FWIW, it would seem the problems are continuing at the Passport Agency. I need my daughter's passport back in 3 weeks (I applied months ago), but since I'll be travelling during much of that time and won't be able to attend to the matter, I called today to see what was going on. Thanks to the tips (dial that "931"), I was able to reach a human being at the Passport Agency. I was told that nothing had been done on her application, but an "urgent escalation" would now be sent by email to the Charleston processing session. I asked whether calling my congressman would help, and she said it "couldn't hurt." So I did that, got the person in the congressional office assigned to passports, and she will check on my application tomorrow.

It sure feels better "doing something" than just waiting where, it would appear, your odds of receiving your passport back are random. I'd also note that you need to be careful about the new Western Hemisphere directive that allows waiver of the passport requirements for getting back into the United States. Many countries still require an actual passport to get INTO their country, so the waiver won't help. Call the embassy of the country you're travelling to and find out their rules.