House panel reviews Social Security service improvements and SSI work supports

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Social Security service improvements and SSI supports

Highlights

LaHood reports measurable progress at the Social Security Administration in customer service across online, phone, and field office operations under Commissioner Frank Bisignano.
The House hearing prioritizes updates on SSI work support programs like Ticket to Work, focusing on helping more recipients transition into employment by removing administrative barriers.
Lawmakers seek SSA updates on expanding state data exchanges to better coordinate Social Security or SSI benefit access for children in foster care, following House passage of the Fostering the Future Act.

Hearing focus on agency operations

As reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means, LaHood says the Social Security Administration is making measurable progress in customer service after reviewing data and metrics shared with lawmakers ahead of the hearing with Commissioner Frank Bisignano. He says the agency's work affects seniors, people with disabilities, families and workers nationwide, making service performance a central issue for Congress.

LaHood says he is encouraged by improvements in online, phone and field office operations, and he frames those changes as part of a broader effort to meet Americans where they are. He adds that delays at SSA are felt immediately because the agency is one of the federal bodies with which Americans interact most directly.

He also says he wants to hear how Congress can help the agency continue improving operations. The hearing is positioned as part of ongoing oversight of SSA's service delivery and administrative performance under Bisignano's leadership.

SSI, work incentives and foster care coordination

LaHood says the Work & Welfare Subcommittee remains focused on administration of the Supplemental Security Income program, particularly for recipients who may be able to work with the right support and clearer rules. He points to SSA programs such as Ticket to Work and says lawmakers want updates on how the agency is evaluating the program and what progress has been made in helping beneficiaries transition into employment when possible.

He distinguishes between SSI recipients who are unable to work because of disability or age and those for whom employment may be realistic if administrative barriers are reduced. That framing places SSA's work supports within a wider policy discussion about labor force participation and benefit design.

LaHood also links the hearing to congressional efforts to improve the foster care system, citing House passage of the Fostering the Future Act, which he describes as bipartisan legislation to modernize the Chafee Foster Care Program. He says lawmakers are seeking updates on SSA's efforts to expand data exchanges with states so children in foster care who receive Social Security Survivor or SSI benefits get access to the assistance they need.

Our earlier coverage of the House Financial Services Committee’s hearing on HUD’s Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program examined concerns that the current structure slows the distribution of long-term disaster aid and complicates oversight. Lawmakers questioned the program’s lack of permanent statutory authorization and pointed to slow spending rates in past allocations, fueling debate over whether Congress should redesign federal disaster-recovery assistance rather than simply codify the existing approach.

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