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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Social Security watchdog opens investigation into telephone wait times
and customer service
By Tami Luhby, CNN
Updated:
8:00 AM EDT, Fri September 5, 2025
Source: CNN
The Social Security Administration’s acting inspector general has
opened a review of the agency’s call center wait times and its
ability to deliver services to Americans.
The was requested by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts,
who has repeatedly voiced concerns about the agency’s performance
after a . Warren told reporters in July that she discussed the need for
an audit with Commissioner Frank Bisignano when the two met.
“SSA OIG expectation is we will be able to obtain the necessary
information in an expedited manner to address the issues you raised in
your letter and complete this audit before the end of the calendar
year,” Michelle Anderson, the acting inspector general, wrote in a to
Warren on Wednesday. Anderson noted she spoke with Bisignano about the
issues that Warren raised.
Bisignano, who took charge of the agency in May, has promised to ,
particularly on its national 800 number. The agency has been in turmoil
following the departure of more than 5,500 staffers and DOGE’s plans
to boost anti-fraud measures, which sparked among many of the
program’s roughly 74 million beneficiaries and their advocates.
People and flocked to field offices, fearing their monthly payments
could be cut off. Several of the DOGE efforts were later amid the
blowback.
The commissioner has touted several improvements in customer service,
including reducing the time it takes for agents to answer the national
800 number, shortening the wait times in field offices and reducing the
initial disability claims backlog. He shifted 1,000 customer service
representatives from field offices to the national 800 number in July,
beefing up its staffing by 25%.
But Warren has questioned whether the agency is providing the public
with accurate information, noting that Social Security has taken down
from its website dozens of performance indicators that it had
previously posted. They include the number of pending retirement
benefits claims, the current share of retirement and disability
benefits appointments held within 28 days and live wait and callback
times on the national 800 number, among other statistics.
The senator released a Friday, shared first with CNN, detailing the
data and consumer information that were removed after Bisignano took
office.
“These metrics’ removal deprives policymakers and the public of key
information needed to understand and assess the agency’s performance
— and may even impede Americans’ ability to make informed decisions
about their own benefits,” the report said.
Warren and the agency also engaged in a recent debate on X, with the
senator on Wednesday that “the Trump administration is LYING about
how long people are stuck waiting for help with their Social Security
benefits,” and posting a delving into call center wait times.
Social Security responded on Thursday that Bisignano “welcomed an
independent review of the data. The reality is that SSA employees are
serving more Americans at quicker speeds.” The agency linked to its ,
which was updated with more metrics in mid-August but is still not as
comprehensive as earlier versions. It also posted a the commissioner
sent to Warren in late July, noting that he contacted the inspector
general’s office after the two met and offered his support.
“After so many years of challenges, your skepticism of the rapid pace
at which we have improved customer service is understandable,”
Bisignano wrote to Warren. “This is why I also agreed to have the SSA
Inspector General review our long-standing performance data on the
phones.”
Warren asked the inspector general to look into whether wait times have
worsened under the Trump administration; how caller wait time data is
collected; whether the agency is providing the public with accurate
information about wait times; and how staffing decisions have affected
its ability to deliver services, among other queries.
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