Social Security chief Martin O'Malley has had a string of challenges since being confirmed by Congress as commissioner of the federal agency nearly a year ago. Before O'Malley walked in the door, the agency had been under fire for deadly delays for claiming , long phone wait times and lack of staffing. And he faced the aftermath of an exposé on "60 Minutes" on CBS about shocking collection efforts to reclaim overpayments of benefits, many involving situations that are decades old.
And then there's the ongoing fake news and outright scams. Social Security's 800 number — 800-772-1213 — can see all sorts of spikes in calls, which trigger more time on hold for callers. Back in June, for example, call volume spiked after fake reports about a increase in benefits.
O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland, noted on X that the agency was "slammed" on June 3 with 463,000 calls — some 140,000 more calls than the agency had received a few days earlier. The agency worked to get the word out that the rumors and reports of a $600 extra payment ahead were false. “Don’t fall for this stunt,” warned O’Malley in a news release.
“We are alerting the public to these falsehoods, and we are addressing these at the source. No Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) increase will occur until January 2025," O'Malley stated in June. We will hear the official word on the shortly after the consumer price index for September is released, which is scheduled for Oct.
10 at 8:30 a.m. The current.
