Provide Your Own Comment

      A press release from Social Security:

Baltimore, MD—The Social Security Administration (SSA) today announced the best overall performance in the agency’s history. In fiscal year (FY) 2026, SSA expanded its use of technology and process management to better meet customers where they are—online, by phone, or in field offices—resulting in double-digit improvements in every service metric.

“Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, we are protecting and strengthening Social Security for generations to come,” said Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano. “SSA’s digital-first strategy is driving transformational improvements and historic results across the agency as we execute on our mission to be a premier service organization. We are delivering better, faster, higher-quality service across all channels while safeguarding the long-term stability of our programs.”

At President Trump’s direction, and under Commissioner Bisignano’s leadership, SSA is transforming into a model of excellence—an organization that operates at peak efficiency, provides world-class service to every American, and protects and strengthens Social Security for future generations. Productivity at the agency improved at historic levels over the last two years—a 10 percent productivity increase year-over-year in FY 2025 followed by an eight percent year-over-year increase in FY 2026. SSA delivered measurable improvements across core service areas in FY 2026:

• Reduced National 800 Number wait times: Achieved an average speed of answer of 5.6 minutes in fiscal year (FY) 2026, an almost 80 percent improvement from 28 minutes in FY 2024; maintained a zero percent busy rate over the last six months; and had the highest answer rate in more than a decade. Intelligent call routing and expanded interactive voice recognition (IVR) technology handled 40 percent of calls.
• Shortened wait times in field offices: Reduced average wait times by over 30 percent compared to FY 2024, while serving nearly 30 million visitors nationwide—and, for the first time, every field office caller now has access to an automated self service option, replacing the absence of IVR in FY 2024.
• Ensured 24/7 website availability: Eliminated 29 hours of weekly website downtime, enabling Americans uninterrupted access to their personal my Social Security accounts, resulting in over ten million additional logins over the past year.
• Expanded online services: Completed over 571 million online transactions in FY 2026—a 30 percent increase from FY 2024.
• Grew online adoption: Surpassed 105 million registered my Social Security account holders, a 20 percent increase from FY 2024, making SSA the nation’s largest digital financial services provider.
• Improved disability claim processing: Shortened the overall average processing time for initial disability claims by 40 days or 17 percent compared to FY 2024. SSA reduced the initial disability claims backlog by 23 percent from nearly 1.2 million at the end of FY 2024 to 911,000 at the end of FY 2026. Similarly, the annual average wait time for a hearing decreased by 72 days since FY 2024.
• Resumed the Treasury Offset Program: Returned $645 million in delinquent programmatic debt to the Trust Funds since we resumed this use of collection authority in March 2025.
• Improved the integrity of vital records: Completed the most comprehensive Social Security number (SSN) database clean-up in agency history, correcting nearly 15 percent of all active SSNs, adding 17 million previously missing dates of death, and updating approximately 25 million records that lacked citizenship information, while implementing stronger internal controls to prevent future data-entry inaccuracies.

The improvements at SSA saved the public 200 million hours, equivalent to 100,000 work years, that would otherwise have been spent waiting for service in FY 2025. SSA also implemented a better control environment, reducing open audit recommendations to a 40-year low, generating $16 billion in savings since FY 2024, and reinforcing the agency’s commitment to stewardship and program integrity.

Looking ahead, Commissioner Bisignano will continue building on these historic achievements: expanding digital access, further improving service, and fulfilling President Trump's mandate to protect and strengthen Social Security.

More Politicization Of Social Security

     From MSNOW:

 In July several Democratic senators wrote to Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano with a specific concern. The agency he leads, they wrote, has sent “unsolicited” messages to Social Security recipients, pushing misleading statements about Donald Trump. 

“You are misusing official resources to heap praise on him,” the letter said, adding that the Social Security Administration appeared to be “bombarding Americans with blatantly partisan emails” touting the president. 

If Bisignano saw the letter, he apparently didn’t care. 

