Wisconsin has 18K federal workers. Buyouts or layoffs could affect services.

Federal data shows most federal employees in Wisconsin work for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has nearly 11,000 employees based in the state.

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Jessica LaPointe, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 220, represents nearly 27,000 field workers with the Social Security Administration nationwide. 

Based in Madison, LaPointe has spent much of the last 16 years processing claims for seniors and people living with disabilities. She said the proposed buyouts and threats of layoffs come as the agency is facing a 50-year low in staffing amid a growing number of beneficiaries.

“We’ve been in a hiring freeze for a year, so losing mass amounts of staff at the Social Security Administration would have a snowball effect as workloads mount on a stressed out workforce,” LaPointe said. “And how that translates to the public is severely long service delays.”

Most recent data shows 550 federal workers with the Social Security Administration are based in Wisconsin. LaPointe said people living with disabilities have seen wait times grow from two to eight months for approval of their benefits. At the same time, former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley told Congress in September that an estimated 30,000 people died in 2023 while waiting for such claims to be processed.

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Westby dairy farmer Darin Von Ruden, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, noted farmers often work with federal employees at the Farm Service Agency to sign up for crop insurance or access financial assistance when milk prices drop. They also take part in conservation programs that provide payments or cost-share assistance for practices that benefit water quality and control runoff. 

He said reduced staffing could hurt Wisconsin farmers. 

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In 2023, falling milk prices led to record payments under a program to help dairy farmers, including $276.8 millon to around 4,300 farms in Wisconsin.