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President Donald Trump's nominee to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration testifies at his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on March 25 "A vote for Trump's Social Security Commissioner is a vote to destroy Social Security," warned one advocacy group Senate on Tuesday is set to hold a confirmation vote for President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Social Security Administration—an ultra-rich former Wall Street executive who has aligned himself with the Elon Musk-led slash-and-burn effort at agencies across the federal government In an email on Saturday, the progressive advocacy group Social Security Works warned that Bisignano "is not the cure to the DOGE-manufactured chaos at the Social Security Administration." would make it even worse," the group added "We're not going down without a fight Republicans may have a majority in the Senate but we're going to rally to send a message: A vote for Trump's Social Security Commissioner is a vote to destroy Social Security!" Bisignano can get away with lying before he's even in place as commissioner who knows what else he'll be able to get away with once he's in office." As The Washington Post reported in March Bisignano testified to the Senate Finance Committee that "he has had no contact" with DOGE the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said the claim is 'not true,' citing an account the senator said he received from a senior Social Security official who recently left the agency," the Post noted Bisignano made with the agency since his nomination,' including 'frequent' conversations with senior executives." Wyden pointed again to the former SSA official's statement in a floor speech Thursday in opposition to Bisignano saying that "according to the whistleblower Bisignano personally appointed his Wall Street buddy to be the leader of DOGE's team at Social Security." The Oregon Democrat said Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee refused his request for a bipartisan meeting with the whistleblower to evaluate their accusations unless "we agreed to hand over any information received from the whistleblower directly to the nominee and the Trump administration." "All Americans should be concerned that a nominee for a position of public trust like commissioner of Social Security is accused of lying about his actions at the agency and that efforts to bring this important information to light are being thwarted," Wyden said Thursday "He could lie by denying any American who paid their Social Security taxes the benefits they've earned claiming some phony pretense," the senator warned "He could lie about how sensitive personal information is being mishandled—or worse Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) delivered remarks on the Senate Floor urging his colleagues to support the nomination of Frank Bisignano to be Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) “I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the confirmation of Mr who is nominated to be Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) “The Social Security Administration has the significant responsibility of overseeing the Social Security program which provides monthly benefits to millions of seniors individuals with disabilities and their families The SSA also oversees the Supplemental Security Income program and issues Social Security numbers and cards Bisignano has the experience needed to lead this important agency He has more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in banks and financial institutions He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Fiserv a leader in payments and financial technology Bisignano committed to improving customer service at the Social Security Administration including by bringing down wait times for the agency’s National 800 Number and for claims decisions; ensuring that individuals can interact with the SSA in the way they prefer by phone or online; and improving the SSA’s payment accuracy concerns were raised regarding his alleged connections to DOGE’s work at the SSA These allegations were raised in an anonymous letter “The allegations focused on the frequency and details of communications between the nominee and SSA officials Bisignano addressed the allegations during the hearing and responded in writing as part of the questions for the record He has stated that he does not currently have a role at the SSA and was not part of the decision-making process led by the Acting Commissioner “The Social Security Administration needs steady Bisignano would bring his decades-long focus on customer service and operational excellence to the SSA I strongly encourage my colleagues to join me in voting to confirm Mr Bisignano to serve as the next Commissioner of Social Security.” The Social Security Administration faces a delicate moment Its future teeters between a career bureaucrat and a former Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase executive who may bring order — or further tumult It has long been seen as untouchable in Washington — "the third rail of American politics" — and commissioners rarely leave even as presidential administrations change abruptly left her role as acting commissioner President Donald Trump installed Leland Dudek an employee who wasn't in the agency's executive ranks which came as DOGE staffers accessed internal agency data was a sharp departure from typical agency protocol It "was a shock to every single person that works at SSA," Laura Haltzel a former Social Security associate commissioner It was also a harbinger of the chaos to come a finance titan and formidable turnaround manager is waiting in the wings as Trump's nominee to replace Dudek The transition ahead could set the course for how — and how well — millions of Americans receive their benefits Some in the industry told BI they see him as a turnaround artist which could serve him well should he take over the agency It's not a word that anybody's ever talked to me about," he told lawmakers An official on the transition team shepherding Trump's nominees through the confirmation process declined to comment for this story or make Bisignano available for an interview with a father who was an orphan and a grandfather who emigrated from Italy Bisignano first landed on Wall Street in the 1970s He started out at smaller firms before joining the legendary bankers Sandy Weill and Jamie Dimon as they built what would become Citigroup he managed the company's global transaction services business helping steer trillions of dollars in payments worldwide "He knew enough about the guts of the operations he was involved in to be able to be a very good manager," Weill where he reversed multibillion-dollar losses in the firm's mortgage banking unit and rose to become its co-chief operating officer "Frank did a very good job in operations for JPMorgan but I think that he was looking for something where he would be able to test his leadership skills beyond operations," Weill said was seeking a CEO with knowledge of payments and back-office systems He steered the company through its $2.6 billion initial public offering and its $22 billion sale to Fiserv in 2019; he became Fiserv's CEO the following year the company's stock price has roughly doubled which is expected to drive the creation of 2,000 jobs Currently leading the agency — and seen by some SSA insiders as responsible for much of the recent turmoil — is Dudek the acting commissioner Trump installed in February One former senior Social Security official who was familiar with the senior-level employees usually tapped for the role remembered thinking: "Who is this guy?" A director-level employee who's on administrative leave told BI that Dudek was "a nobody until a month ago." (Most of the SSA sources who spoke with BI left within the past few months.) Dudek had been serving as a senior advisor in the agency's Office of Program Integrity One former manager at SSA who met Dudek when he arrived at the agency said that he "seemed like a pretty earnest straightforward kind of computer science IT type who had experience outside the agency." Dudek was part of a larger group who felt the agency was slow to adopt technological advances "He generally seemed to be interested in things running more effectively," a former SSA employee said They described him as being frustrated over "trying to make change and do things in a bureaucratic environment" and said other employees at his level felt similarly Another former SSA executive said they believed he had good intentions and genuinely cared about curbing fraud and improper payments His path at the agency was not straightforward Elon Musk said on X that Dudek was "fired" for "helping @DOGE find taxpayer savings" before he ascended to SSA's highest perch "I think he felt like he deserved a voice at the table and then he suddenly got one and didn't quite know what to do with it," the former executive said The executive added that Dudek appeared to have competing priorities between staff cuts and making sure the agency ran smoothly very unusual leadership," said Kathleen Romig who worked at the agency for nine years on and off and now serves as the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Many of his decisions seemed to be "hasty and ill-considered," Romig said like shuttering the agency or changing in-person identification guidelines "I've never seen leadership like this before at SSA Dudek said some contracts in Maine that let parents register their newborn children for an SSA number were "canceled because I screwed up." "I made the wrong move there. I should always ask my staff for guidance first before I cancel something," Dudek said. "I'm new at this job. It looked fishy." The contracts were ultimately reinstated Dudek and the Social Security Administration did not respond to multiple requests for comment His appointment pushed at least one SSA worker to leave When they saw reports that he'd shared information with DOGE and was still elevated "it just all became a farce," the former worker said They feel that he thinks he's doing damage control and running interference between DOGE and everyone else "It felt like a bunch of 6-year-olds with too much sugar had been put in charge of the agency and were just kind of running all over the place randomly disconnecting and reconnecting things in different ways," the former SSA manager said who has developed a reputation as a hard-charging demanding executive who tends to see Saturdays as just another workday "He was always making sure that everybody had their nose to the grindstone," Weill said Bisignano has surrounded himself with a cadre of deputies some of whom have been with him since his JPMorgan Chase days Another person who knows Bisignano said some of these loyalists had shown they'd follow his lead without question "They're going to pick up any call from Frank any time of day — morning Some of the decisions at Fiserv that played out on Bisignano's watch appear to have rankled some of his employees A former Fiserv client project manager said that return-to-office policies rolled out late last year under Bisignano contributed to his decision to leave The former manager described the culture as "a bit of a sweatshop." Fiserv implemented new return-to-office guidance calling some personnel managers back to their desks five days a week and instructing other workers to spend about nine hours a day at the office an internal communication reviewed by BI shows The former Fiserv employee credited Bisignano with getting results: "I do think he was part of the reason Fiserv is so profitable." Fiserv pointed to a 122% rise in its stock under Bisignano's leadership attributing his "vision" to driving innovation across technology and payments The company also cited his "commitment to investing in people," including veterans and small-business owners Whether Bisignano's no-nonsense approach will be as effective in running the government's biggest safety net as it was in vaulting him to the zenith of corporate America is an open question So is what a dynamic might look like with his peers in the administration like the former Wall Streeters Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent He may soon find himself standing between policy whiplash from Washington and the checks that millions of older Americans depend on Bisignano "loves his reputation for fixing things," said one person who worked closely with him Senate Democrats on Wednesday called on President Trump to withdraw the nomination of Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration citing the finance executive’s improper contact with agency and DOGE officials prior to his confirmation and track record as a “cutter” in the private sector At Bisignano’s confirmation hearing Tuesday he denied allegations that he had been in frequent contact both with Social Security Administration executives and operatives from Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency This was despite the release of a whistleblower account accusing him not only breaching rules preventing presidential nominees from performing duties before they are confirmed by the Senate but also intervening to accelerate the onboarding of DOGE operatives at the agency and demanding that agency hires be cleared with him personally Democratic senators on Wednesday, armed with a report in The Washington Post independently corroborating the whistleblower’s testimony told reporters that Bisignano’s nomination should be pulled lied to the Senate Finance Committee about his involvement with DOGE since his nomination in December,” said Sen “Here’s what happened: the whistleblower reached out to my staff and their testimony shows that the nominee appears to be the puppet master behind the chaos at Social Security There’s a trust gap between the nominee and the American people before he’s even gotten in the door He hand-picked DOGE agents and pressured Social Security employees to cut corners to get them on the job faster.