Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano has offered an update on how the agency is improving its services for beneficiaries.
Why It Matters
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has undergone numerous changes since the second Trump administration began, including staffing cuts, new identity proofing requirements, instating a new overpayment recovery rate, and, the SSA says, improving wait times for beneficiaries in-person and over the phone. However, the reforms have not been without critics.
What To Know
Speaking on Fox Business, Bisignano said Social Security is moving to become a “digital first agency.”
“That will mean for everyone the ability to access their information online in the way they’re used to transacting,” he said, referring to how the SSA’s online account services were previously “down for 29 hours a week.”
According to the SSA, Americans now have 24/7 access to their personal my Social Security account: a free, secure online portal that lets users manage benefits, view earnings history, estimate retirement or disability payments, request replacement Social Security cards, set up or change direct deposit, and access official documents like benefit verification letters.
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Frank Bisignano looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks prior to signing a presidential proclamation honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act in the Oval Office…
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Frank Bisignano looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks prior to signing a presidential proclamation honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on August 14, 2025.
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“I think what we’re delivering right now is the best service that’s ever been delivered [by] the agency,” Bisignano continued. “We see it in call wait times, we see it in wait times in field offices, and we delivered the Fairness Act payment five months earlier than planned.”
The SSA has previously said it has reduced the average wait time on its 800 number to 13 minutes, a 50 percent reduction compared to last year’s annual average, and has shortened “field office wait times by 30 percent.” In June, the SSA discontinued publicly sharing its benefit processing times, the current wait time for its 800 number, and several other key performance measures. Bisignano later told lawmakers that this was to prevent potential callers from being discouraged from calling.
The Social Security Fairness Act payments—for those affected by certain provisions that limited benefits for some public workers—were completed in July. Initially, the agency had estimated much longer waits for the backdated and updated payments.
Criticisms
The handling of the SSA under the Trump administration has however attracted sharp criticism.
Staffing cuts have attracted significant attention. Earlier this year, under former Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, the agency set a target of reducing its staff count to 50,000, down from approximately 57,000 employees.
“The Social Security Administration will have fewer and less experienced staff on the front lines serving the public with significantly less support, leading to worse outcomes for people who rely on Social Security,” the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) said in June this year.
The SSA has also reneged on several policies, including reinstating a 100 percent recovery rate for benefit overpayments and barring identity checks being conducted over the phone.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has also criticized the SSA for making “misleading claims” about its customer service. While the agency has said its 800 number’s average wait time dropped to 13 minutes, an investigation by Warren’s dedicated “Social Security War Room” found that “the actual average wait time on the 800 number is 102 minutes, nearly eight times higher than SSA’s claims.”
Newsweek has contacted the SSA via email regarding these claims.
“Bisignano should stop lying and focus on fixing Social Security’s customer service failure that’s making it harder for people to get their monthly checks,” Warren said in June.