Overview
- New reporting describes a nationwide service breakdown at the Social Security Administration with more than 6 million pending cases and widespread customer confusion.
- The agency shed roughly 7,000 employees this year, about 12 percent of its workforce, and many remaining workers were reassigned with minimal training, including four-hour sessions for tasks that typically require months.
- Regional field offices were abruptly closed and fraud-focused procedures were introduced then reversed, driving surges in calls and repeated website crashes.
- Callback waits remain over an hour and more than a quarter of callers are not being served, according to AARP’s Jenn Jones.
- SSA says Commissioner Frank Bisignano authorized millions in overtime and reports progress, including 1 million fewer processing-center cases and a one-third drop in pending disability claims, though advocates and Democrats question the overall recovery.