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that Bisignano’s career ascent in business has been paved with layoffs and other workforce reductions which currently sits at a 50-year staffing low despite an ever-growing customer base and declining customer service metrics “The goal is clear: to destroy Social Security from within so inefficient that Trump has the pretext to slash benefits to kill it and then privatize the program,” Schumer said “Everything they’re doing now is in effect a benefit cut They’re killing Social Security by strangling it by not letting it work and making it so that it’s impossible for people to get help and to get their benefits.” Social Security partially walks back ‘anti-fraud’ plan At agency headquarters Wednesday, SSA’s acting leadership announced that it would exempt some Social Security applicants from its controversial new plan to end phone service for benefits applications and changes to direct deposit information under the guise of protecting against fraud and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” said acting Commissioner Leland Dudek in a statement “In addition to extending the policy’s effective date by two weeks to ensure our employees have the training they need to help customers Disability and SSI applicants will be exempt from in-person identity proofing because multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person’s identity.” But the change does not impact retirement applications which are by far the most common type of case SSA receives Internal memos regarding the proposal warned that it could increase foot traffic at field offices by between 75,000 to 85,000 customers per week all at a time when the agency is looking to shed 7,000 workers and is contemplating closing facilities across the country And Dudek’s comment that “multiple opportunities exist” to verify an applicant’s identity during the exempted processes suggests the agency could still require an in-person visit the announcement prompted praise from Advocates Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled a nonprofit that advocates for disabled Americans Help us tailor content specifically for you: Thank you for subscribing! Please check out our other newsletter offerings on our Newsletter page. Frank Bisignano is a big donor to both Republicans and Democrats in New Jersey and elsewhere Benjamin J. Hulac, Washington Correspondent | March 28, 2025 | More Issues, Politics WASHINGTON — Frank Bisignano has given money directly to at least nine of the senators who will vote on his confirmation to run the Social Security Administration have given money to elect the man who picked him for that job and to Democratic and Republican congressional candidates for decades plus local politicians in Somerset County and Rep made his fortune on Wall Street and is the chief executive of payment-processing firm Fiserv where Republicans hold a 53-47 seat majority Politics, Law & Public Safety No Senate vetting of Trump’s interim US attorney for NJIf confirmed to a term that runs until January of 2031 Bisignano would take control of an agency that directly touches the lives of 1 of every 5 Americans and faces potential closures of at least 10 field offices an outcome that would make obtaining Social Security benefits more difficult for millions of citizens The Senate has confirmed all of Trump’s picks to be Cabinet secretaries or hold high-level administration positions As administrator of the Social Security Administration Bisignano would assume the helm of a federal agency that provides monthly benefits The SSA is expected to distribute about $1.6 trillion in benefits this year, according to agency forecasts At his roughly three-hour confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee Bisignano said he has never considered turning Social Security into a private enterprise “I’ve never thought about privatizing,” Bisignano told senators “It’s not a word that anybody has ever talked to me about and I don’t see this institution as anything other than a government agency that gets run for the benefit of the American public.” Democrats grilled Bisignano, who lists a home address in Somerset County, about how he would manage the agency and payments, which can be financial lifelines for seniors, as the administration’s government efficiency task force is sweeping through federal departments called the Department of Government Efficiency and led by Trump ally and billionaire industrialist Elon Musk has pushed for steep spending cuts and layoffs and Musk himself has called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” To a yes-or-no question from Catherine Cortez Masto about whether he agreed with Musk’s sentiment Bisignano said of the program: “It’s a promise to pay.” The agency recently unveiled a goal of cutting 12% of its staff, or about 7,000 people, and more than 2,600 staffers have opted into a buyout plan Bisignano’s confirmation hearing followed an announced policy change from the agency that people would no longer be able to confirm their identity to SSA staff over the phone they would be required to confirm who they say they are on a smartphone or in person at an agency field office after members of Congress and advocates for senior citizens and people with disabilities criticized the change the agency walked back part of its policy changes allowing some disabled and senior citizens to file claims and confirm their identity by phone Yet people who apply for retirement or survivor benefits will still be required to deal with the agency online or in person Easily the biggest donation was a $924,600 chunk from Tracy Bisignano to a super PAC that backed Trump’s 2024 election “This administration is rightly feeling the heat,” Rep Frank Pallone (D-6th) said in a statement Thursday “Trump’s plan would have been devastating for the seniors and disabled New Jerseyans who don’t use the internet and can’t get an appointment at a field office.” He and several dozen other House Democrats criticized the agency’s proposed changes in a letter Wednesday Politics, Education As Trump tries to close federal agencies, he will need help“Requiring beneficiaries to seek assistance exclusively online or in person at SSA field offices would create additional barriers particularly for those who live far from an office,” they wrote Republicans have largely backed Bisignano’s nomination “We will meet beneficiaries where they want to be met — whether in person in field offices, on the web, or on the phone,” Bisignano said in his written testimony I am committed to reducing wait times and providing our beneficiaries with a better experience Waiting 20-plus minutes to get an answer will be of yesteryear I also believe we can significantly improve the length of the disability claim process.” the Bisignanos have given about $2,670,000 to federal campaigns or political spending groups such as political action committees Easily the biggest donation was a $924,600 chunk from Tracy Bisigano to a super PAC that backed Trump’s 2024 election She and her husband also made two donations — $125,000 apiece — to a Trump-aligned super PAC in 2019 Bisignano gave $15,000 in 2023 to a PAC aligned with former governor Chris Christie who ran for president in the 2024 election He also gave $6,600 in 2023 to Tammy Murphy’s Senate campaign who sits on the House committee that oversees the financial sector Bisignano gave $5,800 in 2021 for his reelection to Congress when Bisignano gave $5,800 to Gottheimer’s gubernatorial campaign Bisignano has given specifically to at least nine sitting senators including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York The others are Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand of New York Mark Warner of Virginia and Jack Reed of Rhode Island as well as Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania There are no disclosure requirements that force nominees to federal jobs to state which sitting senators they have supported with campaign cash Hulac covers New Jersey’s congressional delegation and federal decisions that affect the state covering Congress and federal agencies as well as environmental energy and transportation policies and programs DONATE ©2025 NJ SPOTLIGHT NEWS. All Rights Reserved. 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019 NJ Spotlight is part of The WNET Group and is operated by WNET, a non-profit organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tax ID: 26-2810489 Log in to comment on videos and join in on the fun. Watch the live stream of Fox News and full episodes. Reduce eye strain and focus on the content that matters. ©2025 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All market data delayed 20 minutes. Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano’s nomination was advanced by the Senate Finance Committee, despite strong opposition from Democrats who voiced concerns over his relationship with DOGE officials. Frank Bisignano during a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing in Washington his confirmation will advance to the full Senate Bisignano has more than 30 years of strong executive leadership experience and knows how to enact his bold vision of delivering better customer service for Social Security beneficiaries,” said Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) in a statement “[He] would also draw on his decades of experience to improve SSA’s payment accuracy it places a burden on the affected beneficiaries Ron Wyden (D-OR) said that Bisignano "lied multiple times to every member of this Committee … about his actions and communications with [Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)] and the Social Security Administration prior to his hearing.” Wyden said that his office "received an account from a whistleblower about the ways the nominee was deeply involved in and aware of DOGE’s activities at the agency .. Let me address the allegations made during Mr Bisignano’s nomination hearing that he ‘lied about his connections to DOGE and its efforts to break Social Security …,’” said Sen Bisignano does not currently hold a position at the Social Security Administration who became CEO of the payment processing giant Fiserv in 2020 was nominated by President Trump in December resigned after a dispute with DOGE in February over the group’s efforts to access sensitive government records a manager in charge of SSA’s anti-fraud office a self-professed “efficiency guy” or “DOGE person,” faced tough questions by Senate Democrats at the Senate Finance Committee hearing He was called to account for the recent upheaval at the SSA which has been a target of DOGE efforts to cut costs at the agency by firing workers and closing offices which manages Social Security payments for about 72.5 million retirees If confirmed by the full Senate, Bisignano testified he would “ensure that every beneficiary receives their payments on time, that disability claims are processed in the manner they should be.” SHARE ON FACEBOOK Lynn Cavanaugh Lynn Varacalli Cavanaugh is Senior Editor she was editor-in-chief of the What's New in Benefits & Compensation newsletter She has worked for major firms in the employee benefits space Webcasts which calls for hiking the required pension contribution for federal employees to 4.4% of salary will now advance to the House Budget Committee which is supported by Charles Schwab and the National Economic Council Around 3 in 10 workers believe having investment options that provide guaranteed lifetime income to be the most valuable improvement to their plan This guide reveals 3 steps to audit benefits and present holistic strategies that meet client goals and employee needs--positioning employee benefits brokers as trusted advisors Discover how employer-paid supplemental health benefits can help close coverage gaps 2025 is expected to bring increased market volatility and new cybersecurity threats that could impact employee retirement savings This white paper provides HR professionals with the insights they need to strengthen retirement benefits and navigate the evolving landscape with confidence / For questions about BenefitsPRO, please call 800-458-1734 (9:00am-5:30pm ET, Monday through Friday, except holidays), or send an email to [email protected] As judges across the country litigate whether DOGE staffers have compromised Americans’ personally identifiable information during their forays into government systems President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration said Tuesday that protecting that data would be “job one” if he’s confirmed. A federal judge last week temporarily blocked DOGE access to those systems but senators peppered Bisignano with questions about whether he’d make the protection of individuals’ PII a priority PII “needs the highest level of scrutiny and protection and we need to understand who can access what information and ensure that that information is anonymized so they’re not getting data they could use in a bad way.” Though Bisignano referred to himself in a February interview with CNBC as “fundamentally a DOGE person,” he asserted to Sen on Tuesday that he hasn’t “talked to anybody in DOGE about” the accessing of Americans’ PII outside of SSA protocols. When pressed by Wyden about whether he’d lock DOGE representatives out of Social Security databases Bisignano declined to give a yes or no answer but said he would “do whatever is required to protect the information that is private information.” Sheldon Whitehouse expressed concerns about damage that may already be done due to “the Musk infiltration of Social Security databases.” When asked by the Rhode Island Democrat what he’d do to make sure those databases weren’t damaged and there were no backdoors left open for threat actors to enter Bisignano promised “a total review.” Musk has repeatedly claimed that burrowing into SSA systems is necessary to root out fraud, though DOGE has reportedly found very little of it who has held several executive positions at global financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup that there is no “need to expose any PII to minimize fraud.” Bisignano said he’d look at SSA’s anti-fraud unit to “understand how well we’re doing there” and to ensure they “have the right tools to do their job.” Artificial intelligence “Many times you keep what [tools] you have but you peel away parts of it,” he told Blackburn and then you put in modern technology in front of it … I think we have a strategic advantage with AI I think we can make all of the work simpler I think we could drive the accuracy level [by] multiple decimals.” Bisignano said AI would likely be used in many forms noting that the technology “doesn’t only have to be client facing.” “One of the greatest efficiency opportunities we have is using artificial intelligence,” he said “That doesn’t mean we use it for answering the phone It means we use it to learn how to do our work better.” We’ve detected that JavaScript is disabled in this browser Please enable JavaScript or switch to a supported browser to continue using x.com You can see a list of supported browsers in our Help Center Help Center President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Social Security