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By Aliss Higham
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Customer services from the Social Security Administration (SSA) could be subject to delays in 2025 if funding is agreed on by lawmakers before the end of the year.
The government agency was forced to implement a hiring freeze in November after Congress denied additional funding for the SSA in its September continuing resolution. These continuing resolutions, designed to stop a government shutdown, keep current spending levels in place until a full-year fiscal plan can be agreed on by lawmakers.
However, in September, House Republicans blocked what is known as a budget anomaly request by the Biden administration for an increase in the SSA's current 2024 annual funding level of $14.2 billion to $15.4 billion, the government's fiscal year 2025 request. With a December 20 deadline set for another stopgap government funding bill, it remains to be seen whether the same request will be granted to fund the agency through to March 2025.
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If the request isn't granted, it could impact the SSA's ability to deliver timely customer services.
At a time when the SSA is, by its own admission, operating with record-low staffing levels and a record-high number of beneficiaries, a spokesperson for the agency told Newsweek, if it "does not receive an increased appropriation for the entire fiscal year," that "employees would likely face up to 10 furlough days, which could result in the need to close offices or reduce service levels.
"This means our field offices, card centers, and the National 800 Number would have reduced levels of service and further delay critical services that the public depends on."
Another SSA spokesperson told The Hill that, without the funding, the agency is being forced to "operate conservatively."
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"We have been forced to restrict hiring to critical targeted areas and will not be able to invest in new information technology development," Hinkle said.
"In addition, we have reduced overtime to historically low levels and essentially have no overtime to serve the customers who are waiting in our lobbies late in the day or to clear workloads that we are unable to get to during core hours of operations."
Under the leadership of former Commissioner Martin O'Malley, the SSA improved its customer service operations, with wait times on its 800 customer service number being cut from 42 minutes to 16 minutes between November 2023 and November 2024.
"We're putting into place new technology and business practices so we can shorten wait times even more and improve the customer experience," the SSA said in a November blog post. "By the end of fiscal year 2025, our goal is to answer our 800 number calls within an average of 12 minutes."
But this progress will be threatened if no funding solution is found."By the end of fiscal year FY 2024, SSA will serve roughly 74 million total beneficiaries, over 7 million more beneficiaries, with about 6,000 fewer full-time permanent staff when compared to FY 2015," the SSA said in October.
The impact will be felt by its tens of millions of beneficiaries. "The loss of over 2,000 SSA employees will make it harder for people to get help, whether they're filing a claim, fixing an issue, or just trying to speak to someone for guidance," Antwyne DeLonde, founder of VisionX Finance and former financial adviser, told Newsweek.
"Long wait times and backlogs can turn what should be a straightforward process into a stressful and frustrating ordeal, especially for those who are already stretched thin financially or emotionally."
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