The Social Security Administration (SSA) will implement a major change in its customer service policy, starting March 7, 2026. As a result of the layoffs in the agency under the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), SSA will make its customer service national from local field offices.
Earlier, state level SSA officers had customer service operators who handled recipients’ queries. Since some Social Security rules vary from state to state, the customer service helpline at SSA field offices were better equipped with the know-how to solve such problems easily. It made appointment scheduling and case management efficient.
Now, experts warn, there could be delays in the resolution of issues as the system becomes national for more than 70 million Social Security recipients.
The SSA operates 1,250 field offices across the country that serve region-specific beneficiaries. The new, tech-driven national system will handle all benefit changes and appointment scheduling, potentially causing a hurdle for many senior citizens who are not well-equipped with technology.
More On Why SSA Customer Service Is Moving National
Under the DOGE initiative, the SSA had planned a reduction in its workforce starting in early 2025. It had planned to lay off around 12% of its workforce, roughly around 7,000 of its 57,000 employees. The reduction was implemented through retirements, buyouts and sometimes even layoffs. Some reports claimed that there were more than 7,000 layoffs.
As part of the workforce reduction, plans were announced to overhaul the SSA’s Customer Service helpline, making it national and more tech driven. “The American people are experiencing a Social Security Administration that has been transformed through digital innovation and strategic process engineering,” SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano had said earlier in January.
Experts say that there would be delays initially as the Customer Service helpline transitions from local field offices to the national level. In the long run, however, there is optimism that the system will become smooth and appointment scheduling will improve. But it remains to be seen how the impact of the change percolates to the ground.
Notably, in 2025, the SSA disbursed 3.1 million additional payments (over $17 billion) under the Social Security Fairness Act.
