Finding Good Work Worth Doing
Hi caseworkers,
There’s an old zen koan that I think about a lot. A student asks their teacher: what should I do before enlightenment? “Chop wood and carry water.” “And what should I do after I achieve enlightenment?” Chop wood and carry water.”
I was thinking about this in particular this week when a friend (hi Craig!) shared this Social Security strategic report from the 1980s, and it felt like every line could be pulled out and applied to Social Security today. My first instinct was toddler-tantrum levels of frustration — how have we not fixed this sh*t.
But, after a deep breath, it was oddly moving in a way that feels right for this time of the year: a reminder that this work — fixing government, caring for constituents and colleagues, doing each next right thing — is chopping wood and carrying water. There is no perfect end state of a perfect government, perfect society. But there is good work, and work worth doing.
So I hope your teams take time to recognize and celebrate your achievements this year, and I hope you all have time planned over the holidays to rest from all of this good work. As ever — if you have questions about our work or suggestions for how we can be helpful, please feel free to reply to this email, or reach out to me at anne@popvox.org.
Anne Meeker
Managing Director
POPVOX Foundation
Casework News
Congratulations to Rep. Moulton’s [D, MA] team on delivering $18.8 million in funding to Sixth District residents and resolving 1,825 individual constituent cases in 2025. (If you have a year-end report with your casework numbers, send it my way! We’ll highlight them all in January.)
Congratulations to Rep. Malliotakis’ [R, NY] team who helped a constituent secure over $575,000 in Social Security back pay after the constituent was unable to collect benefits for more than two decades due to a missing original birth certificate.
Rep. Simon [D, CA], Speaker Emerita Pelosi [D, CA], and Sens. Padilla [D, CA] and Schiff [D, CA] requested information from VA after the agency unilaterally cancelled construction of a Community Based Outpatient Clinic and columbarium at Alameda Point, California, despite over $395 million in already-approved federal funding and a decade of planning to serve 270,000 Bay Area veterans.
Nice coverage of how Rep. Webster’s [R, FL] team resolved a case where the IRS cashed a constituent’s check but later claimed non-payment.
Rep. Cole [R, OK] issued a holiday reminder to constituents about available casework services, including federal agency assistance, passport help, veterans’ affairs, Social Security, and immigration applications through his Washington and district offices.
An NPR article on redistricting featured an Indianapolis constituent whose experience illustrates why casework matters in these discussions: Rep. Carson’s [D, IN] office resolved her Social Security case in three weeks after she’d spent eight months trying alone, noting that without Congressional representation, her case would still be unresolved.
The New Statesman published an inside look at UK parliamentary staffers, highlighting casework challenges when offices receive little advance notice of major policy announcements and adjust to increased inbox volume.
A new research article examines parliamentary casework in the Scottish Parliament, highlighting the critical importance of casework staff to service delivery and proposing a model of casework as a distinct mechanism of grievance resolution separate from other forms of legal and administrative redress.
Agency News
VA
A VA OIG audit found that VA’s automated system improperly charged funding fees in some cases involving dual entitlement home loans, with an estimated 250 veterans entitled to refunds totaling approximately $1.5 million. The audit recommends VA improve its processes to identify and refund eligible veterans, particularly those who became exempt from funding fees due to retroactive disability determinations under the PACT Act.
The VA plans to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions this month, mostly unfilled jobs including doctors, nurses, and support staff.
House lawmakers expressed concern about VA’s electronic health records modernization project’s total lifecycle cost of roughly $37 billion and the agency’s readiness to simultaneously deploy the new Oracle Health system at four Michigan medical facilities in April 2026. The modernization program was also found by the Washington Post to cause medication errors, disappearing patient records, and system crashes.
Immigration
USCIS updated its policy to clarify that the agency will not collect biometrics from detained immigrants who have pending USCIS benefit applications unless they are also in removal proceedings before an immigration judge, while continuing to deny applications for “abandonment” when detained applicants cannot attend required biometrics appointments. Critics are framing this update as a quiet policy change intended to create a bureaucratic catch-22 that effectively mandates denial of legal residency or asylum applications.
USCIS announced the establishment of a new Vetting Center in Atlanta to centralize enhanced screening of immigration applications, utilizing AI and classified intelligence resources to review both pending and already-approved applications.
USCIS implemented a new photo policy requiring applicants to submit photos taken within three years of filing, with stricter technical specifications and verification requirements.
DHS announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia, with the designation ending 120 days after publication in the Federal Register. Current TPS holders from Ethiopia will need to depart the United States or obtain another immigration status before their protection expires.
DHS terminated family reunification parole programs for Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras, with parole ending Jan. 14, 2026, for those already in the US unless they have a pending green card application filed by Dec. 15, 2025. Pending applications will not be adjudicated, employment authorization will be revoked, and individuals without another lawful status must depart the US.
House Homeland Security Committee Republicans are seeking information from Apple and Google about mobile applications that enable users to report or track the presence of ICE officers, raising concerns about how these apps may interfere with ICE operations or endanger officer safety.
IRS
President Trump signed into law a bill requiring the IRS to simplify and clarify its adjustment notices sent to taxpayers, making them easier to understand and reducing confusion about why the IRS changed a return or what action taxpayers need to take.
The IRS released guidance on implementing “Trump accounts,” new individual retirement accounts for children under 18 created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, covering eligibility, contribution limits, investment restrictions, and reporting requirements.