Administration (SSA) at a confirmation hearing Tuesday amid turmoil at the agency—as cuts by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have decimated phone service and threaten to affect Americans’ benefits resident Donald Trump’s nominee to be Commissioner of Social Security .. appears at his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on March 25 in Washington The Senate Finance Committee questioned Bisignano Tuesday the first step in his confirmation process before the committee votes on whether to approve his nomination He previously served as JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s co-chief operating officer and CEO of mortgage banking and held multiple leadership roles at Citigroup Bisignano said Tuesday he believed his role at SSA will be a “bipartisan job” and he’s guided by the quote “The only just government is government that serves its citizens not itself,” also saying he’s “never thought” about privatizing SSA and wants to reduce phone wait times and improve service at the agency Bisignano previously told CNBC in February that his desire is to root out “fraud waste and abuse” without “touch[ing] benefits,” and he will “100% work with DOGE” and that his past work trying to build efficiency in the private sector makes him “fundamentally a DOGE person.” The Social Security head faced sharp questioning from Democrats as Musk’s DOGE has made cuts at the agency with Bisignano offering mixed comments about the Musk-helmed group—not explicitly denouncing its work but saying that while he would heed DOGE’s “input” at Social Security he intended to be the ultimate decision maker at the agency Bisignano said he would be an “accountable leader” at SSA who wants to make Social Security a “premier service” for beneficiaries processing times for disability claims and error rates Bisignano also claimed he does not want to privatize Social Security saying he has “never thought” about privatizing the agency and views it as a government service The nominee also said he would “follow the law” if Trump ever asked him to do something illegal though he claimed he “can’t ever imagine the president asking that.” He was noncommittal when asked about his thoughts on major changes to Social Security—like raising an income cap so that higher earners pay more into Social Security—saying those issues would be up to Congress Bisignano faced sharp questioning Tuesday from Sen who pushed back after the SSA nominee claimed he had not spoken with any DOGE officials about the agency Wyden said a high-ranking official at SSA had spoken with senators and said Bisignano had “personally intervened” at the agency and insisted on personally approving DOGE officials working at SSA with the anonymous whistleblower saying Bisignano would be “bad for the agency.” Bisignano denied those claims though he said he did know SSA’s chief information officer through their work in the private sector and they “sent me a note” when they came into the agency “That’s really about it,” the nominee said Wyden said he doesn’t “believe that this whistleblower would make this up,” and asked for the Senate Finance Committee to investigate the claims further Bisignano also did not explicitly say he’d lock DOGE officials out of Social Security systems but said he was focused on protecting beneficiaries’ privacy and suggested he would be willing to reverse any changes DOGE has already made at the agency if he felt those changes were “inappropriate.” “I’m planning on running the agency reporting to the president,” Bisignano said arguing Trump “made it clear that DOGE is there for input but the agency makes the decisions.” The nominee also suggested SSA’s acting chief Leland Dudek was more to blame for recent chaos at the agency than DOGE due to Dudek’s inexperience Democrats were sharply skeptical of Bisignano during his confirmation hearing pressuring the nominee to denounce DOGE’s actions and decrying the cuts the Musk-helmed group has made to SSA ““DOGE has taken a sledgehammer to the Social Security Administration,” Sen accusing Musk of using “backdoor” tactics to cut Social Security payments by making the system unsustainable through job and office cuts questioned the efficacy of Social Security laying off its workforce while it was already stretched thin Wyden accused Bisignano of thinking artificial intelligence is a “silver bullet” for improving Social Security and criticized the nominee for being largely noncommittal during the hearing saying at the end of the confirmation hearing “You have taken a pass on giving us any ideas and you want us to accept that because you have some background in business we should accept you at face value.” Republicans “You are the person that needs to have this job” and promising to move forward “expeditiously” with his nomination It’s still unclear when the Senate Finance Committee will vote on Bisignano’s nomination following his confirmation hearing Tuesday and when the full Senate could consider whether to confirm him Bisignano is so far widely expected to be confirmed you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits.” “People should start saving now,” O’Malley said predicting the system could be disrupted “within the next 30 to 90 days.” Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. Forbes Community GuidelinesOur community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's Terms of Service. We've summarized some of those key rules below Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain: User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in: Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's Terms of Service. Frank Bisignano, a self-professed “DOGE person,” was called to account for recent upheaval at the Social Security Administration, which provides benefits to roughly 72.5 million people, including retirees and children. The agency has taken center stage in the debate over the usefulness of the team’s cuts to taxpayer services and their effect on Social Security, the social welfare program long regarded as the third rail of national politics — touch it and you get shocked. During the 2½-hour hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts illustrated a scenario of a person with limited internet access and mobility issues being turned away from an understaffed Social Security office hours away from home. She ended with a question for Bisignano: “Isn’t that a benefit cut?” Bisignano responded, “I have no intent to have anything like that happen under my watch.” Bisignano, a Wall Street veteran and one-time defender of corporate policies to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, has served as chairman of Fiserv, a payments and financial services tech firm since 2020. He told CNBC in February that he is “fundamentally a DOGE person” but “the objective isn’t to touch benefits.” Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek leaves Social Security beneficiaries worried about their checks. They should be. The hearing follows a series of announcements of mass federal worker layoffs, cuts to programs, office closures and a planned cut to nationwide Social Security phone services. Asked during the hearing whether Social Security should be privatized, Bisignano responded: “I’ve never heard a word of it, and I’ve never thought about it.” Republicans were largely in favor of Bisignano’s nomination. “If confirmed, you will be responsible for leading an agency with a critical mission, and numerous operational and customer service challenges,” said Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). “Based on your background, I am confident you are up to the task.” The chaos at the Social Security Administration began shortly after acting commissioner Michelle King stepped down in February, a move that came after Musk’s DOGE team sought access to Social Security recipient information. Later that month, the agency announced plans to cut 7,000 people from the agency payroll through layoffs, employee reassignments and an offer of voluntary separation agreements, as part of an intensified effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce through DOGE. Most recently, the agency’s acting commissioner, DOGE supporter Leland Dudek, announced a plan to require in-person identity checks for millions of new and existing recipients while simultaneously closing government offices. That sparked a furor among lawmakers, advocacy groups and program recipients who are worried that the government is placing unnecessary barriers in front of an already vulnerable population. Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, said Tuesday’s hearing “showed that Frank Bisignano is not the cure to the DOGE-manufactured chaos at the Social Security Administration. In fact, he is part of it and, if confirmed, would make it even worse.” The upheaval has made its way to the courts. A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Musk’s team from Social Security systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans, calling its work there a “fishing expedition.” The order also requires the team to delete any personally identifiable data in its possession. The Social Security program faces a looming bankruptcy date if it is not addressed by Congress. The May 2024 trustees’ report states that Social Security’s trust funds will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. Then, Social Security would only be able to pay 83% of benefits, absent changes. Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota declined at the hearing to ask Bisignano any questions. “This is a travesty,” she said. “This is a wholesale effort to dismantle Social Security from the inside out.” Politics California Subscribe for unlimited access Site Map 1);}}@media screen and (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce){.css-wjxay9-SquareButton{transition-property:background-color;transition-duration:0ms;transition-timing-function:cubic-bezier(0 1);}}@media screen and (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce){.css-152q15n-SquareButton{transition-property:background-color;transition-duration:0ms;transition-timing-function:cubic-bezier(0 1);}}.css-x340e0-SquareButton{margin:0;padding:0;display:inline-grid;-webkit-column-gap:8px;column-gap:8px;grid-template-columns:repeat(3 1);}}@media screen and (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce){.css-x340e0-SquareButton{transition-property:background-color;transition-duration:0ms;transition-timing-function:cubic-bezier(0 1);}}.css-v6oqvx{margin:0;font-family:Lato,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:20px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0px;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-stretch:normal;padding:0.5px 0px;}.css-v6oqvx::before{content:'';margin-bottom:-0.4973em;display:block;}.css-v6oqvx::after{content:'';margin-top:-0.4463em;display:block;}Listen The Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines, 14 to 13, in favor of Bisignano’s nomination to run the agency that provides $1.6 trillion in benefits each year to about 70 million beneficiaries. The nomination will be voted on by the full Senate at a date to be determined. .css-90d5w8{margin:0;font-family:Lato,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:20px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0px;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-stretch:normal;padding:0.5px 0px;margin-block-start:12px;}.css-90d5w8::before{content:'';margin-bottom:-0.5038em;display:block;}.css-90d5w8::after{content:'';margin-top:-0.4463em;display:block;}Jessica Hall is a retirement reporter for MarketWatch She was an Age Boom Academy Fellow with Columbia University and completed the Leadership Exchange on Ageism the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram where she and her team earned a Scripps Howard Award for Community Journalism for a series on aging She started her career in Baltimore at The Daily Record and Baltimore Business Journal She has freelanced for Barron’s and other publications President Trump’s pick to lead the Social Security Administration fended off questions regarding the recent upheaval at the embattled agency—and his own involvement in it—at a confirmation hearing that appeared divided along party lines The Social Security Administration has spent the last several years fighting a customer service crisis borne by decreasing budgets relative to inflation combined with an ever-increasing number of beneficiaries and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic Former President Biden brought in Martin O’Malley last year to help right the ship but his departure following the 2024 presidential election coupled with Congress’ refusal to allocate additional funds for the agency as part of deals to keep the government open has led to backsliding on key service metrics And the arrival of operatives aligned with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have raised further concerns about the future of the agency and of the retirement and disability benefits millions of Americans rely on Several high-ranking employees have retired or been pushed out in recent weeks while DOGE operatives and acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek have mulled increasing the administrative burden required for Americans to access their earned benefits including ending the ability to apply for benefits or change direct deposit information by phone and banning the agency from paying people without Social Security numbers on behalf of child or elderly beneficiaries Dudek has pursued cutting around 7,000 employees from the agency’s workforce though to this point only through early retirement voluntary separation incentive payments and reassignments And unions representing workers at the agency have warned the recent move to indefinitely suspend telework for frontline workers outside of the Office of Hearings Operations could lead to half of those workers pursuing jobs elsewhere At a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday Bisignano touted his career as an executive at banks and other financial institutions and vowed to move the agency’s improper payment rate—0.84% according to a 2024 inspector general’s report—“five decimal places to the right.” “This is a mission critical function [of government] and it’s been 89 years with more than 200 million Americans having been beneficiaries of payments,” he said over 100 million people pay into the system and the ability to receive payments on time and accurately is Job One and the ability to be available to our customers I think we’re going to focus on what we need to do to drive down