AARP is sounding the alarm on deteriorating service at the Social Security Administration and is calling on the agency to rethink the coming changes to identity verification that could lead to even more frustration for seniors.
In a letter to Leland Dudek, the SSA's acting commissioner, Nancy A. LeaMond, AARP's executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer, said that the nonprofit "continues to receive thousands of calls and messages from older Americans who are concerned about their Social Security."
LeaMond said AARP is "deeply troubled" by what it called "a startling and sudden decline in customer service," citing a skyrocketing rate of "agent busy" messages. That metric tracks the percentage of callers who got a prerecorded disconnect message. In February, the busy rate was 1.5%. In March, it shot up to 28.4%.
"I can't remember a case where we've had this many of our members calling about problems at Social Security," Bill Sweeney, AARP's senior vice president for government affairs, told BI.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, along with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ron Wyden, also sent a letter to Dudek on Monday, which BI obtained. The letter asked Dudek to address recently reported website crashes, beneficiary account errors, and service delays.
"This alarming episode raises fresh questions about operations at SSA and the effects of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)'s attacks on the agency, which you have helped facilitate," the senators wrote.
The letters come as the SSA faces staffing cuts, policy changes, and field office closures under the Trump administration. The agency announced in March that it plans to slash its 57,000-person workforce by 7,000 employees — which would place staff numbers at a historic low, despite the growing pool of Social Security beneficiaries.
The White House and DOGE also aim to close more than 25 offices across the country.
The SSA was spared from President Donald Trump's first round of federal workforce reductions this year. The president has previously said he "will not cut one penny" from the program.
Changes to Social Security's ID verification could make customer service even worse
SSA announced that it would require some beneficiaries to confirm their IDs in person if they need to update their bank information or file new claims. The new policy is expected to start in mid-April. It was originally set to begin at the end of March, but the SSA extended the deadline and introduced some tweaks.
SSA leadership said in an internal memo seen by Business Insider that offices could expect an additional 75,000 to 85,000 visitors a week in the coming months.
AARP has urged the agency to halt the changes or to extend the timeline to better communicate the new policy. Nearly 73 million Americans receive Social Security benefits.
The new requirement is part of the Trump administration's stated effort to reduce benefits fraud, though fraud is exceedingly rare, making up 0.84% of total improper payments between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, per the SSA's Office of the Inspector General. The White House told BI in a statement last week that "the previous fraud strategy has failed, and as a result, necessary changes are coming. "
The SSA did not immediately respond to Business Insider's comment request, but Sweeney said that SSA had acknowledged receipt of the letter.
"I think it's disrespectful if you've worked your whole life in this country, and you're supposed to be getting this money that you've earned — and you have to jump through all these hoops and all this red tape," Sweeney said.
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