Gainey blasts Trump administration for targeting East Liberty Social Security office

More than two dozen people joined Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey in East Liberty on Tuesday to rally in support of the neighborhood’s Social Security office, which had been targeted for possible closure by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The office — along with the Greensburg Social Security Administration buildings and the multi-agency William S. Moorhead Federal Building in Downtown Pittsburgh — was on a list of more than 440 federal facilities that had been briefly proposed for potential sale by the General Services Administration.

“All they want to do is hurt and burn social services that help people make it through life,” Gainey said of the Trump administration as he stood outside the Social Security office on Station Street.

That’s particularly concerning for Al Hart, 75, of Stanton Heights. He’s retired and relies on Social Security, he told TribLive.

“This is a lethal attack on the working class of the United States,” he said. “I’m going to continue to fight it.”

Last month, The Associated Press reported the Trump administration trimmed the list of federal facilities that might be on the block — and then deleted it entirely.

Today the GSA has 16 locations, none in Pennsylvania, listed as “assets identified for accelerated disposition.”

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey arrives and speaks in front of the expected-to-be closed Social Security office in East Liberty @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/1g0NPLZdcs

— Shane Dunlap (@shanedunlap) April 1, 2025

When asked about the possibility of closing the office, a regional Social Security Administration spokesperson provided a statement denying plans of closures.

“Recent reports in the media that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is permanently closing local field offices are false,” the statement said, adding the administration had not permanently closed any local field offices since the start of the year.

The administration works with congressional delegations before closing offices, the statement continued.

In an online FAQ, the government explained it shortened its original list “to use a more incremental approach focusing on a shorter list of assets that have already been evaluated, based on several criteria such as deferred maintenance and operating cost, utilization, and the general availability of replacement space in the local market.”

Any closures would not affect Social Security payments but would impact where recipients could receive services.

“SSA is committed to providing service where people need help, and our local field offices are no exception,” Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in the statement.

The Social Security Administration could cut up to half of its workforce, the AP reported, as Trump and his ally Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, look to slash the number of federal workers and buildings.

Some Pittsburghers remained rattled by the changes to government being engineered in Washington, D.C.

“I believe people have a right to Social Security,” Mel Packer, of Point Breeze, said at Tuesday’s rally. “This is not a benefit. It’s a right. It’s our money.”

Gainey urged people to come together to stand up to Trump and his allies.

“They’re taking access away from people who need it,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, meanwhile lambasted Trump in response to layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health facility in Pleasant Hills.

“The research done at NIOSH doesn’t just live in a lab — it’s what ensures that the nurse caring for patients, the steelworker on the line, or the factory worker exposed to fine particulates can breathe safely and go home to their families,” Lee said in a statement. “That is worth fighting for. That is worth funding.”

Gainey and Lee also have pushed back on any idea of closing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Pittsburgh field office or cutting Medicaid.

Gainey last week signed executive orders fighting against housing discrimination as the federal government rolled back such protections. The mayor also has vowed Pittsburgh won’t cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.