the 1% error rate.” Bisignano repeatedly deflected questions about the current conditions at SSA by stating that he has not been involved in the ongoing decision-making there “Between the time you were nominated and today were you involved in discussions about DOGE or any operations [within Social Security]?” Wyden asked but unfortunately it’s not true,” Wyden said “I have a statement from a senior official who worked at Social Security and recently left the agency The whistleblower statement says that the nominee insisted on personally approving several key DOGE hires at the agency and alleges that Bisignano “frequently” spoke with SSA executives and had been briefed on “key SSA operations and management decisions.” Bisignano requested senior SSA executives to not hire anyone without his explicit approval,” the whistleblower wrote Bisignano spoke frequently about SSA operations.” The whistleblower also said that Bisignano personally intervened to expedite the onboarding of DOGE engineer Akash Bobba on Feb And the nominee was alleged to have recognized the potential mass exodus of employees and warned against allowing the SSA workforce to participate in the deferred resignation program The statement also includes a list of nearly 20 current and former agency officials that the whistleblower alleged can substantiate their claims Bisignano acknowledged speaking with Russo but argued that it was not in his capacity as an affiliate of DOGE and I said that to your staff when they asked me I know Russo from when he was CIO of Shift 4 and when he was CIO at Oracle I don’t know him as a DOGE person; I know him as a CIO.” Bisignano told senators that the administration would not cut benefits and are not planning to privatize the agency as many have feared given the brain drain of executives overall workforce—and planned office—cuts and Musk’s repeated public insistence that the retirement program is a “Ponzi scheme.” And he pushed back on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s assertion that the only people who would object to missing their monthly benefits check are “fraudsters.” “I’ve never thought about privatizing Social Security and that’s not a word that anyone ever talked to me about,” Bisignano said Despite Bisignano’s statements to the contrary argued that efforts to introduce new administrative burdens under the guise of fighting fraud still amount to a benefits cut “Say someone calls the help line to apply for benefits and are told about the new DOGE rule and have to go online or in person,” Warren said but DOGE closed the nearest office and they have to drive two hours to the next closest office there are only two people staffing a 50-person line so he doesn’t even make it to the front before the office closes and he has to come back Let’s assume it takes three months for our fellow to finally straighten this out “Is the person getting the $5,000 they are legally entitled to?” Warren asked “My point is there are backdoor ways to accomplish the same thing as a benefits cut—longer lines and everyone who gives up or dies before they get their benefits sorted out due to those delays is also a benefit cut,” Warren said touting his business acumen and objecting to Democrats’ concern about Social Security’s future In a Senate confirmation hearing marked by partisan tensions and sharp questions about the future of Social Security nominee Frank Bisignano firmly stated he has no intention of steering the agency toward privatization—a concern that has gained traction amid broader fears of cost-cutting initiatives under the Trump administration “I’ve never thought about privatizing,” Bisignano said offering what he called a “guarantee” that Social Security would remain a public program under his leadership tapped by President Trump to head the Social Security Administration (SSA) emphasized that his focus would be on modernizing operations and reducing inefficiencies—not altering the fundamental structure of the program The hearing comes at a pivotal moment for Social Security which distributes over $1.6 trillion annually to about 70 million Americans With projections showing the program may face benefit reductions by 2035 due to funding shortfalls many lawmakers have grown increasingly protective of its mission and skeptical of any perceived threats—especially from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Democratic senators grilled Bisignano on DOGE’s influence and potential data access violations that could undermine service and erode public trust Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island warned of a possible effort to "discredit" Social Security in order to justify privatization by "tech bros and private equity folks." Bisignano pushed back on that narrative saying his priority is to ensure timely and accurate benefit payments “My job is to make sure claims are processed correctly and the American people are served,” he said some senators were frustrated by what they saw as evasive answers Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Bisignano on whether service delays tied to budget-driven staffing reductions could be considered a form of benefit cut “It sounds like a horrible situation,” but stopped short of labeling it a cut Republicans on the committee largely rallied behind Bisignano pointing to his executive experience at firms like Fiserv and JPMorgan Chase Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho praised him as someone who “knows how to deliver” results for a program as vital as Social Security Crapo also echoed assurances from the president himself stating that “we are not going to cut Social Security benefits.” In addition to promising not to privatize the program Bisignano committed to safeguarding Americans' personal information Responding to concerns about DOGE personnel accessing SSA systems “I will do whatever is required to protect the information.” He did not explicitly say whether he would bar DOGE employees from accessing SSA databases in the future The nominee also highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence to help root out fraud and reduce the agency’s error rate—currently at 1% “That’s five decimal places too high,” Bisignano said signaling an ambition to use technology to streamline operations without compromising service or security Bisignano’s path to confirmation appears likely his reassurances may not be enough to quell broader fears about the Trump administration’s long-term intentions for Social Security Bisignano’s promise to keep Social Security in public hands remains a central takeaway—though one that will be closely monitored as his nomination moves forward Senate Democrats questioned Frank Bisignano on privatization of the federal agency’s function during a confirmation hearing Tuesday Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano pushed back when prominent Senate Democrats questioned him about privatizing Social Security during a hearing Tuesday on his nomination to lead the Social Security Administration While Bisignano did not explicitly say that he would fight efforts to move the social safety net program into private hands he offered a guarantee of sorts that the government agency would survive his tenure "I've never thought about privatizing [Social Security],” he said when Sen pressed him on the possibility of privatization "It's not a word that anybody's ever talked to me about and I don’t see this institution as anything other than a government agency run for the benefit of the American public.” "Let's hope that's the way this ends," Whitehouse replied I'll make it end that way," Bisignano said asked Bisignano if he favors privatization later in the hearing he did not give a direct "yes" or "no" answer and implied that Congress will decide that issue “The commissioner's job is to ensure that the agency operates correctly," Bisignano said in response to her questions "I want to provide all the information required by the Senate but I don't believe I'm a decision maker.” Bisignano, who became CEO of the Milwaukee-based payment processing giant in 2020, was nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the SSA in December The Senate Finance Committee convened the chamber’s first confirmation hearing on his nomination Tuesday Prominent progressives have been raising concerns about the Trump administration shrinking the Social Security Administration amid multiple actions against various federal agencies the billionaire CEO of car-maker Tesla who leads the Department of Government Efficiency has been focused on slashing government spending Musk called Social Security "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time" in an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast BlackRock CEO Larry Fink further fanned the flames last week when he suggested moving some Social Security payments into private accounts in an interview with the news outlet Semafor Senate Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts cited Fink's statements in a letter Sunday addressed to Bisignano asking him to fight Social Security cuts and divest from Fiserv if he is confirmed About 73 million Americans who are 62 or older receive Social Security payments While Democrats on the panel aggressively questioned Bisignano Republicans — who are in the Senate majority — largely signaled that they favor his nomination "I can't imagine somebody more qualified for this position," Sen Wyden disclosed a whistleblower report suggesting that Bisignano insisted several DOGE employees be onboarded into the government agency "The whistleblower said you personally intervened to get DOGE officials installed and I understand there's one person who got basically approved in the middle of the night as a result of your insistence," Wyden said The Monday whistleblower statement says Bisignano asked senior SSA officials not to hire anyone without his explicit approval personally appointed the agency’s chief information officer and then intervened late in the evening to place a DOGE engineer at the administration who was given access to Americans’ personal information Bisignano denied parts of the whistleblower report but said he did not meet with the agency's acting commissioner A Fiserv spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Last week a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring DOGE employees from accessing Social Security recipients' personal information Democrats on the committee repeatedly pressed Bisignano on whether he supports cuts to Social Security and if he agrees with Musk that the safety net program is a "Ponzi scheme." Bisignano avoided directly answering those questions but pledged to make sure Americans continue to receive Social Security benefits "I have no objective," he said in response to a question about possible cuts "And I've been told by the president to ensure that we preserve and protect Social Security.” Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts The Federal Reserve instant payments system may cut fees after it attracts more financial institutions The student loan sale is the latest loose end Discover seeks to tie up since Capital One announced its intent to purchase the card company Subscribe to the Payments Dive free daily newsletter The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. WASHINGTON — One day after finance executive Frank Bisignano testified before the Senate to be confirmed as head of the Social Security Administration, Senate Democrats called on President Donald Trump to withdraw him from consideration. They say Bisignano lied to the Senate Finance Committee about his involvement with the U.S. DOGE Service since being nominated in December. “He hand-picked DOGE agents and pressured Social Security employees to cut corners to get them on the job faster,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Wednesday. “He told Social Security staff not to hire anybody without his explicit approval” and was aware of plans to shutter regional offices, to reduce the agency’s work force and to access Americans’ personal data. As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance committee, Wyden said the Bisignano vote must not proceed and called for a bipartisan investigation into the nominee’s actions. “To confirm him as head of Social Security is hiring an arsonist to run the fire station,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. “He’s a cutter. Companies bring him in to slash workers. His claim to fame is cutting and shrinking. He’s the last person we need to run the Social Security office.” About 73 million Americans rely on Social Security benefits, including retired workers who receive payments as partial replacements for their income, as well as people with disabilities. Bisignano is chief executive of the financial services technology firm Fiserv. In February, he told CNBC that he is “fundamentally a DOGE person” but did not plan to touch Social Security benefits if confirmed as the agency's commissioner. Last week, the Social Security Administration said millions of recipients and applicants who cannot verify their identities online will need to visit agency field offices in person starting March 31. That follows reports from February that the agency plans to cut at least 7,000 workers from its staff of about 57,000 and close many of its offices. Schumer said Wednesday the SSA plans to shutter as many as 60% of its field locations. “What is the intent?” Schumer asked. “Kill Social Security by strangling it, by not letting it work, by making it so that it’s impossible for people to get their help and their benefits.” The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Senate Democrats’ call to withdraw Bisignano from consideration. Appointed by Trump, the agency’s current acting commissioner is Leland Dudek, who suggested last week that the agency should be shut down if DOGE wasn’t allowed to access its data. On Friday, Dudek walked back the comment after receiving “clarifying guidance” about a federal judge’s temporary restraining order that blocked SSA from granting DOGE personnel access to systems that contain personally identifying information. Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker keep beneficiaries’ payments on time and improve technology if confirmed as head of the Social Security Administration the financial-payments expert who is President Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration sat for his confirmation hearing on Tuesday and fielded questions on his plans for the embattled agency that pays benefits to about 70 million Americans WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration said Tuesday he would be “happy to work with anybody who can help us” as he faced sharp questions from Democrats over tech billionaire Elon Musk’s incursion into the agency CEO of the Wisconsin-based payment and financial technology company Fiserv Inc. brushed aside questions during his confirmation hearing about the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s access to the agency and said he’s spent his career protecting people’s personal information He told the Senate Committee on Finance that he would work on cutting call wait times for Social Security beneficiaries and suggested he had no plans to cut benefits “I’m happy to work with anybody who can help us,” said Bisignano, when asked about comments he made last month saying he is “fundamentally a DOGE person” and would work with the group “I believe that I’m fundamentally about efficiency myself,” he added Tuesday The hearing came at an uncertain time for the Social Security Administration which is in charge of disbursing monthly retirement and disability payments to more than 70 million Americans DOGE has scrutinized the agency in recent weeks making plans to cut staff and eliminate field offices Just last week, a federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing Americans’ private data saying the Social Security Administration likely violated privacy laws by giving Musk's aides “unbridled access” to personal information The ruling prompted the acting head of the agency to threaten to shut down the agency as he argued the order blocking "DOGE affiliates" from the agency's systems was so broad it could apply to all staff Trump nominated Bisignano for the post in December praising Bisignano for having “a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations.” On Tuesday, Democratic senators grilled Bisignano over DOGE’s influence in the agency, which has included some unfounded allegations of fraud and proposed policy changes that Democrats warn could hinder beneficiaries’ access Several Democrats framed DOGE’s planned cuts to the agency as the first steps toward dismantling the entitlement program accused Bisignano of lying about his contact with Musk’s group Wyden said he heard from a whistleblower who claimed Bisignano “personally intervened to get key DOGE officials installed at the agency” in recent weeks despite claims from Bisignano he has not been involved in the agency’s operations Bisignano said he “was not involved in onboarding anybody in the middle of the night” and denied communicating with Dudek, the acting director. But he acknowledged speaking with Mike Russo, a former tech executive linked to DOGE Asked at one point if he would reverse a DOGE decision if he felt it was inappropriate Bisignano did not address DOGE specifically but said: “If something was inappropriate He said he has “never thought” about privatizing Social Security The Fiserv leader leaned into his background in the private sector throughout the hearing noting his experience managing payment processing companies and Citigroup before joining Fiserv in 2020 He said he’s “spent my entire career protecting (personally identifiable information).” He is the highest-paid CEO of a public company in Wisconsin and had a 2023 compensation package of about $28 million, according to a Journal Sentinel analysis Bisignano in his testimony also sought to address service concerns He labeled current phone wait times for beneficiaries unacceptable calling 20-minute-plus wait times a thing of “yesteryear.” He said he believes he could lower those wait times to “under a minute,” suggesting artificial intelligence and other technology could play a role in the process “We will meet beneficiaries where they want to be met — whether in person in field offices Still, Democratic senators highlighted a recent policy change that will require beneficiaries to verify their identities in person — a move two members of the Finance Committee called “disastrous” and warned could force seniors and disabled people “to travel over 100 miles to sign up for benefits.” In addition, DOGE’s website displaying federal cuts suggests it plans to cancel the leases of nearly two dozen Social Security Administration field offices across the country, including an office in Green Bay and another in Wausau. The agency last month said it planned to cut about 7,000 workers from its nearly 60,000-person staff. At multiple points during the hearing, senators pressed Bisignano about whether he would commit to not closing offices in their state. Bisignano said it is “hard to commit to not doing things without ever having analyzed it.” “I can commit to you or anybody that before an office is closed, they will be notified of the analytics and be a partner in the decision,” he told Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico. Republicans, meanwhile, showered praise on Bisignano. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said Bisignano’s work history makes him “exceptionally qualified for the task ahead.” And Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, called him “the right person to lead” the agency. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who sits on the Finance Committee, pushed back on Democrats’ criticism of DOGE and Wyden’s allegations that Bisignano lied about alleged recent contact with DOGE and agency employees. “I can’t imagine finding a more qualified individual for this position,” Johnson said of Bisignano. Crapo ended the hearing on a similar note. “The attack all day has been on DOGE and undercutting Social Security and shutting it down or privatizing it or whatever it is,” Crapo said. “The bottom line is the president of the United States has said very clearly that we are not going to cut Social Security benefits.” Frank Bisignano Confirmation HearingFrank Bisignano Confirmation HearingFrank Bisignano testifies before Congress in confirmation hearing for Social Security Chief A confirmation email is on it’s way to your inbox allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism Fair use is permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing Senator Mike Crapo (01:38): this meeting this morning will provide members with the opportunity to make remarks on Dr We'll notify members of a time and location later today to conduct the vote Oz has years of experience as an acclaimed physician and public health advocate His background makes him uniquely qualified to manage the intricacies of CMS Oz discussed his vision to ensure CMS provides Americans with access to superb care I look forward to working with him if confirmed to accomplish this goal I was also encouraged to hear that he will focus on modernizing federal healthcare programs work to fix our broken clinician payment system and will partner with Congress to achieve pharmaceutical benefit manager reform Oz will work tirelessly to deliver much-needed change at CMS I'll be voting in favor of his nomination and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same I now recognize Ranking Member Wyden for his remarks Senator Ronald Lee Wyden (02:46): Later today we're going to vote on the Oz nomination I'm just going to spend a few minutes describing why I can't support the nomination Oz was given the chance to assure the American people that he would not be a rubber stamp for Republican plans to gut Medicaid and hike Affordable Care Act premiums When I asked him a yes or no question about whether he would protect Medicaid That's a stark contrast to what I heard at town hall meetings opened all in Oregon the past week a mom and a daughter who count on Medicaid to help with Katina's medical expenses Katina can thrive in the community as an Oregonian who lives with Down syndrome (03:46)There are countless other families in Oregon and across the country who are terrified of these cuts Oz also ducked a number of my other questions When pressed on whether nurses belong in nursing homes "That was a complicated question." I just found that a jaw-dropper It isn't complicated for the rest of us whether nursing homes ought to have adequate staff to take your mom to the bathroom or give your grandpa meals Not only did the nominee dodge and weave during questioning in his confirmation hearing he also failed to provide factual responses to our written questions submitted after the hearing (04:32)This lack of responsiveness to Congress ought to be unacceptable to every member of our committee but the Republican majority once again seems eager to disregard their own congressional oversight responsibilities when Donald Trump calls the shots Oz is the second Trump nominee to come before this committee with a record of dodging Medicare and social security taxes Nurses and firefighters across America pay taxes with every single hard-earned paycheck but the multimillionaire nominated to run Medicare can't be bothered to do the same thing this is a continuation of our efforts to spotlight healthcare middlemen that in my view are leeching off the healthcare system at the expense of taxpayers and seniors Our investigation found that too many for-profit insurance companies are spending billions of taxpayer dollars on marketing middlemen to drown seniors in calls and mailers These tactics are designed to pressure them into enrolling in private health plans that might not even cover their preferred doctor or medicines or that may put up unexpected roadblocks to getting the care they need Insurance companies and these marketing middlemen have orchestrated a complex and complicated system to line the pockets of shareholders by raising costs for seniors and taxpayers and invading oversight and accountability Oz's history of basically acting as a salesman for Medicare Advantage putting them in charge of regulating these middlemen is almost like letting the fox guard the proverbial hen house The bottom line is that American tax dollars are in too many instances being used for profit by profit insurance companies for shady marketing practices that take advantage of older people (06:41)For-profit insurance companies spend five times more on marketing and administrative expenses than traditional Medicare If Elon Musk and his cronies at DOGE actually cared about targeting waste and fraud they'd be focused on waste in Medicare Advantage rather than targeting Americans hard-earned social security We've successfully fought for more consumer protections against predatory MA marketing Oz to pledge not to roll those protections back He may be open to our concerns on that and if he's confirmed I'm going to hold him to that and watchdog this issue spotlighting abuses But the bottom line colleagues is that this is an ability who has shown… To a nominee who has shown no ability to or interest in pushing back on the dangerous Trump healthcare agenda Senator Mike Crapo (07:34): We will now turn to any senator wanting to make a statement I ask each of you who do choose to make a statement to keep your remarks to three minutes or less so we can keep on time for our social security nominee Senator Maria Cantwell (07:49): I'm speaking about this pivotal vote today because I want to be clear about the devastating impacts that Medicaid will have on our constituents that is included in the House Republican budget Oz's willingness to consider some interesting and important reforms like PBMs or the Basic Health Plan he was unwilling to commit to opposing a cut to Medicaid the proposal from the house budget would require massive cuts to Medicaid and I appreciate that my Republican Senate colleagues know this and which is why it's not in their particular proposal But now we have to fight the negotiations between the House and the Senate and hold our colleagues accountable to protect this important program he would not say no and certainly not no to Donald President Trump or Elon Musk or to the House of Representatives The House Committee that oversees Medicaid and Medicare is responsible for funding $880 billion from these cuts (08:52)So you can see from this chart the only real place to get this is particularly if Medicare is off the table is from Medicaid Even if the committee completely eliminated every single other program in the ENC account it still gives them one-sixth of what they need there is no other way to meet this mandate My colleagues who are trying to play down this thread or act like there's some other way around it Anyone who's telling their constituents is just not being honest with them Spokane and Tri-Cities about these Medicaid cuts and was joined by physicians patients who do not want to shoulder this burden A patient like Gail Halverson from Spokane who was terrified that the system that provided her and her late partner who just passed with affordable healthcare will no longer be there for them (09:55)She told me So are we just going to be left to die?" Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with the most advanced trauma care in the region receives 39% of their revenue from Medicaid The CEO told me that the cut of this magnitude would be existential So everyone knows that this issue is on the table and yet we don't have a nominee before us who will say clearly he doesn't plan to cut Medicaid According to the Congressional budget office Medicaid related expenditures account for 93% of the non-Medicare spending in the House Energy and Commerce Committee The lion's share will absolutely have to come from Medicaid It's time to now get a nominee who would support that with this tsunami of cuts that we're looking at I hope my colleagues will turn it down as well and I hope our colleagues will join us in a fight to say no cuts to Medicaid Senator Mike Crapo (11:03): and I appreciate your keeping the three-minute time limit Senator Maggie Hassan (11:09): Chair and Ranking Member Wyden for this markup and this opportunity to discuss the serious implications of having Dr Oz oversee healthcare for more than 160 million Americans Oz has shown a dangerous willingness to say or do anything that President Trump directs him to do Oz refused to commit to following the law in the event that President Trump directs him to do something illegal Oz would also be tasked with implementing the devastating cuts to Medicaid proposed by congressional Republicans which could lead to as many as 30,000 children in my state losing their health insurance staters want Congress to increase access to healthcare not a budget plan that would take healthcare away from children seniors and nursing homes and thousands of people living in rural areas of my state (12:13)Dr Oz is one of several Trump administration nominees that say that they recognize the real difference that Medicaid and other health programs make and yet they are joining an administration and are supported by Congressional Republicans who plan to slash the health coverage and programs that people rely on In my state that includes parents that I just met yesterday of a young man with autism whose healthcare is provided by both Medicaid and Medicare and would not be able to obtain private insurance otherwise It's also my constituent up in the north country over the last week expressed her concern that her twins with severe disabilities would also be pushed off of Medicaid leaving her and her family without access to critical care for them has something called a trigger law that applies to its Medicaid expansion program (13:14)Should the degree of federal funding for Medicaid expansion which among other things provides critical mental health care and addiction treatment which was the federal commitment for Medicaid expansion 10 states in this country will automatically lose Medicaid expansion Oz's assertion that he cares about Medicaid to commit to protecting the Medicaid program and his willingness to join this administration I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing the confirmation of Dr Senator Mike Crapo (14:06): Senator Hassan and Senator Smith and Senator Luján have agreed to let Senator Warnock go next Senator Raphael Warnock (14:14): I was fighting for my state to expand Medicaid which would give an estimated 600,000 Georgians access to affordable healthcare 15 years almost to the day of the Affordable Care Act being signed into law and still Georgia has not expanded Medicaid Georgia continues to deny its citizens access to this program that's being supported by the tax-paying Georgians now Washington Republicans have proposed to gut almost $900 billion from Medicaid to give millionaires and billionaires an additional tax cut potentially kicking millions of Americans off of their healthcare insurance Medicaid covers almost 40 million children across the country Medicaid also supports one-fifth of all hospital spending especially in communities without many hospital options (15:31)Washington Republicans and Dr Oz say they want to make Medicaid more efficient by requiring people who get their health insurance through Medicaid to fill out government paperwork each month to prove that they are working Nearly all adults enrolled in Medicaid are either working I know that may be hard to believe in a country that increasingly maligns poor people for being poor these folks are already working or they're caregivers or their students Oz and Washington Republicans want them to do Republicans need a whole lot of money to pay for their tax cuts for the wealthiest among us And they know if you give people enough bureaucratic hoops to jump through then enough working people will get tripped up by the red tape and lose their healthcare (16:35)And so that's the plan Less money spent on a working mom's cancer treatment because she didn't fill out the right form every month by the right deadline so you have more money for billionaire tax cuts Georgia is the only state with work reporting requirements in its Medicaid program and all of this program has to show for itself We've got nearly 600,000 Georgians who are in the Medicaid gap The governor's program has enrolled a whopping 6,500 people but as I close and nobody believes a Baptist preacher when he says as I close Let me be really clear that I'm voting against Dr I think he is certainly more knowledgeable than Secretary Kennedy about the program that he's tasked to lead but we've got to take seriously the needs of millions of Americans who will lose their healthcare And so I'm voting no for its nomination and I urge my colleagues to do the same Senator Mike Crapo (17:49): Senator Tina Smith (17:50): I'm speaking today in opposition to the nomination of Dr I'm voting no because of what I see as a concerted effort by the Trump administration and some congressional Republicans to use Medicaid as an ATM to pay for tax breaks for the biggest most successful corporations and wealthy individuals And at a time when Minnesotans are struggling to afford their lives and President Trump's policies are making it worse Oz who will be an enthusiastic participant and a plan that will make Medicaid health insurance harder to get and more expensive 1.2 million people get their health insurance through Medicaid people with disabilities and patients struggling with mental and behavioral health challenges (18:45)Medicaid is the health insurance that covers more than half of nursing home residents in our state and it covers one in three Minnesota children and it is the biggest health insurer for mental and behavioral healthcare for Minnesotans and Americans Taking away health insurance coverage from people won't cut sickness they just won't be able to get it in the most efficient Taking away healthcare insurance will hurt people and that is the most important issue at stake here but it will also cost more money at the end of the day and I have heard so many stories about Medicaid and how it saves lives I want to share one story with the committee (19:37)Last week I met a remarkable young woman appropriately Hope suffered from debilitating and life-threatening psychosis "I would not be alive today." In Minnesota Medicaid covers inpatient mental health care Hope was committed and she was treated in inpatient care and she got intensive treatment for her psychosis covered by Medicaid A diagnosis of psychosis can feel so hopeless She needed to learn how to understand and control her illness and today she's able to live independently and is able to manage her mental health And today she gets her health insurance through her employer Oz because I do not trust him or this administration to follow the law and to protect our healthcare I cannot trust him or this administration to run CMS to protect access to healthcare for Hope or for the 1.2 million Minnesotans who get their insurance through Medicaid Senator Mike Crapo (20:44): Senator Ben Ray Luján (20:47): recently a mom from New Mexico shared the story of her son who was diagnosed with hemophilia at the age of six Six-year-olds should be entering the first grade arguing with their siblings about whose turn it is to do the dishes Six-year-olds should not have to worry about whether or not they get to see a doctor or whether they will get the medicine they need to feel better so they can do all the things a six-year-old should be doing That mom from New Mexico told me she is scared Scared that if her son's Medicaid is ripped away (21:33)Now I know that each of us is hearing similar stories from our constituents and based on news accounts there were lots of town halls and gatherings across America this last week Somewhere members of the House participated From the meetings I had with this nominee and from what I've seen so far from this administration it's clear to me that they plan to gut the Medicaid program that serves 784 That's 784,000 lives that depend on this coverage to survive get the help they need and the medical support that is crucial to living happy and productive lives I will not stand by and watch as families are left behind by this administration There are better ways to improve our health system but slashing essential programs like Medicaid to pay for a Trump tax scam is not one of them (22:29)I cannot support a nominee who will tear apart a healthcare system to justify giving millionaires and billionaires more money To the folks across the country making the median income and less shouldn't they be getting the brunt of this tax cut So I urge my colleagues to think about the millions of Americans my constituents who depend on the programs that this nominee will have control over and I urge them to vote no Senator Mike Crapo (23:15): Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (23:18): let me express my appreciation to Senator Cantwell for her remarks which I thought pretty well summarized where we are with respect to the looming attack on Medicaid I just want to point out that in Rhode Island 60% of our nursing home folks are funded by Medicaid and nursing homes are not in great shape to begin with This could be a case not only of people's aunts and grandmothers losing the funding that keeps them in the nursing home but the nursing home not being able to survive financially (23:58)45% of births in Rhode Island at Women & Infants Hospital which is a legendarily expert OBGYN hospital Women & Infants can't afford to have Medicaid stripped away and it would put that hospital in financial peril to lose Medicaid And then many of us lived through the opioid epidemic Senator Hassan up in New Hampshire experienced the same sort of thing that we did in Rhode Island and many of the people in Rhode Island and around the country who are in that brave and noble path to addiction recovery are supported by Medicaid and to undercut them would be cruel as well as stupid (24:45)I have three topics that I've raised with Dr It looks like when CMS in a massive abundance of stupidity turned on one of its best performing national ACOs and tried to strip it because of a brief and disputed departure below the 5,000 patient minimum And I hope that CMS doesn't go back for revenge and leaves things as they are and lets one of the nation's highest performing ACOs continue to be a high performing ACO Rhode Island suffers from a 20 plus percent differential in payments Backus Hospital is probably 25 minutes from our border and Connecticut Saint Anne's is probably five minutes from our border in Massachusetts Neither of those hospitals provide the high-level services that Rhode Island Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital and Hasbro Children's Hospital all in the same campus provide (25:51)And CMS sits on its hands and couldn't care less about doing anything about that differential even as it erodes the financial security of Rhode Island's healthcare base I've been working with CMS since the first Trump administration and it's been groundhog damn day with people changing and having to get back to square one on trying to let Rhode Island be a model for a better way to treat families and patients where the individual's nearing the end of their life We do really stupid things to people because of Medicare rules that don't make any sense in that circumstance and make even less sense when there's a value-based care model that's in place So I hope we can make some real progress on those three things and we have to defend Medicaid Senator Mike Crapo (26:42): did you wish to make a statement at this point Senator Roger Marshall (26:51): I just want to emphasize that as I talk to President Trump and the administration and my fellow Republicans that we want to strengthen Medicaid for the most vulnerable and then that's our goal And I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle on figuring out how to save it But I think you would also agree with me that what we're spending on Medicaid now looks like a rocket ship that we've increased spending on Medicaid by 50% over the last five years We'll spend a trillion dollars this year on Medicaid We want to make sure that Medicaid dollars are spent on the most vulnerable of people That should be the focus is on how we save Medicaid (27:49)When you're spending a [inaudible 00:27:51] They found loopholes to manipulate and now we're spending probably 83 billion more a year on Medicare Advantage patients as opposed to they'd been on traditional Medicare And I think similar situations are happening with Medicaid managed care systems as well So I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle and I hope that there's an amendment or there's an opportunity to fix that very broken system that my friends across the aisle who speak so boldly about changing Medicare Advantage that they'll vote for reforming it as well whenever we had that opportunity just emphasize that Republicans are here to save Medicaid that we want to make sure that we strengthen Medicaid for the most vulnerable of our society who needs it Senator Mike Crapo (28:47): so everyone understands what will happen with regard to this nomination the committee will recess at this point briefly before we then move to our social security hearing and we will reconvene to vote on the nomination of Dr Oz off the Senate floor at a time to be announced today when we know when the votes are happening Members will be notified at the time that we get that confirmed The committee will be recessed briefly until we begin the next hearing Senator Mike Crapo (39:33): Today we will consider the nomination of Frank Bisignano to be the commissioner of the Social Security Administration congratulations on your nomination and welcome to you and your family Thank you for your willingness to serve and for your cooperation with this committee throughout our rigorous vetting process Both sides have generally agreed the Social Security Administration needs a confirmed commissioner to address the ongoing challenges at the agency I commend President Trump for putting forward a commissioner nominee so early in this administration (40:14)Mr Bisignano has more than 30 years of executive leadership experience at leading financial institutions He's brought a focus on innovation and operational excellence to his current role as chief executive officer of Fiserv a leader in payments and financial technology that is responsible for processing more than $2.5 trillion in payments daily you will be responsible for leading an agency with a critical mission and numerous operational and customer service challenges as you will hear this morning It's hard to overstate the importance of Social Security (41:02)The Social Security Administration has the responsibility of overseeing this important program as well as the supplemental security income program assigning Social Security numbers and issuing Social Security cards among other workloads In carrying out these significant responsibilities the Social Security Administration interacts with millions of customers each year The public expects the agency to provide responsive service and timely decisions on their claims the SSA faces many challenges in meeting these expectations After years of implementation delays and the ultimate failure of its next generation telephony project SSA has made some progress with its national 800 number (41:57)However much more is needed Callers to national 800 number who want to wait for a representative are still spending too long on hold and many still struggle to actually get through to a representative when they call Americans