FEMA
FEMA faced significant operational challenges in 2025, including leadership turnover, frozen disaster relief grants, workforce reductions, and strained relationships with state and local partners during a year of major natural disasters. The agency’s struggles have complicated disaster response efforts and raised concerns about its capacity to handle future emergencies.
DHS Secretary Noem is reportedly at odds with a Trump-appointed panel over the future structure of FEMA, with tensions emerging over proposals to dramatically restructure. A major meeting to discuss the overhaul recommendations was suddenly cancelled, with no clear timeline for when discussions about the agency’s restructuring will resume.
Health Care
The New York Times reports a surge in Medicare-related scam calls targeting seniors, with fraudsters posing as Medicare representatives to steal personal information. As a reminder, we have a Casework Basics manual on consumer protections that includes guidance on handling constituent reports of fraud and scams.
ACA marketplace enrollees are facing significantly higher deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for 2026, with average Bronze plan deductibles reaching $7,500 and out-of-pocket maximums hitting $10,600, compounding affordability concerns as enhanced subsidies expire.
HHS released its AI Strategy outlining how the department plans to use AI to improve healthcare delivery, benefits administration, and constituent services across HHS agencies including CMS, ACF, and IHS.
USPS
More than 70 municipalities across 22 states are lobbying Congress to override USPS decisions and grant them their own ZIP codes, citing issues with emergency response, taxation, economic data collection, and community identity. Two House bills passed in July to address these requests, but they remain stalled in the Senate Homeland Security Committee, with USPS warning that implementation could cost at least $800 million upfront.
A Brookings Institution analysis warns that USPS network changes and service slowdowns are threatening prescription drug access for vulnerable populations who rely on mail-order medications, particularly Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, veterans, and rural residents.
USDA
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced plans to block SNAP administrative funds to states that refuse to share detailed enrollee data with the federal government. 22 states and DC are suing USDA over the data request, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in October preventing USDA from demanding the data or cutting funds.
USDA received overwhelmingly negative feedback on its proposed reorganization plan, with concerns raised by federal employees, lawmakers, and local governments about potential impacts on rural services, food safety inspections, and agricultural support programs.
Federal Employees
Retiring federal employees are facing significant delays in retirement processing, with some waiting months without income or health insurance coverage due to OPM backlogs. The delays are particularly affecting employees who retired during or after recent workforce reductions.
The Office of Government Ethics issued guidance reminding federal employees of ethics rules around holiday celebrations, including that gifts to supervisors must be $10 or less, contributions to office parties must be voluntary and not solicited by supervisors, and employees should consult ethics officials before accepting invitations to holiday parties hosted by contractors or regulated entities.
For your back pocket in future shutdowns: the Security Clearance Insecurity podcast released an episode on how government shutdowns can jeopardize security clearances through financial strain, with tips on how to document shutdown-related financial issues, communicate with creditors, and protect clearances during funding lapses.
Education
The Trump administration and seven states reached a settlement that could end the Biden-era SAVE student loan repayment plan. Affected borrowers will need to transition to other income-driven repayment plans or standard repayment.
The Department of Education is bringing back more than 200 Office for Civil Rights employees from paid administrative leave starting Dec. 15 to address a growing backlog of civil rights complaints from students and families.
Shutdown Impacts
CBO warns agencies won’t return to pre-shutdown operations until 2026 due to invoice backlogs for contracts.
IRS employees warn that millions in contractor spending may be wasted as incomplete projects miss deadlines post-shutdown.
DHS announced $10,000 bonuses for TSA officers with “exemplary service” during the shutdown, though specific eligibility criteria remain unclear. The FAA also announced $10,000 bonuses, specifying eligibility was dependent on perfect attendance during the shutdown.
The shutdown deal rescinds approximately 4,200 RIF notices and resumes severance payments frozen during the shutdown.
SSA abandoned a regulatory overhaul that included updating occupational data from 1991 used in disability determinations — leaving no timeline for modernization despite spending hundreds of millions over a decade on the bipartisan priority.
Miscellaneous
CFPB will furlough most staff December 31 and transfer litigation to DOJ after the Trump administration stopped Federal Reserve funding, despite a court injunction prohibiting mass layoffs. Reminder, as former CFPB CTO Erie Meyer flagged in our webinar on consumer protection casework, most complaints are still handled through an automated system, so constituents can still submit complaints for the time being.
OPM’s retirement backlog hit 34,587 claims in October (highest since COVID) after receiving an additional 20,344 deferred resignation claims. Average retirement processing time now stands at 79 days.
Electricity shutoffs are surging nationwide as power costs have risen 11% on average since January 2025, with disconnections increasingly affecting middle class households unable to pay utility bills.
DOT withdrew a Biden-era proposal requiring airlines to compensate passengers $200-$775 for 3+ hour carrier-caused delays.
OpenAI announced it will provide US service members within 12 months of separation or retirement with one free year of ChatGPT Plus.
Apple’s Digital ID lets users create IDs from US passports for TSA checkpoints at 250+ airports — check state availability here.
Dave Guarino demonstrated how ChatGPT’s Agent Mode can guide users through Medicaid renewals, an early example of how AI tools could be adapted for public benefits navigation.
The nonpartisan Federation of American Scientists released a blueprint for IRS modernization, including year-round filing, pre-populated returns, and expanded customer service support.
OPM reassured federal managers they face “extremely limited” personal liability for performance actions like poor ratings or firings — agencies, not supervisors, are held responsible for challenges — part of broader efforts to encourage more aggressive performance management.
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