Senators grill Frank Bisignano, Trump's nominee to lead Social Security Administration

Senators grilled Frank Bisignano, the president’s nominee to run the Social Security Administration, on everything from reducing phone call wait times to staffing cuts and office closures at a hearing March 25.

The SSA has faced major pushback from both Democrats and advocacy groups recently, given the agency’s plans for a series of significant changes. That includes new identity-proofing procedures that will require some beneficiaries to verify their identity in person if they cannot use the agency’s online service.

The SSA also announced that it plans to “set a staffing target of 50,000, down from the current level of approximately 57,000 employees,” and reduce its regional offices to four, down from 10, according to a Feb. 28 news release. Congressional Democrats and other Social Security advocates have said that such changes, prompted by Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency,” are effectively a way to cut benefits.

“The DOGE crowd is breaking a sacred promise to deliver Americans their earned Social Security benefits, and it is time for every member of this committee to step up and commit to rolling back these disastrous actions and bringing sanity back to Social Security,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the committee, at the March 25 hearing.

Wyden pressed Bisignano, chair of the board and CEO at Fiserv, on whether he’s been involved “in discussions about DOGE or any of the operations, personnel or management decisions” of those working at the agency.

“No sir,” Bisignano replied.

“That sounds like a reassuring response, but unfortunately, it's not true,” Wyden said, contending that a whistleblower who previously worked at SSA shared with committee leadership that Bisignano “insisted on personally approving several key DOGE hires at the agency.”

Bisignano denied having any contact with SSA acting commissioner Leland Dudek, and he also denied hiring any DOGE officials “in the middle of the night,” when asked about such actions by the senator.

Wyden then asked if the nominee would block DOGE’s access from the agency’s databases containing personally identifiable information, or PII — an issue that has also prompted a lawsuit. On March 20, a federal judge in Maryland blocked DOGE's access to such databases in a 14-day temporary restraining order.

“I’ve spent my career protecting PII in the largest institutions. I think it’s of the upmost importance for PII to be protected, and yes, I will ensure it’s protected,” Bisignano told Wyden.

Many Democrats brought up Musk and DOGE’s involvement at the Social Security Administration, with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., asking if Bisignano would reverse any DOGE decisions that he felt were inappropriate.

“If something was inappropriate, it would be changed,” he responded.

However, Bisignano said in a February CNBC interview that he’s “fundamentally a DOGE person” and reiterated his support for the initiative at the hearing.

“I'm happy to work with anybody who can help us, and I believe that I'm fundamentally about efficiency myself,” Bisignano said when asked about his previous comments regarding DOGE.

Bisignano also fielded questions about SSA’s phone call wait times, which he’s said he’s committed to reducing.

“Taking 20-plus minutes to answer the phone is not really acceptable,” Bisignano told Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., predicting that “we can get that to under a minute” by using artificial intelligence, which would “enhance” the jobs of those working at the agency.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., shared that when his staff member tried calling SSA’s 800 number, after being disconnected twice, the staffer waited to speak to a representative for an hour before being disconnected a third time.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., contended that “if you don’t have the staff, if you don’t answer the phones … people don’t get what (the benefits) they’re legally entitled to,” asking Bisignano if he would commit to putting enough staff in place to deliver benefits.

“I will commit to have the right staffing to get the job done,” he replied.

Bisignano also said multiple times throughout the hearing that he believes the SSA’s 1% payment error rate is too high, and he will work to lower it.

The Fiserv CEO declined to answer questions about his position on raising Social Security’s income tax cap or raising the age for claiming benefits, contending those are not things he should be making decisions about.