On Thursday morning, with less than two weeks remaining in the election cycle and with early voting underway across much of the country, the Social Security Administration sent out yet another political message, which began: 

Last year, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Working Families Tax Cuts, which included a historic tax cut for America’s seniors. That law also created Trump Accounts, individual investment accounts for America’s children designed to grow with the U.S. economy and build long-term savings. 

Today, nearly 70 million Trump Accounts are open for all American children. … Trump Accounts are one of the most significant investments in the next generation of Americans in our nation’s history, by giving every American child a stake in our country’s success and a strong financial foundation for the future.

The relatively brief email referenced the president’s surname 10 times. …

SSA To Promote Trump Accounts

      From Fox Business:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has begun including instructions for claiming a $1,000 government investment contribution with Social Security cards issued to newborns, expanding a nationwide effort to inform American families about President Donald Trump's children's investment accounts, Fox News Digital has learned.

The new inserts, distributed through the agency's Enumeration at Birth program, explain how parents can sign up for Trump Accounts and claim a one-time $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Treasury Department for eligible children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. …

This Is Completely Misleading

      A Social Security press release:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) today announced substantial progress in its ongoing effort to strengthen the accuracy and integrity of the Social Security Number (SSN) database. This work represents the most comprehensive SSN record clean‑up in the agency’s 91-year history.

“The Social Security Number database is our country’s books and records. The database’s accuracy is essential to maintaining integrity of government services for citizens. Accurate SSN records prevent fraud across federal programs and support the proper administration of benefits,” said Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano. “This is the first time SSA has undertaken an effort of this scale, and I am proud of the work we have done to strengthen the foundation of identity data relied upon throughout government and the economy.”

Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, SSA has corrected nearly 15 percent of all active SSNs across approximately 330 million U.S. citizens and nearly 390 million total records. SSA records are referenced by agencies across the federal government and in states to validate identities and prevent improper payments of taxpayer dollars. These improvements demonstrate a government‑wide commitment to safeguarding identity data, preventing fraud, and preserving proper program administration.

As part of this effort:

• SSA has added 17 million dates of death to records that previously lacked this information, using a combination of internal SSA systems and Department of State data.
• Through data received from the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) service, SSA has updated approximately 25 million records that previously had missing citizenship information.
• SSA is currently in the process of correcting an additional 8.5 million records with inaccurate citizenship status.
• The agency has implemented stronger internal controls to prevent inaccuracies due to manual data entry from occurring in the future.

These improvements reflect the first time SSA has undertaken a record‑integrity initiative of this magnitude and marks a significant step toward strengthening the SSN system for the American public.

     All that has been corrected is the relatively insignificant Numident which has little use other than to look up Social Security numbers. It’s so unimportant that the agency has never made much effort to get it 100% accurate. Correcting it is a waste of scarce resources. But it makes it look as if they’re preventing fraud and looking like they’re doing something positive is all they’re after.

SSNs For Less Than A Big Mac

      From Government Technology:

Stolen Social Security numbers can cost less than $2 each on the dark web, which is cheaper than a Big Mac, a dozen eggs or a gallon of milk, according to new research from the identity protection company Coveron.

Coveron, with support from NordLayer Intelligence, examined dark web forums and private messaging channels from June 2024 through June 2026, identifying 5,885 posts that involved the sale of personal information packages containing Social Security numbers. Some listings offered bulk discounts, dropping prices below $1 per package. …

Gambling With Social Security Money

      From WTRF:

A study has shown that on days when Social Security pays, gambling rates go up. 

A West Virginia University doctoral student, Matt Mullis, has found concerning patterns in West Virginia’s gambling data.

One finding shows that senior citizens may be spending most of their Social Security income on gambling. …

     Most? 

Drum Roll Please

      Social Security’s Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) effective next year is 3.6%. The cap on wages subject to the FICA tax will be $192,300, up from $184,500.

How?

      A quote from Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano reported in The Hill:

This is a long journey. [Social Security] is 90 years old. It’ll be around for another 90 years.