June 26, 2025

New War Room Investigation Reveals Trump Admin Dishonesty About Social Security Call Wait Times

A phone survey by Sen. Warren’s office finds Social Security call wait times average 102 minutes—8.5x higher than Social Security Administration’s claims; majority of calls never answered by a human

War Room publishes new data with findings, sends letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano

“Bisignano should stop lying and focus on fixing Social Security's customer service failure that’s making it harder for people to get their monthly checks.”

Text of Letter (PDF) |  Report (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) published a new Social Security War Room report revealing that Social Security Administration (SSA) officials, including Commissioner Frank Bisignano, appear to be making false claims about call wait times for the agency’s national helpline. Senator Warren sent a letter to Bisignano with her findings, pressing him on his apparent efforts to mislead the American public.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Frank Bisignano stated that he could get phone wait times to “under a minute.” The SSA has since claimed that current call wait times are as low as 12 minutes, and its online performance dashboard is reporting that the average wait time is just 19 minutes. But an investigation conducted by Senator Warren’s office revealed that wait times are in fact much longer — if calls were answered at all.

“Donald Trump and DOGE took a chainsaw to Social Security, leaving Americans waiting hours just to get help — and that’s if their call is answered at all. Instead of owning that failure, Commissioner Bisignano and his team are trying to cover it up,” said Senator Warren. “Bisignano should stop lying and focus on fixing Social Security's customer service failure that’s making it harder for people to get their monthly checks.”

Key findings from Senator Warren’s investigation include:

  • More than 50% of calls to SSA were never answered by a human. The majority of calls ended when the caller was placed on hold and then dropped by SSA, leaving the caller without assistance.
  • For calls that were answered, the average wait time was 102 minutes, 8.5x higher than the SSA’s claims of 12-minute wait times.
  • Many calls were even longer. Of calls that were answered, one in three (32%) had wait times exceeding two hours. One in ten callers are forced to wait over three hours.

The SSA’s own data contradicts its officials’ claims. The same performance dashboard that claims call waits are down to 19.2 minutes (excluding callback wait time) simultaneously shows contradictory data, including that less than 10% of calls are answered within 20 minutes, fewer than 25% of calls are answered within an hour, and fewer than half of all calls have been answered within two hours. 

“It is impossible for the average time of answer for a call to be under 20 minutes—let alone 12 minutes, as a spokesperson recently claimed—when less than 10 percent of all calls have been answered by that point,” wrote Senator Warren.

In addition to Bisignano’s false promises, the SSA has removed transparency measures in an attempt to hide true metrics from the American public. Social Security pulled down a comprehensive dashboard with live metrics and replaced it with a significantly pared-down dashboard with contradictory and inaccurate data.

“The reality is that the Trump Administration is failing at SSA. And you appear to be obfuscating these failures,” wrote Senator Warren in her letter to Bisignano. “Instead, you have replaced that information with misleading, confusing, and contradictory information on wait times.”

Senator Warren demanded answers from Bisignano on this “catastrophic customer service failure” during his tenure as commissioner and the agency’s attempt to cover up the truth about service delays and long wait times.

“These delays are unacceptable—and made even worse by your misleading claims that service has actually improved under your watch. Service disruptions and barriers make it harder for beneficiaries to receive their Social Security benefits—payments that are the primary source of income for more than half of America’s seniors,” wrote Senator Warren.

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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