July 28, 2025

Following Meeting With Social Security Head, Warren Presses on Key Commitments Secured to Protect Americans’ Benefits

Warren follows up on SSA commitments to undergo public data audit, not eliminate paper checks, retain workers’ civil service protections

Washington, D.C. – Following her meeting with Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Bisignano on key commitments she secured from him to protect Americans’ benefits. Senator Warren outlined a broader set of metrics for phone call time data and pushed for more information on the inaccurate mass SSA email describing President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.

“I take my responsibility to conduct oversight seriously, especially given recent reports of wide-spread customer service failures at SSA hindering Americans’ ability to obtain the benefits they have earned. I appreciated your willingness to discuss our many concerns, and your willingness to make several key commitments,” wrote Senator Warren.

In particular, Senator Warren pressed Bisignano on his promises to: fully cooperate with a public audit by the Inspector General regarding phone call wait time data reporting and publish additional wait time data; maintain paper Social Security checks for recipients that wish to receive them; and retain Social Security workers’ civil service protections and not further politicize the agency by shifting workers to a “Schedule F” status.

In securing SSA’s commitment to an independent audit of their call wait times, Senator Warren referenced a June 2025 survey by her staff finding that wait times average nearly an hour and 45 minutes, with maximum wait times exceeding three hours.

“(T)he SSA is failing to provide policymakers and the public with accurate information about the extent of the problem, using convoluted calculations to obfuscate the real data, or withholding information entirely I remain extremely concerned about these discrepancies—especially since you and your team have admitted that some data points were taken down because the figures would ‘discourage() people from calling,’” wrote Senator Warren.

Senator Warren outlined the metrics SSA should publicly display online regarding call wait times, including in-depth information on how many calls SSA’s AI 1-800 number receives, calls that were dropped, calls that were transferred to an agent, and times that callers gave up due to long waits. She asked Bisignano to commit to making this data available by August 11, 2025.

Last week, Senator Warren sent a letter to SSA’s Inspector General (IG) formally requesting the watchdog investigate wait times for Social Security services, specifically whether those wait times have worsened in the last six months, how caller wait time data is collected, and whether the Trump administration is providing the public with accurate information about those wait times.

Senator Warren also pressed on the circumstances resulting in SSA’s issuing a press release and sending out an inaccurate and overtly partisan email describing President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill to the millions of “my Social Security” users. She asked for more information, including the rationale for sending the email, the name of White House contacts Bisignano or his team spoke to about the email and the nature of those discussions, whether SSA’s OGC reviewed the email text before it was sent, an accounting for the expenditures for the email, including staff time to prepare it and server time to send it, and more.

Senate Dems’ Social Security War Room is a coordinated effort to fight back against the Trump administration’s attack on Americans’ Social Security. The War Room coordinates messaging across the Senate Democratic Caucus and external stakeholders; encourages grassroots engagement by providing opportunities for Americans to share what Social Security means to them; and educates Senate staff, the American public, and stakeholders about Republicans’ agenda and their continued cuts to Americans’ Social Security services and benefits.

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