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Concerns about the future of Social Security, poor customer service at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and how AARP can help protect the program that Americans pay into to fund their retirement were on the agenda at a May 1 AARP event.
More than 55,000 listeners tuned into AARP’s live tele-town hall to learn about new and long-standing issues with Social Security. AARP’s Bill Sweeney, senior vice president for government affairs, and John Hishta, senior vice president of campaigns, were joined by Stephen Richardson, a former regional communications director for the SSA, to discuss how changes are impacting older Americans and to answer listener questions.
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Here are five key takeaways from the event. You can also listen to the entire tele-town hall here.
1. Social Security’s customer service is in crisis
Since February, the SSA has announced a series of changes to its operations. These include new initiatives to combat fraud and waste, eliminating certain departments, restructuring operations, reducing its workforce, closing more than half of its regional offices, a proposal to cut some phone application services — then a walk back of those cuts.
“There is so much news about Social Security, so much worry about Social Security right now,” Sweeney noted as the May 1 AARP event began.
Fueling this worry is the SSA's customer service crisis, which has worsened. Extended call-time waits on hold and website crashes have long been persistent issues, but reports of these problems have ballooned in past weeks as millions of people sought clarity over the changes announced.
“More and more people are reaching out to Social Security … trying to figure out what’s going on,” Sweeney said. “That has a vicious cycle. More people calling in means longer wait time, more people hitting the website means the website is more likely to crash … It means people are having to go into field offices, which is just exacerbating those long lines and waits.”
Simultaneously, the agency has cut customer-service staff as it seeks to reduce its workforce from about 57,000 employees to 50,000, or by 12 percent. Some 2,500 workers left their jobs by April 19, the SSA reported, and of that group, at least 1,962 — nearly 80 percent — worked in field offices that directly serve the public.
AARP is pushing the SSA and Congress to improve Social Security’s customer service.
“We want the Social Security Administration to fix what's broken,” Hishta said. “It shouldn't take hours on the phone or multiple trips to a Social Security office an hour away to get an answer. Social Security customer service has to work better for the people who earned it and count on it.”
2. Decision-makers are listening to older Americans — your voice matters
In mid-March, the SSA announced cuts to phone services, saying beneficiaries and those applying for Social Security would no longer be permitted to confirm their identities over the phone and would instead be required to do so online or in person at a local field office.
“The minute we heard about it, we thought, oh my gosh, this is going to really impact our members and older adults all over the country … especially those in rural America and people with disabilities or transportation challenges,” Sweeney said. “We heard from our team in Alaska, for example, that people would have to get on a plane to go and prove their identity to get the Social Security benefits they've earned.”
The proposal triggered fierce backlash from older Americans and their advocates. AARP quickly mobilized and called on the SSA to walk back the change. Thousands of AARP members joined that effort, generating millions of calls and emails to members of Congress demanding they stop the proposal from taking effect.
Facing pressure, the SSA delayed its plan, then abandoned it entirely in early April.
“This proves that when we raise our voices together, we can protect the Social Security we've earned,” Hishta said. “Yes, your calls, your emails, your town hall comments do matter. They make a difference.”
3. Congress can — and should — strengthen Social Security
With many recent changes ordered by the acting SSA commissioner and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), listeners questioned how much influence Congress actually has over management of the agency.
“I can tell you, Congress has a lot of say over what happens at Social Security,” Sweeney said.
Congress sets the SSA's budget, determining how much money can be spent on customer service initiatives, staffing and more. Congress must also confirm the President’s nominee for Social Security Commissioner, who is tasked with running the agency. Committees in both the U.S. House and Senate have oversight power over Social Security to ensure that laws are being implemented correctly and that the public interest is protected.
Congress played a key role in getting the SSA to walk back its cuts to phone application services, according to Sweeney. “I know that Congress was engaged, that they were reaching out behind the scenes to Social Security, and I think that that was actually what made the difference,” he said.
AARP continues to advocate for older adults and push Congress to improve the SSA’s customer service to ensure people get the help they need, when and where they need it. You can join our fight by contacting your members of Congress.
4. Older Americans are worried about Social Security’s financial future
Many Americans are anxious about the health of Social Security. A 2024 AARP poll found that 75 percent of Americans age 50 and older are concerned the program won’t be there when they need it. Many listeners participating in the tele-town hall echoed these concerns.
Their worries are valid. Social Security’s finances are on shaky ground: The program currently pays out more in benefits than it collects in revenue annually. If no action is taken, Social Security will be unable to pay benefits in full in 10 years, according to the latest Social Security trustees’ report.
“It's something that Congress needs to fix, but it's an absolutely fixable problem,” Sweeney said, noting that Social Security has faced fiscal issues like this before. It is unknown when and how Congress will next address Social Security’s solvency — “That’s the question we’ve been asking Congress for a long time now,” Sweeney said — but he is confident federal lawmakers will fix the program, which has near-universal support from Americans, before funds run out.
AARP is urging Congress to address the issue sooner rather than later. “The longer Congress waits, the worse their options are, so we’ve really been pushing [them] hard … to get focused on this,” Sweeney said.
Richardson, a former regional communications director for the SSA, agreed with Sweeney and encouraged those worried about the future of Social Security to examine what happened in 1983, when President Ronald Reagan passed a set of sweeping changes to shore up the program's financial footing.
“It should ground you to see that [a fix] happened in the past, it was done effectively, and we should be able to do it going forward,” Richardson said.
Read our story on the future of Social Security to learn more about the program’s financial status and options for boosting its future stability.
5. AARP is fighting for you and your hard-earned Social Security
During the event, this question came in from Denise in California: Who is lobbying for us in Congress?
“Well, Denise, I’m happy to say that I’m your lobbyist, and I have a great team,” Sweeney replied. “We have AARP teams that fan out all over the country, supported by an incredible team of volunteers, who raise your voice and make sure your interests are heard.”
AARP advocates on issues important to older Americans in Washington D.C., but also in state legislatures and city halls all over the country.
For more than 65 years, AARP has been working to strengthen Social Security, and we will continue to do so in the weeks, months and years ahead, Hishta said. On August 14, Social Security turns 90. To coincide with the milestone, AARP will launch a 90-day coast-to-coast campaign from May through August to emphasize why Social Security matters now more than ever.
Video: Inside AARP’s Fight for Social Security
“We want [lawmakers] to understand one thing loud and clear: Social Security is not just a budget line item. It's a lifeline,” Hishta said. “This is money Americans have earned every paycheck every year over a lifetime of work. They're not asking for favors. They're expecting what they were promised.”
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