Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), a member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, went the U.S. Social Security Administration office in Albuquerque on Monday and reported that she “was denied access to meet with officials.”
Stansbury added: “Instead, we were given a generic phone number in another state and denied entry past the waiting room.”
In the video below, the congresswoman explained why she was there: “First and foremost, we had an appointment and we notified them in advance that we were planning to come down here. But when we got here not only had they not notified us that they were cancelling the appointment, when we tried to get on the second floor and meet with the administrative staff, we overheard on the radios that they were denying us entry and that nobody was allowed to either talk to the press or to us.
“Then they came down and handed me a little slip of paper with an anonymous phone number and email address for an office in Texas which I called and there was nobody on the other line.”
Today, I went to our Social Security Office to conduct Oversight and was denied access to meet with officials.
Instead, we were given a generic phone number in another state and denied entry past the waiting room.
Here’s what we found out
pic.twitter.com/IPXeG4JfUl
— Rep. Melanie Stansbury (@Rep_Stansbury) April 14, 2025
Stansbury said “it’s a big deal” because the building she tried to get into is a call center which once had 600 employees answering calls about Social Security benefits, and which is now down to approximately half that many employees, Stansbury claimed, because of the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s large-scale firing of federal employees. Stansbury said people calling in asking about their benefits are now experiencing four hour waits.
Stansbury also related a few anecdotal stories about the people she met waiting at the building to speak with an employee to review and resolve their claims but who left unsuccessful. At the end of the video, she warns Musk: “We are here to conduct oversight to investigate and we will hold you accountable.”
More than one commenter on X has voiced their disbelief in learning that the Congresswoman was denied access. As one replied: “How can they legally deny a US Senator entry?” Another asked: “You needed an appointment like the rest of us?” (Note: Stansbury said she had an appointment.)
MAGA supporters objected to Stansbury’s “right to access” such a government building. One replied: “What gives you the right to be in a social security building? You’re a congresswoman, That doesn’t give you the right to be in an area that holds all our personal information….We didn’t elect you to have access to all our personal information.”
[Note: Critics point out that Elon Musk and members of DOGE, who have been granted access to Social Security Administration buildings and data, were not elected.]
Another MAGA supporter compared Stansbury showing up for her appointment at the building with those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. As one wrote: “How ironic because J6 wanted to do oversight for the congressional election count and they were denied access and arrested. So I guess this means someone should arrest you for trying to access a federal building. No one is above the law.”