Social Security Customer Service Crisis Puts Spotlight on New Social Security Commissioner

Social Security has struggled with customer service for years. Declining funding and personnel reductions have left Iowans dealing with long wait times for appointments, getting busy signals on the phone, or sometimes simply being unable to reach anyone for their customer service needs. SSA recently scrapped a service change that would have forced many Iowans to go in-person to a Social Security office for routine services that have been handled over the phone. While we’re encouraged that SSA is listening to concerns about customer service, we’re not going to take potential improvements for granted. The incoming Social Security Commissioner needs to focus on delivering effective and efficient customer service to everyone who needs access to Social Security.

It’s a win for people across the country that SSA backtracked on their harmful proposed cuts to phone service, but this kind of disarray from the Social Security Administration has made people confused and anxious about the status of Social Security. Call volume to SSA has increased substantially at the same time that fewer people are getting resolutions to their problems.

It’s no secret the Social Security Administration has experienced a customer service crisis for years. Perhaps no organization has been more outspoken about the need to tackle it than AARP. Yet call wait times, hold times, and customer service resolutions have been inconsistent for years, according to SSA’s own data.

It doesn’t help that Congress hasn’t provided the funding necessary to ensure Social Security can deliver quality customer service. In fact, funding to improve the program has long been on the decline. SSA funding has dropped by 9% since 2018.

This year, wait times are on the rise, fewer people can reach a Social Security representative to meet their needs, and this challenge emerges just as more people – approximately 10,000 people every day – are retiring.

The Social Security Administration has been too unclear and uncommunicative with the public about its customer service issues in 2025. From backtracking on phone service changes to confusion over office closures, the lack of transparency is fueling anxiety and uncertainty. Phone calls to the agency have spiked over the last few months, and if they don’t commit to customer service improvements, it’s going to cause real hardship for many older Americans trying to get the Social Security they have earned.

The incoming Social Security Commissioner would be well served by re-committing the Social Security Administration to providing timely, efficient and effective customer service. SSA needs to be clear when communicating any possible changes, including what impacts lower staffing levels will have. Congress needs to provide oversight to ensure that customer service is prioritized at an agency that has struggled to serve Americans everywhere.

Michael Wagler is the State Director of AARP Iowa. AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age.