FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Contact: Linda Benesch, lbenesc
Trump is Illegally Undermining Oversight of His Social Security Sabotage
(Washington, DC) — The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, in response to new revelations from the Washington Post that a Social Security inspector general’s report on phone wait times was modified after the agency reviewed it:
“Inspectors general have a crucial role, conducting independent oversight of agencies on behalf of the American people. The Trump administration is undermining that oversight at every turn.
Shortly after taking office, Trump fired the inspectors general at 19 agencies, including the Social Security Administration. This has clearly had a chilling effect. In response to a request from Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) that the IG’s office audit SSA’s handling of its 1-800 number, the IG issued a report days before Christmas, when it received little attention. It also buried the most important finding:
“[A]bout 25 million calls ended without the callers receiving service either because the callers disconnected the calls, the callers did not answer SSA’s callback, SSA could not call back the callers, or all telephone lines were busy. SSA’s wait time metrics do not include the wait times associated with these calls.”
Now, it is revealed that the Social Security IG modified a report to remove the fact that Americans were waiting up to two hours to speak to a representative on Social Security’s 1-800 number. This modification happened after the agency reviewed the report — a clear violation of the IG’s independence.
It is already clear that the Supreme Court and Congressional Republicans are enabling the Trump administration’s Social Security sabotage at every turn. The Supreme Court restored DOGE’s access to private Social Security data, after a lower court had blocked it. Congressional Republicans are thwarting every Democratic effort to investigate data leaks and deteriorating service at Social Security.
Now, thanks to today’s revelations, we know it is even worse. The IG has no ability to conduct independent oversight. There is no meaningful check on the Trump administration’s Social Security sabotage. That will not change until the November elections. If Democrats take control of at least one chamber of Congress, they will gain subpoena power — and the ability to start holding those who are undermining Social Security accountable.”
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