After urging from Democrats in Congress, the Social Security Administration is conducting an audit of the agency’s performance data, specifically the agency’s performance related to phone service for the public.

For years Social Security has struggled to provide adequate phone service to customers that consisted of long waits for phone service, or customers being unable to reach a live person at Social Security. Earlier this summer, Social Security changed the data it reports, which removed metrics related to phone service at the agency.

The audit is expected to give a better understanding of the current state of the agency’s phone service to customers. Phone service has been a problem the agency has had to deal with for decades and the agency now has less employees, at least 3,700 less employees according to the current Social Security commissioner, compared to the beginning of 2025. The audit is expected to give more substantial numbers on phone service at Social Security including callback wait times, call wait times and the number of customers who are on hold during peak hours.

There is no date set on when the audit will be released, but it should give more accurate numbers on phone service. The agency current estimates an average wait of 23 minutes when a customer calls Social Security, but that data may be a bit misleading as to how long a customer really must wait to speak with a live individual at Social Security.