WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Social Security Administration cut more than 7,100 jobs in 2025—over 13% of its workforce—marking its largest staffing reduction ever. The agency also closed six of its 10 regional offices that year and removed key customer service metrics, including phone wait times and disability claim processing times, from its website in June 2025.
As part of its operational changes, the agency moved more services online and expanded the use of automated systems and artificial intelligence on its public phone lines. In March 2025, officials announced applicants would no longer be able to apply for benefits by phone, but reversed that decision a month later. Customer service protocols were also altered so that calls were routed to field offices other than the ones dialed, where staff often could not assist callers.
Researchers from California State University, Sacramento, Binghamton University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison interviewed 52 advocates from 32 nonprofits that help over 8,000 people annually with Social Security disability benefits. Their findings, published in March 2026 in collaboration with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and the American Association of People with Disabilities, described worsening access to assistance. Advocates reported encountering AI chatbots that failed to answer questions and noted that staff with specialized knowledge had been reassigned.
“I just have so many cases that are stuck in purgatory because they don’t have enough workers to work them,” said Jane, a paralegal interviewed in Social Security’s Kansas City region. “They don’t have enough workers to answer the phone to tell me what’s happening to them.”
The Urban Institute found that 7% fewer disability benefit claims were submitted to the Social Security Administration in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The agency administers benefits to more than 60 million retired workers and survivors, and provides two types of disability benefits to 16 million people. Supplemental Security Income offered a maximum of $994 per month in 2026, while Social Security Disability Insurance paid an average of about $1,634 monthly based on past wages.
Eligibility for disability benefits requires meeting the agency’s strict definition of disability, which considers health status, education, work history, and age. SSI recipients under 65 cannot have more than $2,000 in assets and must report changes in income, marital status, or living arrangements. The agency operates more than 1,200 field offices nationwide. Shortly before Trump took office in 2025, it began requiring appointments for field office services, though it had pledged in 2024 it would “not turn people away” if they could not or did not want to schedule appointments.