Social Security beneficiaries could face longer wait times for service next year unless Congress agrees to the White House budget office’s request to increase funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA), the administration that runs the program is warning.

House Republicans balked at increasing funding for the Social Security Administration in the continuing resolution passed in September, which forced it to implement a hiring freeze last month.

As a result, the agency will soon reach a 50-year low in staffing despite having to provide service to a record number of beneficiaries, which means that customers will experience longer wait times on the phone or online when trying to resolve problems.

While the funding freeze will not result in a cut in benefits, it will take the agency longer to process claims and to otherwise address customers’ problems.

“If SSA does not receive increased appropriation through March, over 2,000 additional employees will be lost through attrition in the next three months, including experienced staff,” the Social Security Administration said in a statement to The Hill.

“Customer service will decline as wait times in our field offices and on the 800 Number increase, backlogs grow, and customers experience further delays in waiting for their claims to be processed,” a spokesperson for the agency warned.

The Social Security Administration under the leadership of former Commissioner Martin O’Malley increased its productivity this year, clearing more initial disability cases than it had received for the first time in many years, and lowering wait times on its toll-free number.

But those gains in efficiency are likely to slip if Congress keeps funding........

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