- The impact in Decorah meant seniors needing in-person support had to drive at least 90 minutes each way to visit offices in Waterloo, Madison, WI or Rochester, MN.
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