Social Security has stopped publicly reporting its processing times for benefits, the 1-800 number’s current call wait time and numerous other performance metrics, which customers and advocates have used to track the agency’s struggling customer service programs.
The agency removed a menu of live phone and claims data from its website earlier this month, according to Internet Archive records. It put up a new page this week that offers a far more limited view of the agency’s customer service performance.
The website also now urges customers to use an online portal for services rather than calling the main phone line or visiting a field office — two options that many disabled and elderly people with limited mobility or computer skills rely on for help. The agency had previously considered cutting phone services and then scrapped those plans amid an uproar.
The changes are the latest sign of the agency’s struggle with website crashes, overloaded servers and long lines at field offices after cost-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service targeted the agency’s customer service system.
The decision to remove public-facing data drew sharp criticism from advocates who said that it will make it more difficult to assess how the agency is performing for its 74 million beneficiaries.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, who served as Social Security commissioner under President Joe Biden, said that public disclosure of data provided staff with an incentive for higher performance and held the agency accountable.
“It’s a shame that now they are trashing the trust that the public should have in numbers that are timely and accurate and real,” O’Malley said.
In response to questions about why the data was removed, a Social Security spokesperson who declined to be named said that as Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano “continues to evaluate the agency, we are updating our performance metrics to better reflect the real experiences of the people we serve and highlight the fastest ways our customers can get service. The agency will determine if additional information will be provided at a later date.”