Overview
- The Social Security Board of Trustees reported that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance trust funds will be exhausted by 2034 and that benefits would fall to roughly 83% of scheduled levels without legislative action.
- Commissioner Frank Bisignano told lawmakers that SSA cut its average 800-number speed of answer to under five minutes in May, now answers about 90% of calls, and has served roughly 56% more customers this fiscal year.
- The agency’s Office of the Inspector General audited SSA’s 800-number data and found the reported metrics to be accurate even as investigators and some lawmakers disputed how callback waits are counted.
- Advocates and Democrats pointed to personnel changes as a risk to service: outside data show SSA lost more than 8,000 employees from January 2025 through April 2026 and about 2,500 field staff were reassigned to handle phone lines, raising concerns about training and field-office capacity.
- Bisignano said he is improving operations so Congress has clear choices to address the funding shortfall, and lawmakers will now weigh benefit or revenue changes that could affect about 71 million current Social Security beneficiaries.