Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano on Wednesday highlighted improvements across the agency, touting a significant increase in scheduled appointments, greater employee morale and faster call response times.
“I was in the field office in Staten Island yesterday with Councilwoman [Nicole] Malliotakis, and the staff is delighted,” Bisignano said on Wednesday on Fox Business’ “The Claman Countdown.” “They’re handling clients. We’re scheduling visits.”
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The appearance marked Bisignano’s first public remarks since firing back in a letter on Monday at criticisms of “mismanagement” leveled by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., against the agency’s changes to its customer service practices.
Bisignano on Wednesday defended his tenure and called the accusations “inaccurate.”
He cited improvements to the SSA, noting 40% of field office visits are now scheduled in advance — up from zero just 18 months ago. He also said the agency’s average phone call answer time was 7.6 minutes in July, down from last year’s average of 27.6 minutes under the previously confirmed commissioner.
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“We’re answering 33% more phone calls. Our callers are waiting less than 60% of the time than they did, and so thus, that makes for a better workforce,” Bisignano said. “A person sure likes to get a phone call answered in four minutes, not four days.”
The SSA Commissioner also said the agency’s fraud tools — including its AI-based fraud detector, which has faced backlash for allegedly only detecting two cases out of 111,000 — are “very strong” and “continue to get better.”
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“Aug. 14 is the 90th anniversary of Social Security,” Bisignano said. “And the president has been very clear, and I’m working under that mandate, that we’re going to protect and preserve it. And yes, part of working on fraud, waste, abuse and efficiency is protecting and preserving it.”
In the Monday letter exclusively reviewed by FOX Business ahead of its release, Bisignano responded to Warren’s criticisms and defended the administration’s changes. He wrote that the SSA is “experiencing a customer service turnaround after four years of long wait times and record backlogs under the Biden administration.”
The offices of Warren and Joe Biden did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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