By The Social Security Administration (SSA) is marking the 91st anniversary of the Social Security Act, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. The program remains one of the most trusted institutions in American history.
This year, 75 million beneficiaries will receive over $1.6 trillion in payments, making Social Security a promise fulfilled for retired workers, survivors, people with disabilities, and the most vulnerable, and a cornerstone of retirement security across generations.
“For more than 90 years, Social Security has guaranteed older Americans, families facing loss, and people with disabilities can live with dignity.” said Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano.
“Our historic performance shows we are delivering better, faster, higher-quality service to the American people. Under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, we are protecting and strengthening Social Security for generations to come.”
As a result of Commissioner Bisignano’s digital-first strategy, the agency has improved service delivery, streamlined operations, and strengthened its control environment to deliver the best performance in the history of the agency. The double-digit improvements in customer service achieved for the American people include:
- Reducing the National 800 Number average speed of answer from 34 minutes in fiscal year (FY) 2024 to 0.6 minutes in July 2026, a 98 percent reduction; and maintaining a 0 percent busy rate over the last four months.
- Growing online services, surpassing more than 104 million total my Social Security accounts created and completing 505 million online transactions FY 2026 to date, a 35 percent increase from the same period in FY 2024.
- Shortening the average field office wait times by 30 percent while serving 25 million visitors.
- Reducing the initial disability claims backlog by over 30 percent, from a high of nearly 1.3 million in FY 2024 to 884 thousand in July 2026; and decreasing disability hearing wait times over 90 days, reaching historic lows.
- Saving $16 billion with a better control environment.
- Reconciling the Social Security Number (SSN) database for the first time ever to remove deceased people, update citizenship data, and verify status of individuals – over 10 percent of all active SSNs have been updated.
These service and control improvements have saved the public nearly 50 million hours in time that would have been spent waiting for service in fiscal year 2024 and billions of dollars.
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