also continue to wait too long for an initial disability decision particularly in certain parts of the country SSA's shift to an appointment-focused approach for field office visits underscores the need for SSA to make it easier for customers to schedule appointments online The Trump administration has been clear that it is focused on addressing waste and I applaud its efforts to maximize government productivity (42:45)A Senate-confirmed commissioner should be leading these efficiency efforts if confirmed to serve as the next commissioner of Social Security this responsibility will be falling to you measured and data-driven approach to evaluating policy and operational changes aimed at improving SSA's efficiency and productivity If you need additional tools that require statutory changes I urge you to bring those changes to this committee and our house counterparts Today's hearing will provide an opportunity to hear more about your vision for Social Security and how we can work together to help ensure that the SSA fulfills its critical mission Thank you again for your willingness to serve and congratulations on your nomination I recognize Ranking Member Wyden for his opening remarks MR. WYDEN (43:41): This morning the finance committee gathers to discuss the future of the Social Security Administration and its potential new leader Today's news brings fresh reports that it is bedlam out there in Social Security That's what I heard last week from senior Social Security staffers at a town hall meeting I arranged in my hometown of Portland for federal employees Senior Social Security staff told me that they were short-staffed even before DOGE arrived how the websites are crashing and seniors are getting lost in the system It is clear that this is happening around America today Every day there's more hard evidence of this So I believe it is time to bring a halt to DOGE's destruction of Social Security before it goes any further (44:52)With these developments 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 Today's hearing is going to be an opportunity for our nominee to tell the American people whose side is he on Is he on the side of American workers who paid into Social Security and now are being whipsawed by the DOGE bureaucracy or is he on the side of Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick the Donald Trump cronies who think Social Security is a pyramid scheme and that seniors looking for help when their checks don't come on time must somehow be fraudsters The urgency for today's hearing couldn't be greater Since Donald Trump took office Social Security has experienced the most chaos in its history sending seniors to overcrowded and understaffed field offices that have also been put on the chopping block for closure (46:10)Political appointees poking around your most sensitive private information creating a big risk for what I call the mother of all identity thefts claims of massive fraud by Donald Trump and Elon Musk This approach is a prescription for denying earned benefits to seniors and Americans with disabilities and I want to be clear as we begin this discussion If Americans lose access to their Social Security because of Trump-spawn chaos Both Donald Trump and Elon Musk have repeated claims that there are millions of Social Security numbers assigned to people over 150 years of age and they're still drawing benefits Elon Musk says there's a massive amount of fraud and that Social Security is (47:10)Donald Trump says that money is being paid to "many Americans over age of 100." Donald Trump thinks more than 1,000 people over 220 years of age are actually being paid by Social Security Many Americans may be wondering if those individuals are still receiving their Revolutionary War pensions at this point Last year the Social Security Inspector General issued a report showing Social Security retirement and disability has a criminal fraud rate of that's much lower than the 1.4 billion in assets that reportedly went missing on the Tesla balance sheet just last week (48:00)Social Security itself reported 89,000 Americans aged 99 and over receiving benefits in December of last year and Social Security automatically stops paying benefits at age 115 even if a death has not been reported "Why DOGE is struggling to find fraud in Social Security." So what's behind these lies on Social Security" in my view they're deliberately misleading the public to set the stage for cuts to Social Security benefits that are going to be draped in anti-fraud rhetoric the same way we're hearing the case being made for cutting Medicaid Senate Democrats are going to fight attempts to cut Americans earned benefits at every single turn (48:58)Our nominee has made a career out of taking over troubled businesses and using what I think is a pretty ominous recipe gut the company by firing hundreds or thousands of workers sell off pieces of the business and merge with another company That resume and approach ought to concern Americans if somebody is thinking about applying that pattern to Social Security this approach is a prelude to privatizing Social Security and handing it over to private equity Every single member of this committee knows that there are ways to strengthen Social Security But what Social Security does well year after year is to get the checks out the door to seniors that rely on them on time every single month (49:43)I'll close by saying improving Social Security doesn't start with shuttering the offices that handle modernization anti-fraud activities and civil rights violations It doesn't start with indiscriminately firing or buying out thousands of workers And it doesn't start with restricting customer service over the phone and drawing up plans to close field and regional offices Trump plan for Social Security is to take away earned benefits from seniors hollow out the agency in preparation to hand it over to private equity and give the savings over to their billionaire friends The fact of the matter is Social Security could be fully funded for generations to come if you just cracked down on billionaire tax cheats and eliminated the payroll tax cap for millionaires and billionaires (50:34)This year alone the finance committee has considered multiple Trump nominees that for one strategy or another have figured out ways to avoid paying what they owe into the programs that they are being nominated to actually run Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent paid little to no Medicare tax and Dr Oz managed to avoid paying both Medicare and Social Security So this morning our nominee has an opportunity to share his vision for improving Social Security And Americans deserve to hear this individual's vision for making customer service easier which seem to get more and more strong each day Americans deserve to hear a clear rejection of Elon Musk's view that Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme perpetrating fraud on the American people Senator Mike Crapo (51:31): Bisignano will share his opening statement Bisignano has more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in banks and global financial institutions He currently serves as the Chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer of Fiserv Inc. Fiserv serves clients in more than 100 countries and processes $ 2.5 trillion in payments with over 850 million daily transactions Fiserv has been recognized as a leading company by Fortune Prior to becoming CEO and Chairman of First Data Core Bisignano was Co-Chief operating officer for JPMorganChase and the Chief Executive Officer of its mortgage banking unit (52:29)After the housing crisis the mortgage banking unit reported 2012 net income of $3.3 billion a turnaround that reversed a net loss of $2.1 billion in the prior year Bisignano held several roles at Citigroup that included Chief Administrative Officer for the corporate and investment bank and CEO of Citigroup's Global Transactions Services business the largest securities and cash management business in the world he served as the firm-wide deputy head of technology and operations a post he held during the 9/11 when he deployed and ran Citigroup's business continuity plan I have four obligatory questions that we ask all nominees before the Senate Finance Committee is there anything that you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you've been nominated MR. BISIGNANO (53:36): Senator Mike Crapo (53:37): that would in any way prevent you from fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to which you've been nominated MR. BISIGNANO (53:48): Senator Mike Crapo (53:50): to respond to any reasonable summons to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Congress if you are confirmed MR. BISIGNANO (54:00): Senator Mike Crapo (54:01): do you commit to providing a prompt response in writing to any questions addressed to you by any senator of this committee MR. BISIGNANO (54:09): Senator Mike Crapo (54:11): MR. BISIGNANO (54:16): Senator Mike Crapo (54:32): MR. BISIGNANO (54:38): I'm honored to appear before you as President's nominee to serve as commissioner of the Social Security Administration President Trump was elected by the American people to make life better for Americans and he has made protecting and preserving Social Security an important part of his vision Social Security touches lives of nearly every American whether you're paying into it or receiving benefits I'm grateful for the faith President Trump has placed in me to lead this critical agency who is here with me today and my three children (55:36)I was born into a working-class family in Brooklyn It was a multi-generational immigrant household My maternal grandfather naturally immigrated and was a World War I veteran My father who was an orphan by age 11 was a veteran of World War II were my role models and instilled in me the virtues of service It was also at home I learned the importance of hard work boarding ships early in the morning and sometimes wouldn't come home for days He took pride in his job and he was awarded the Albert Gallatin Award He was the hardest working person I've known (56:37)I began my professional life on Wall Street in the late 1970s and went on to serve in multiple leadership positions at Citigroup and JPMorgan In these roles and others I led large organizations through challenging times As Chief Administrative Officer of Citigroup I helped ensure the world's largest banking system remained up and running in the face of the unthinkable tragedy I had responsibility for 16,000 people in lower-Manhattan and we managed to evacuate all but six I played a critical role in keeping money moving through the financial crisis I worked closely with the government to restart the housing market after the mortgage crisis (57:36)More recently I was the CEO and Chairman of First Data where my team and I worked to transform the company from the world's largest traditional payment processor into a technology innovator where I'm currently CEO and Chairman of the board Fiserv fundamentally serves every American household Our company today process more than 250 million payments totaling more than two and a half trillion dollars a day Social Security processes 74 million payments a month totaling 1.5 trillion a year (58:27)In 2020 during COVID I was called on by the government again and stepped up and we served the underbanked "The only just government is government that serves its citizens not itself." This is the belief I will bring to Social Security Administration I'll make the agency a premier services organization as I have done multiple times with other institutions throughout my career Social Security is a payments-based customer-facing program that delivers benefits to more than 70 million Americans each month It provides essential financial support for the retired and disabled We will meet beneficiaries where they want to be met I'm committed to reducing wait times and providing beneficiaries with a better experience Waiting 20 minutes plus to get an answer will be of yesteryear (59:42)I also believe we can significantly improve the length of the disability claim process I think a 1% error rate based on the Inspector General report is five decimal places too high We'll get the error rate down and be more accurate in payments Working in collaboration with the men and women of Social Security Administration and you in Congress Social Security has field offices and serves Americans in every state you made Social Security an independent agency and gave the commissioner a six-year term I am thankful to President Trump for considering me for this role and entrusting me with it I also appreciate the courtesy you have extended by holding this hearing I'm grateful for being here with you today and I'm happy to answer all questions Senator Mike Crapo (01:01:05): I'd just like to maybe give you an opportunity to add any more completeness to what you described about how important it is to be sure that every American is served promptly and efficiently by the Social Security Administration individuals seeking assistance from SSA have faced long wait times or even inability to gain access and the agency is now going under significant organizational changes MR. BISIGNANO (01:01:43): … honor to be here and thank you for the time It's a mission-critical function and it's been 89 years where over 200 million American have been beneficiaries of payments over 100 million Americans pay into the system And the ability to receive payments on time and accurately is job one The ability to process any type of claim we receive is job one I think we're going to focus on what we need to do to drive the 1% error rate down That's a very high payment processing error rate and I think the standard's more five decimal points to the right I believe in running an organization with a multidisciplinary look We have to run a pristine control environment (01:02:57)Efficiency will be the output of those two actions this is according to all the public data I've looked at this has been one of the less satisfied workforces for many years within all the government agencies And my objective is to come in and motivate the workforce we have to be able to get our job right the first time for the American public I think we have talent all over like any organization and we have very dedicated people in there but I think there's been a lot of leadership change If you look at the history of commissioners Mr. Bisignano (01:04:00): I'm committed to a six-year term and to do a great job for the American public and to be here for you Senator Mike Crapo (01:04:07): And I'm sure you've noticed the daily news on