The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced its progress implementing President Trump’s bold agenda to improve services to the public while safeguarding taxpayer dollars. Working with the Department of Government Efficiency, SSA has charted a new course for the agency that prioritizes enhancing customer service, reducing waste, fraud, and abuse, and optimizing its workforce towards direct public service.
“I am proud of the extraordinary work by our dedicated employees at SSA to help deliver on President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “Our employees understand the urgency of the moment and have worked hard to restore the public’s trust. While much work remains to be done, there is no question that SSA is taking the necessary steps to transform how it serves the public while protecting hardworking American taxpayers.”
Progress on the Social Security Fairness Act
SSA has made significant strides in implementing the Social Security Fairness Act, having paid over $14.8 billion in retroactive payments to more than 2.2 million individuals affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. Under President Trump’s leadership, the agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more to issue payments now will apply to only complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The agency continues to communicate updates and provide resources to the public regarding this important legislation at ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html.
Cost Avoidance and Efficiency Initiatives
SSA has identified over $1 billion in cost avoidance or efficiencies for fiscal year 2025 through new, common-sense approaches in areas such as payroll, information technology, contracts and grants, real property, printing, travel, and purchase card policies. These efforts reflect SSA’s commitment to being a good steward of taxpayer dollars while enhancing service delivery.
Workforce Optimization
SSA has broken down work silos by combining similar functions across offices. By streamlining outdated and inefficient organizational structures at headquarters and in the regions, SSA has increased accountability enterprise-wide. SSA has also implemented President Trump’s directive that teleworking employees must return to work in-person full time. As SSA reshapes its organization to focus on direct customer service to the public, all non-essential staff received the option of deferred resignation. SSA further extended to all staff the option of voluntary early retirement, voluntary separation incentive payment, and voluntary reassignment to a frontline position. So far, SSA has processed to completion about 350 deferred resignations, over 3,000 voluntary separations, and about 2,000 employees in support positions have accepted and will be reassigned on a flow basis to the offices in most need of staffing resources. Importantly, reports that the agency is permanently closing local field offices are false. Since January 1, 2025, SSA has not permanently closed or announced the permanent closure of any local field office. From time to time, SSA must temporarily close a local field office for reasons such as weather, damage, or facilities issues, and it reopens when the issues are resolved.
Modernizing Telephone Services
SSA has begun rolling out to all of its field offices a modern, telecommunications platform that it successfully implemented on its National 800 Number. Once fully implemented, this platform will allow the agency to better manage calls to its field offices nationwide while providing more self-service options for customers, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled enhancements. To date, SSA has migrated over 350 offices in the Southeast and Northeast Regions. It expects to complete rollout to all field offices and card centers nationwide by the end of the summer 2025. Early results show improvements in office answer rates and average speed of answer. Approximately 30 percent of calls are being serviced by automation, improving efficiency.
Fraud Prevention
SSA has implemented enhanced fraud prevention tools for claims filed over the telephone, further modernizing the agency’s services and strengthening program integrity. The new technology enables SSA to identify suspicious activity in telephone claims by analyzing patterns and anomalies within a person’s account. If irregularities are detected, the individual will be asked to complete in-person identity proofing to continue processing their claim. These advancements allow SSA to maintain the security of its services while continuing to provide access for customers who may be unable to file online or visit an office in person. The agency will continue to conduct identity verification for all in-person claims. For the latest information on identity proofing, visit ssa.gov/news/identity-proofing.html.
Addressing Aged Records
SSA has made significant progress in improving the accuracy of death data, addressing a longstanding oversight concern. This initiative reinforced the agency’s established procedures to identify people who have a higher likelihood of being deceased due to their age or incomplete death reports. Updating the records of individuals who are implausibly old to be living is an important anti-fraud measure. Criminals may use those individuals’ information to commit fraud. As part of this effort, SSA has safeguards in place to ensure that it does not update records for individuals who are still alive. No instances have arisen to date where an implausibly old individual whose record SSA updated actually contacted the agency for reinstatement. SSA has a process in place to reinstate individuals in its records if the agency ever makes an error.
Stewarding Taxpayer Dollars and Ensuring Program Integrity
SSA announced it will increase the default overpayment withholding rate for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) beneficiaries from 10 percent of a person’s monthly benefit, resulting in an increase in overpayment recoveries (i.e., program savings) of about $7 billion in the next decade. SSA also announced the immediate resumption of the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) for debts accrued prior to March 2020. This decision came after a suspension of collections due to the economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 1992, SSA has referred delinquent OASDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) debts to TOP as mandated by law. Prior to the suspension in March 2020, SSA had successfully collected almost $2 billion in previously unrecoverable delinquent debt through TOP. The program is essential for maintaining the integrity of the OASDI and SSI programs.
Improving Payment Accuracy
SSA has begun a phased rollout of the Payroll Information Exchange (PIE) after years of delays. PIE allows the agency to receive automated wage information directly from payroll data providers. This data exchange improves payment accuracy, reduces improper payments, eases the reporting burden on individuals, and results in more efficient use of SSA’s limited administrative resources. It’s estimated that PIE will save $1.1 billion in OASDI benefit payments over the next 10 years, in addition to $1.8 billion in Federal SSI payment savings over the same time period.
Expanding Health Information Technology (Health IT)
SSA is renewing its focus on expanding partnerships within the Health IT program, which facilitates electronic data exchanges for faster disability determinations. This initiative not only expedites the benefits process for applicants but also saves taxpayer money by reducing the costs associated with collecting medical records, as each year SSA receives over 3 million new applications for disability benefits and spends over $500 million dollars to collect medical records for applicants.
Cost Reduction and Enhancements Plan for Social Security Number Verification
SSA has developed a comprehensive plan to improve the Electronic Consent Based Social Security Number Verification (eCBSV) service. This initiative is designed to ensure the continued viability of the eCBSV service while addressing the needs of customers, including the financial industry and various governmental bodies. Highlights of the plan include a phased approach to reducing operating costs by up to approximately 40 percent; lowering user fees by approximately 25 percent, which allows for greater accessibility while still meeting cost recovery requirements; and providing more detailed information in no-match results, which aids in decision-making.
Implementation of the Hearing Recording and Transcriptions (HeaRT) System
SSA is set to complete the nationwide rollout of the HeaRT system, which replaces outdated hardware with a software solution for recording and transcribing hearings. This AI-enabled tool is expected to save approximately $5 million annually while ensuring due process through more accurate transcripts.
Raising Awareness Against Scams
In collaboration with the SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG), SSA continues to raise public awareness about Social Security-related scams. SSA and OIG co-sponsored the sixth annual “Slam the Scam” Day on March 6, highlighting the steps the public can take to protect themselves and their loved ones from Social Security imposter scams. This is a type of scam where fraudsters pretend to be SSA employees and mislead victims into sharing personal information, or making cash, wire transfer, or gift card payments to fix alleged Social Security number problems.
Enhanced Communication and Transparency
In keeping with President Trump’s belief that good government must serve the People, SSA has regularly published updates on agency operations across all of its communications channels and will continue to do so. This includes publishing on SSA’s website key performance data previously available only to SSA employees. The agency regularly updates the data, so the public can see how the agency is doing. The public can access the webpage at ssa.gov/ssa-performance.
For more information about SSA’s communications, initiatives, and accomplishments, please visit the agency’s Communications Corner at ssa.gov/news.