{"id":694518,"date":"2026-06-10T00:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T00:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/694518\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T00:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T00:06:11","slug":"ssa-chief-bisignano-says-wait-times-are-getting-shorter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/694518\/","title":{"rendered":"SSA chief Bisignano says wait times are getting shorter"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 After complaints about staffing cuts and long waits<\/a> to get help at the Social Security Administration<\/a>, its commissioner says he\u2019s ready to make the case to Congress this week that things are getting a lot better at the embattled agency.<\/p>\n

Frank Bisignano is expected to face pointed questions from lawmakers at a hearing on his agency\u2019s customer service performance<\/a>, its ability to pay Americans their benefits, protect their privacy, and other questions about the inner workings of the SSA.<\/p>\n

He plans to tout shorter wait times and other customer service metrics to a House Ways and Means Committee hearing slated for Wednesday, and slam his predecessor, Martin O\u2019Malley, for requiring appointments for field office visits, in a letter to lawmakers viewed by The Associated Press. <\/p>\n

In the letter, Bisignano states that the SSA has cut phone wait times by 75% under his leadership, fixed frustrating website issues, and served 50% more people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very clear. We will meet clients where they want to be met. You want to call us on a phone, we\u2019ll have technology on the phone, or you can talk to somebody on the phone. You want to come to a field office, you can come with an appointment, or without,\u201d Bisignano told The Associated Press in an interview.<\/p>\n

Critics argue that recent gains are being achieved through temporary staffing shifts, increased reliance on online services, and workforce reductions that have created longer-term service risks, shifting bottlenecks around rather than solving staffing problems.<\/p>\n

Bisignano dismisses the criticism. \u201cPeople boo at Yankee Stadium, even when they\u2019re winning,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Bisignano in his letter also said the Biden-era Social Security Administration, run by O\u2019Malley, \u201cturned people away who travelled to field offices\u201d in a \u201cfailure to have consumer-centric service.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley told the AP that the SSA under his tenure never turned away walk-in customers. \u201cWe encouraged appointments, but we were not turning away walk-ins.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lies a lot,\u201d O\u2019Malley said about Bisignano. \u201cHe\u2019s in the habit of lying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bisignano took over the agency after a series of chaotic customer service changes, leadership exits, and false allegations made by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk \u2014 who ran the Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting program \u2014 that millions of dead people were receiving benefits.<\/a><\/p>\n

The SSA cut 7,000 workers<\/a> at the start of the Trump administration. Roughly 2,000 employees were reassigned last year into direct-service positions, including staff whose jobs don\u2019t normally involve answering calls.<\/p>\n

The SSA\u2019s Inspector General \u2014 its internal watchdog \u2014 has identified ongoing errors in benefit administration and claims processing. But its latest semiannual report to Congress<\/a> also shows the agency has made measurable progress in improving telephone service and deploying technology to speed disability claims processing.<\/p>\n

The union representing SSA employees and field office workers says some offices are severely understaffed. That includes Ironwood, Michigan; Decorah, Iowa; Havre, Montana; Big Spring, Texas; Sheridan, Wyoming; Glasgow, Montana; Pierre, South Dakota; Cedar City, Utah; and Cody, Wyoming, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Council 220.<\/p>\n

But Bisignano said no field offices have been closed and noted that the agency is committed to meeting clients where they prefer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m trying to achieve is to have a better way for the American public to interact with the Social Security Administration,\u201d Bisignano said.<\/p>\n

Bisignano also serves as chief executive of the IRS, in a role that was created by the Trump administration. Asked about a new tax audit immunity deal for Trump and his family that was part of the controversial settlement crafted to resolve Trump\u2019s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS<\/a>, Bisignano referred The Associated Press to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent\u2019s recent comments<\/a> to a congressional committee, where he refused comment on ongoing litigation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 After complaints about staffing cuts and long waits to get help at the Social Security…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,12,11,38476,793,787,13015,13014,57363,1305,1303,3326,3323,301073,111,4666,12802,102054,1307,1022,1059,795,28606,26939,3325,3324,800,3322,3314],"class_list":["post-694518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-donald-trump","tag-elon-musk","tag-frank-bisignano","tag-general-news","tag-government-programs","tag-ia-state-wire","tag-iowa","tag-martin-omalley","tag-mi-state-wire","tag-michigan","tag-montana","tag-mt-state-wire","tag-pierre","tag-politics","tag-scott-bessent","tag-sd-state-wire","tag-sheridan","tag-south-dakota","tag-texas","tag-tx-state-wire","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-social-security-administration","tag-united-states-congress","tag-ut-state-wire","tag-utah","tag-washington-news","tag-wy-state-wire","tag-wyoming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}