Overview
- A Washington Post investigation cites up to 6 million pending cases in processing centers and 12 million transactions in field offices, with delays affecting millions of beneficiaries.
- The Social Security Administration disputes that portrayal as misleading, citing an OIG review and claiming it reduced processing‑center backlogs by about 1 million and cut pending disability claims by a third.
- A new Strategic Organizing Center analysis reported by Newsweek finds field‑office staffing down 9 percent nationwide, with several states exceeding 20 percent declines and a median ratio near 4,000 beneficiaries per front‑line worker.
- Phone service metrics improved later in 2025, with average answer speeds in single digits for five months, yet about 25 million calls went unanswered due to disconnections, missed callbacks or cancellations, audit figures show.
- Policy changes tied to anti‑fraud efforts shifted some transactions to in‑person or online channels, creating access barriers for vulnerable recipients, including people unable to complete banking changes by phone.