Help with a Federal Agency
If you can’t get an answer from a federal agency in a timely fashion, or if you feel you have been treated unfairly, my office may be able to help resolve a problem or get you the information you need. While we cannot guarantee you a favorable outcome, we will do our best to help you receive a fair and timely response to your problem.
There are a few important things to know about the assistance my staff and I can offer.
As a federal official, I can help you if you are dealing with a federal agency. Federal agencies are part of the national (as opposed to state or local) government. Some common federal agencies include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), United States Postal Service (USPS), Immigrations and Customs Enforcment (ICE), Social Security Administration (SSA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
In order to assist you, you must already have filed an application, complaint, or petition, or otherwise corresponded with the agency in question.
I cannot help you with problems that are purely state or local in nature. For help with such problems, you might want to find your state and local government officials on my Government Resources page. Common non-federal issues include:
- Driver’s licenses
- Worker’s compensation
- Child support
- Police and criminal investigations
- State taxes
The Constitutional prinicple of separation of powers also precludes me from offering assistance on pending judicial matters, even if the case is before a federal court.
If you believe that you have a problem that I can help you solve, please call my Rhode Island Office at (401) 732-9400. Please note, calling my office is the best way to ensure a quick response. Before you call, please try to gather as much information pertaining to your case as possible, such as:
- Your Social Security number for a case involving Social Security;
- VA claim number for a case with Department of Veterans Affairs;
- Taxpayer identification number (Social Security number, if individual) for an Internal Revenue Service problem, etc.;
- Your address, home phone number and daytime phone number (if different than home) so that we can obtain any additional information from you that might be necessary; and/or
- Copies of any related documents or correspondence that you may have from the agency involved.
In addition, the Privacy Act of 1974 requires that Members of Congress or their staff have written authorization before they can obtain information about an individual’s case. For this reason, in order to investigate your problem, you will need to fill out the Privacy Release Form below. If at all possible, please mail or fax the signed form to my Rhode Island Office before calling.
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