If you seemed confused by the rash of recent announcements from the Social Security Administration (SSA), you’re not alone. Under the direction of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the agency has been the subject of mass reorganization, office consolidations and staff reductions in the name of cutting costs and stamping out fraud. The result has been a customer service nightmare of dropped calls, crashed websites, and long lines at field offices.

Since the beginning of the Trump administration, SSA urged all applicants to apply for benefits online using the my Social Security account service feature and a new two-factor authentication process that would require applicants to have access to both a computer and a smart phone. Individuals who could not complete their application process on line would have to appear at a field office in person to prove their identity.

The proposal was met with fierce opposition from advocacy groups who protested that eliminating the telephone application option would cause an undue hardship for the disabled and elderly, particularly in rural areas. The SSA hotline (800-772-1213) receives about 80 million calls per year.

SSA relented. On March 26, SSA revised it rules to exempt certain beneficiaries from the requirement to apply for benefits online. “Under the updated policy beginning April 14, 2025, individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) who cannot use a personal my Social Security account can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office.”

Two and a half weeks later, the agency announced that due to enhanced identity proofing procedures, it would further expand its services to accept all types of benefit applications over the telephone, although it continued to urge individuals to apply for benefits online whenever possible.

“Beginning April 14, 2025, SSA will allow individuals to complete all claim types via telephone, supported by new anti-fraud capabilities designed to protect beneficiaries and streamline the customer experience,” the agency announced in an April 12 news release. “The enhanced technology enables SSA to identify suspicious activities in telephone claims by analyzing patterns and anomalies within a person’s account,” the news released explained. “If irregularities are detected, the individual will be asked to complete in-person identity proofing to continue processing their claims.”

“We are modernizing how we serve the public—enhancing both security and accessibility,” said Leland Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “These updates improve our ability to detect and prevent fraud while providing more flexible options for people to access their benefits.”

SSA said it was putting surge capacity technology in place to support higher demand starting on April 14^th. Last month, SSA spent $16.5 million to modernize telephone services nationwide.