Senators Demand Answers On Social Security Administration Office Closures

A group of U.S. senators is demanding answers from Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano aft reports that Social Security section offices successful aggregate states temporarily stopped offering in-person service, raising caller questions astir customer work astatine an agency millions of Americans dangle on.

In a letter sent this week, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said reports that immoderate section offices were "closed to the public" because of staffing and operational issues appeared to conflict pinch Bisignano’s committedness during his confirmation process to "keep each section agency open." They asked Bisignano to explicate the reported closures and picture what the Social Security Administration is doing to guarantee beneficiaries tin proceed accessing services.

The missive is the latest motion that concerns astir customer work astatine the Social Security Administration person not gone away. Although the agency has touted improvements successful immoderate capacity measures, beneficiaries, advocates and lawmakers proceed to raise concerns astir staffing levels, delayed claims and entree to in-person assistance. Those concerns matter since not each Social Security rumor tin beryllium resolved online.

While beneficiaries tin complete galore regular transactions done a my Social Security account, much analyzable matters—including subsister benefits, immoderate disablement claims, personality verification issues and appeals—often require speaking pinch an agency worker by telephone aliases successful person. When that thief isn’t available, delays tin go much than an inconvenience.

The reported agency closures besides travel astatine a notable infinitesimal for Bisignano.

Last October, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent named the Social Security commissioner to service arsenic chief executive serviceman of the IRS, a recently created position responsible for managing the agency’s day-to-day operations while Bessent continues arsenic Acting IRS Commissioner. Treasury says that allows Bisignano to negociate IRS operations while reporting to Bessent. Democratic senators, including Wyden, Schumer, and Warren, described the position arsenic “a clone occupation that Congress has ne'er authorized” and based on that it is being utilized to debar the confirmation process.

That intends Bisignano is now responsible for helping lead 2 of the national government's largest public-facing agencies astatine the aforesaid time.

Treasury said astatine the clip that Bisignano’s acquisition starring ample organizations made him good suited to amended operations, customer work and ratio astatine the IRS. But the announcement besides prompted questions astir whether immoderate 1 executive could efficaciously oversee 2 monolithic national agencies. Now, the renewed attraction connected Social Security customer work has brought those questions backmost into the spotlight.

A Customer Service Challenge

The Social Security Administration has spent years trying to equilibrium increasing request for services pinch a shrinking workforce. Even arsenic the number of Americans receiving retirement, disability, and subsister benefits has continued to rise, the agency’s workforce has decreased.

Last year, pursuing workforce reductions crossed the national government, the agency mislaid astir 7,500 labor (in early 2025, the agency had predicted a nonaccomplishment of astir 7,000). According to the senators’ letter, different 1,500 labor were reassigned from section offices and claims processing to reply calls connected the agency's nationalist telephone line. The senators reason those decisions person strained section offices that collectively service much than 100,000 visitors each day.

The missive cites national representatives who opportunity that section offices successful Iowa, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania person been “temporarily closed for much than a year, not owed to deficiency of request but deficiency of staff.” The agency’s website confirms that offices successful Alabama, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are presently not offering in-person services.

Those staffing changes person occurred arsenic the agency has moved to trust much connected online services. That has created immoderate efficiencies—creating a my Social Security relationship makes it imaginable to switch a Social Security card, reappraisal net history, download use verification letters, and complete different regular tasks without visiting an office. But immoderate of the agency's astir important activity still depends connected people.

Earlier this year, I wrote astir my mother’s five-month effort to person subsister benefits aft my father’s death. Despite aggregate telephone calls, conflicting instructions and repeated assurances that her exertion was being processed, it yet took involution from a legislature agency earlier her benefits were yet restored. Along the way, we received contradictory notices, saw payments look and disappear, and moreover received a missive directing america to telephone a disconnected telephone number.

My mom’s acquisition is simply a bully illustration of why entree to knowledgeable agency labor remains truthful important. And it’s peculiarly a interest for beneficiaries who are facing analyzable aliases stressful life events specified arsenic the decease of a spouse aliases the onset of a disability.

For its part, the SSA has pointed to improvements successful customer work nether Bisignano’s leadership, including shorter telephone hold times. Some critics reason that immoderate of those statistic are difficult to comparison pinch anterior years because of changes successful really the metrics are calculated. Others statement that improvements successful 1 area—such arsenic answering telephone calls—can travel astatine the disbursal of different if labor are reassigned distant from claims processing aliases section section offices.

What About the IRS?


Bisignano’s answers could person implications beyond Social Security. As the IRS prepares for different filing play and continues implementing caller taxation rule changes, Bisignano remains responsible arsenic some agencies look tremendous challenges. Those see ongoing exertion modernization efforts and unit to amended customer work pinch progressively constricted resources.

Notably, caller reports show that the IRS is scrambling to prosecute thousands of caller workers aft the agency mislaid astir 30,000 workers past year. According to nationalist occupation listings, the IRS is chiefly hiring clerks, taxation examiners, accounting technicians, and interaction representatives. Jobs successful that division, Taxpayer Services, shed 9,000 labor past year, aliases 21% of its workforce.

Bisignano has many times defended the cuts. In May, he told Congress that he had “zero staffing concerns.”

But successful January of this year, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) warned that staffing shortages were superior and could effect customer work astatine the IRS. The National Taxpayer Advocate recovered that during this filing season, telephone hold times much than doubled and that taxpayers struggled to get thief pinch refunds aliases answers to their questions—particularly important arsenic taxpayers set to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which introduced caller provisions, including impermanent ones for illustration “No Tax connected Tips” that travel pinch a slew of rules and caveats.

According to Sen. Warren's office, the IRS' main quality superior serviceman warned successful February that staffing shortages were affecting the agency's expertise to process taxation returns and had created a monolithic backlog of taxation forms and payer communications. Warren's agency says the IRS later requested—and received—special authority to prosecute 8,000 labor connected an expedited basis.