Social Security Backlogs Climb to More Than One Million Cases

The Social Security backlog has climbed to more than a million cases due to understaffing as more and more Baby Boomers retire into the system.
Mark Searight, Deputy Assistant at the Office of the Inspector General told the Federal News Network the backlog had risen by more than a million and a half cases. This could potentially cause millions to go without benefits.
During an audit, Searight said they found backlog cases climbed by more than 1.5 million, resulting in 4.3 million cases in 2023.
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In 2022, the Social Security Administration also saw a major decline in staffing, losing almost 400 workers at their processing centers.
“Our recommendations were focusing very much on developing a workload and staffing plan to help them reduce the pending transactions, and then also to establish, goals for each of the types of transactions for a time period to make sure that they don’t pen for too long,” Searight told Federal News Network. ”
“Their feedback to us, though, was, although they agree, they do need more funding, and they need steady funding so that they can hire they can train the employees, and then they can make information technology improvements at the processing centers.”
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Searight said the majority of the cases in the backlog involve complex cases where a beneficiary might be earning too much, and a review is necessary.
But in several of the backlog cases, the SSA’s delay in resolving the case caused a beneficiary to face major fines in overpayments that weren’t initially identified, leading to months or years more of overpayments to collect.
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“The main cause to the backlog is due to staffing issues and antiquated technology,” Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and the founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group, told Newsweek. “The legislative committee refuses to put the proper amount of money into these programs while the House GOP continues to advance bills that include $450 million in cuts to an already depleted agency.”
Thompson said the SSA’s understaffing comes down to money and likely won’t resolve without the appropriate amount of federal dollars.
“There is not enough of it to cover the amount of time needed to cover the allotted time to take care of the people,” Thompson said. “This is becoming a math problem where more people are entering the system each day and less and less employees are servicing them.”
Michael Ryan, another finance expert and the founder of michaelryanmoney.com, called the Social Security backlog a “mess, plain and simple.”
“Social Security offices are running on fumes. They’ve got fewer people working there than they did 25 years ago, but millions more folks needing help,” Ryan told Newsweek. “No wonder things are falling apart.”
He added: “For people waiting on disability claims, it’s a nightmare. Seven months just to get an initial decision? That’s nearly double what it was a few years back. Imagine not being able to work and having to wait that long just to find out if you’ll get any help.”
As the backlog piles on, Ryan said many Americans are losing faith in Social Security entirely.
“We need to fix this, and fast. Congress needs to step up with real funding—not just Band-Aids,” Ryan said. “We need more people working at Social Security, better computers, smarter processes.”
While some may feel less staff working could be a pro with the addition of artificial intelligence tools, there are still many issues at play, said Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin.
“With so many automated financial tools available today, it would seem staffing is a place where the government could save money,” Beene told Newsweek.
“The problem is those tools aren’t perfect, and many recipients of Social Security benefits are running into problems that are now getting increasingly difficult to handle. It’s not to say that there could be a time in the future where SSA could see a reduction in staffing without missing a beat, but that time is clearly not now.”
Newsweek reached out to the SSA for comment via email.