Wednesday’s overhaul puts all eight Social Security processing centers under a new Central Processing unit and gives attorneys a single national call contact instead of center-by-center outreach.
SSA said the reorganization should speed decisions on disability, earnings and complex claims by consolidating support units and automatically routing representative calls to the right processing center.
The agency cast the move as part of a broader service push, citing technology upgrades and more than 3.1 million Social Security Fairness Act payments completed five months early, totaling over $17 billion.
Lawmakers led by Elizabeth Warren say the gains are overstated because more than 7,000 employees have left since 2025, some offices have closed, and callers have reported average waits of nearly 1 hour 45 minutes.
The changes target back-office coordination more than frontline access, leaving open whether centralization can offset reduced staffing and in-person capacity for older and rural beneficiaries.