SSA phone wait times longer than publicly reported metrics, per OIG report

Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Commissioner of Social Security Administration, testifies at his confirmation hearing on March 25, 2025. Bisignano told lawmakers over the summer that SSA changed its wait time metrics so as to not discourage people from calling the agency. Kevin Dietsch / Staff/ Getty Images

The Social Security Administration’s leadership is claiming victory after the agency’s watchdog released a new report on its phone line showing service improvements in fiscal 2025. But the report isn’t likely to quiet critics, who say the agency’s publicly listed metrics are misleading.

The Office of the Inspector General’s report comes at the request of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who zeroed in on call data after SSA changed the type of data it reports publicly over the summer, removing information like callback wait times.

At that point, SSA began to rely more heavily on ...