Americans trying to get answers about their Social Security benefits may soon face longer lines at their local office — and it's raising concern in Washington.
In a letter to Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) criticized the agency's recent decision to reassign field office staff to a phone program designed to shorten hold times on the agency's national 1-800 number.
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‘Robbing Peter to Pay Paul'?
The move is part of a pilot program that adds thousands of workers to the Social Security Administration's phone system. But those workers are being pulled from field offices — locations where many Americans, especially seniors, go for in-person help with retirement, disability, and other Social Security issues.
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The senators called this approach "a terrible tradeoff," saying it could fix one customer service problem while worsening another. "In a best-case scenario, your efforts to address the 1-800 wait times — even if they are successful — will almost certainly result in a terrible tradeoff, with longer wait times for in-person services, ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,'" they wrote.
Jessica LaPointe, president of the union representing SSA field office workers, echoed that concern. She told the Washington Post that moving employees from in-person roles to phone duty will create an even larger pile up.
"It's just going to create a vicious cycle of work not getting cleared, people calling for status on work that's sitting because the claims specialists now are going to have to pick up the slack of the customer service representatives that are redeployed to the tele-service centers," she said.
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Long Waits, Staffing Cuts, and a Pilot Program
The Social Security Administration has faced ongoing criticism over its customer service delays, especially with phone wait times. A recent investigation led by Senator Warren found that callers to SSA's main number sometimes waited nearly two hours, despite official reports claiming much shorter wait times.
The agency launched the pilot program to reduce phone delays by reassigning employees — often with just a few days' notice. According to the senators' letter, these reassignments increased staffing at the 1-800 number by 25%, but left field offices short-handed. In some cases, back-office workers who normally process claims have had to step into public-facing roles.
The senators also questioned the agency's "call-sharing" policy, which automatically reroutes unanswered calls to other offices in the same state. That system can create confusion when agents receiving the call are unfamiliar with a specific case.
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A Broader Pattern?
Wyden's and Warren's letter ties the SSA's current struggles to decisions made during the Trump administration, which they say cut staffing, closed offices, and made the program harder to navigate. They accuse Bisignano of continuing those policies and failing to reverse course.
Now, they're demanding more transparency. Their letter includes detailed questions about how the phone pilot program was planned, its impact on both phone and in-person wait times, and whether more staffing cuts are expected in the future.
What It Means for You
If you rely on Social Security benefits and prefer to visit an office in person, you may experience longer waits in the coming months. While efforts are being made to improve service on the phone, these senators say those improvements may come at a cost.
Wyden and Warren have requested answers from Bisignano and are urging the SSA to prioritize better staffing across the board, so beneficiaries don't have to choose between help on the phone or help in person.
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