Frank Bisignano is set to go before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday and defend the Social Security Administration’s customer service performance at a time when lawmakers are still hearing complaints about long waits, staffing cuts and basic access to help. The hearing will put the agency’s phone service, field offices, benefit payments, privacy protections and other operations under a public microscope.
For beneficiaries, the timing matters because the person running the agency is expected to explain whether the improvements he has promised are real and whether they can last. Bisignano has said in a letter to lawmakers that the SSA cut phone wait times by 75% under his leadership, fixed website problems and served 50% more people. He has also said Americans should be able to reach the agency the way they prefer, whether by phone or in person at a field office.
Bisignano told The that he wants the agency to meet people where they are. If they want to call, he said, they should be able to reach someone by phone. If they want to come in, he said, they should be able to visit a field office with an appointment or without one. That message is likely to be central as he faces questions about whether the Social Security Administration can deliver faster service without leaving vulnerable offices short of staff.
The numbers behind the hearing tell part of the story. The SSA cut 7,000 workers at the start of the Trump administration, then reassigned roughly 2,000 employees last year into direct-service roles. The agency’s latest semiannual report to Congress says it has made measurable progress on telephone service and on technology meant to speed disability claims processing. Bisignano also said no field offices have been closed, a point that will matter to lawmakers from communities where the local office is often the only practical way to get help.
But the gains do not settle the debate. The SSA’s inspector general has identified ongoing errors in benefit administration and claims processing, and the union representing agency employees says some offices remain severely understaffed. The American Federation of Government Employees Council 220 has said that includes offices in Ironwood, Michigan; Decorah, Iowa; Havre, Montana; Big Spring, Texas; Sheridan and Glasgow, Montana; Pierre, South Dakota; Cedar City, Utah; and Cody, Wyoming. That leaves a gap between the agency’s improvement story and the day-to-day strain described by the workers who answer the phones and see the public face to face.
Bisignano’s defense will likely hold only until lawmakers decide whether those service gains reflect a durable fix or a temporary surge built on staffing shifts and heavier online use. The hearing will not answer every question about the agency’s future, but it will show whether Congress believes the SSA can keep paying benefits, protecting privacy and serving people without stretching its remaining staff to the limit.