President Trump's effort with the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE The Social Security Administration is one of the agencies that has received a lot of media attention regarding these efforts are you currently at the Social Security Administration Mr. Bisignano (01:04:32): I'm not at the Social Security Administration Senator Mike Crapo (01:04:35): Have you been consulted by the acting commissioner about DOGE's work at the Social Security Administration Mr. Bisignano (01:04:42): I have not had a conversation about anything with this social commissioner,- Senator Mike Crapo (01:04:47): Mr. Bisignano (01:04:48): Senator Mike Crapo (01:04:49): And during a February five interview on CNBC you voiced your support for DOGE's work generally Is there anything further you would like to add with respect to those comments Mr. Bisignano (01:05:00): I've run a quality control and efficiency program in companies my whole life I've always been overseen by the OCC and the Fed and control really matters a lot so I've always considered myself an efficiency expert when I took over the mortgage company in J.D we went from the lowest performing to the highest performing So my comments really mean that I'm happy to work with anybody who can help us and I believe that I'm fundamentally about efficiency myself Senator Mike Crapo (01:05:38): MR. WYDEN (01:05:42): My first question for the nominee is in the last two months DOGE has been rampaging through Social Security and I need to know first if you're responsible for some of this current chaos So my first question is between the time you were nominated and today were you involved in discussions about DOGE or any of the operations or management decisions with those working at Social Security Mr. Bisignano (01:06:15): MR. WYDEN (01:06:17): I have a statement from a senior official who worked at Social Security and recently left the agency and the nominee told my staff and me in my office that the nominee wasn't involved with any agency operations And the whistleblower statement says that the nominee insisted on personally approving several key DOGE hires at the agency among other things and getting frequent briefings the first thing I'd like to do is put into the record the statement from this very high level official at Social Security Senator Mike Crapo (01:07:19): MR. WYDEN (01:07:20): you personally intervened to get key DOGE officials installed at the agency who have mastermind this shipwreck that we're dealing today Did you talk to anyone at Social Security about these changes Mr. Bisignano (01:07:40): I have talked to Mike Russo and I've said that to your staff when they asked me he was the CIO of Shift4 and he was the CIO at Oracle for Mark Hurd and I know him for 20 years MR. WYDEN (01:08:09): did you talk to any of these officials who were involved in operations Because the whistleblower said you personally intervened to get DOGE officials installed and I understand there's one person who got basically approved in the middle of the night as a result of your insistence Are you saying that the whistleblower is not telling the truth to the Senate Finance Committee Because there are a number of very influential officials who have indicated that they will support the position of the whistleblower Mr. Bisignano (01:08:50): I was not involved in onboarding anybody in the middle of the night MR. WYDEN (01:08:56): we've heard some very disturbing comments with respect to some of the officials and I think we've got to get to the bottom of it Let me ask you about the role of ushering in key DOGE officials who've been working through agency databases and feasting on the personal information of the American people DOGE recklessness there has set off what could be the largest identity theft crisis in history A federal judge ordered SSA to stop providing DOGE access "DOGE's bogus reasoning akin to a phishing expedition in search of a fraud epidemic based on little more than suspicion." So my question to you here is if you're confirmed will you lock DOGE out of Social Security databases and stop them from exposing millions of Americans who could be damaged Mr. Bisignano (01:09:59): I've spent my career protecting PII in the largest institutions I think it's of the utmost importance for PII to be protected MR. WYDEN (01:10:11): Will you lock DOGE out of Social Security databases Mr. Bisignano (01:10:21): I'm going to do whatever's required to protect the information that is private information but there's way more than DOGE that can't have access to that information MR. WYDEN (01:10:36): that you will lock DOGE out of the Social Security databases Mr. Bisignano (01:10:44): I don't know what lock DOGE out of the Social Security MR. WYDEN (01:10:48): Mr. Bisignano (01:10:52): MR. WYDEN (01:10:55): I would like you and I and the committee to follow up on what this whistleblower has told us because your staff met with them and I don't believe that this whistleblower would make this up This whistleblower has said that this is a nominee who will be bad for the agency and has cited specifics And this nominee says that the whistleblower is wrong And I think this whistleblower throughout their career has been somebody who's told the truth and I think we better get to the bottom of it And they told your staff the same thing they told mine that this nominee had nothing to do with operations and certainly some very experienced individuals feel that that was not true Senator Mike Crapo (01:11:45): Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (01:11:48): I'm concerned on behalf of constituents with Social Security disability that there are cliffs in the benefit system that create very peculiar behavior around the edge of the cliff I think we should engage in bipartisan cliff smoothing Is that something that you would work with us on Mr. Bisignano (01:12:12): I'm prepared to research it if I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed as soon as I get in there Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (01:12:18): Mr. Bisignano (01:12:19): Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (01:12:21): will you check and make sure that the Musk infiltration of Social Security databases has not damaged those databases or left back doors for private actors to get back into to access Social Security's data system Mr. Bisignano (01:12:38): Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (01:12:40): I think there's a bit of a plot afoot here Step one is to lie about not intending to damage Social Security and to protect Social Security benefits The election was rigged and stolen from me You just can't stop the lies and I think I'm not going to attack Social Security is a lie Trump and Musk have been lying loudly about imaginary Social Security fraud which seems to me to be an effort to lower public confidence in the program I think the motive is to discredit the system (01:13:49)Then you send in your Musk characters and you start them messing around in the operations of Social Security to damage it here comes the breaking news from The Washington Post Social Security is Breaking Down Amid Long Waits A flood of cuts led by Elon Musk has sent the agency into a meltdown as a new commissioner So you also have the billionaire Commerce Secretary saying that an interruption of benefits would be a good way to sniff out fraud because the only people who'd complain when their benefits were interrupted would be the fraudsters But it is part of this campaign to disrupt as well as discredit Social Security so that there is then an interruption of benefits (01:14:52)Once there's an interruption of benefits then Trump can declare an emergency in Social Security and send in the tech bros and the private equity folks some of whom are already messing around in Social Security to say we have to take it over." We got to have the tech bros and the private equity people take over Social Security and then that's it The longstanding Republican goal of getting rid of Social Security as a public program is achieved and under the pretense that they've saved it let's just say that that turns out to be the set of facts that you determined to be the accurate case once you get over there Will you participate in or defend against that scheme Mr. Bisignano (01:15:47): I think my job as a commissioner is to ensure that every beneficiary receives their payments on time that disability claims are processed in the manner they should be So my first actions are going to be to get organized around delivering the services and I've only been given one order which is to run the agency in the right fashion by the president Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (01:16:16): And what role will privatizing Social Security bringing in private equity and tech people and giving Elon Musk and his little crowd a role have in all of that Mr. Bisignano (01:16:31): It's not a word that anybody's ever talked to me about And I don't see this institution as anything other than a government agency that gets run for the benefit of the American public Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (01:16:45): Mr. Bisignano (01:16:48): You'll have my guarantee I'll make it end that way Senator Mike Crapo (01:16:53): Senator Cassidy (01:16:55): Mr. Bisignano (01:16:56): Senator Cassidy (01:16:57): Good to meet your family in New Orleans at the Super Bowl Mr. Bisignano (01:16:59): Senator Cassidy (01:17:01): I forget how much Social Security puts out per day and I asked "I handle five times that much per day right now." And I just say this is what I do and I do it in a way which improves service it took my money very quickly for the pizza that I bought So just to thank you for offering that and bringing your kind of incredible skillset to this issue Mr. Bisignano (01:17:36): Senator Cassidy (01:17:37): Part of it we talked about was public facing service and particularly among older people who sometimes have a difficult time getting to an office and they rely upon the phone because frankly they're home bound How will you continue to provide services to those folks who are home bound make changes as necessary even if they have a difficult time coming in physically Mr. Bisignano (01:18:11): Social Security according to public information gets 80 million phone calls a year I see the phone as a mandatory way for people to communicate but at some point people want to talk to a live agent also I think it's part of meeting beneficiaries where they want to get met And I think it's ripe for enhancement always but obviously ultimately people like sometimes to get reassurance from a person that they're going to get the benefits they require Senator Cassidy (01:19:05): So much so that people sometimes give up and there's evidence it's improved but it's still not where you would have it in the private sector Mr. Bisignano (01:19:19): My belief is that if you look at the Social Security website and you look at the statistics taking 20 plus minutes to answer the phone is not really acceptable And that's the reason why only 46% of the phone calls get answered because people get discouraged and hang up Senator Cassidy (01:19:38): Mr. Bisignano (01:19:44): I think we could get that to under a minute I think we can also help the people within the organization answer questions better by bringing artificial intelligence to them to prompt them with the information they need Social Security ranks at the low end of employees sat in our government system today But I believe technology is a great enabler We do not need to rewrite every system within Social Security We do not have to spend lots of money on many of these things We could do them with basic technology that's out there Senator Cassidy (01:20:27): That was one of the things that reassured me All these things that seem to be insurmountable in the Social Security Administration thank you for bringing that expertise to us One thing that I know is an issue is sometimes beneficiaries are overpaid and then they're contacted later to recoup the money Now it's one thing for somebody who's well off to pay back and it's another thing for someone who basically lives on cashflow and then you're asked to repay that which has been spent the over payments and then once it's detected how are we fair to the people who have been overpaid taking into account their ability to repay Mr. Bisignano (01:21:15): the Inspector General report produces a 1% error rate I think it should be decimal points to the right That will eliminate a lot of the over payments we need to evaluate the ability to pay back and work it out I'm going to make sure that we recover all the money we should recover Senator Cassidy (01:22:00): I have a couple of questions I'll do for the record Thank you very much for bringing your private expertise to benefit the public Mr. Bisignano (01:22:07): Senator Mike Crapo (01:22:08): Senator Lankford (01:22:10): Stepping in with the expertise and the experience that you have and the background What you've done on the technical sides for so many different people quite frankly is a real asset to Social Security to be able to step in That's something that you've specialized in for a long time Grateful that you've stepped out of the private sector into the public sector to be able to do this in this season on it (01:22:37)So let me just run several things past you but I did want to be able to raise one thing that has been in process for a while My state is one of the few states that has not been able to do the my Social Security portal based on just the ID portion of that That has been some of the Social Security and some of the career folks I've worked on for a long time And I've been grateful to a lot of the career folks that have been engaged in Social Security for a while to be able to work with my state to be able to get that That's going to help a lot of the customer service issues in my state in particular on this (01:23:10)But as Senator Cassidy was just raising on this as well It may be surprising to some people that there are a few 85-year olds that aren't tech-savvy And the challenge is still how do they get in to be able to visit with somebody get a time and then get it done in a timely manner So I know we're working a lot on the technology What is your plan on the face-to-face portion of Social Security services as well Mr. Bisignano (01:23:44): I think we have to meet beneficiaries where they want to be and then it includes a live agent if they want to talk to somebody And obviously the web is a place that we can also interact but I think it's about a multichannel system and giving the ability to use the channel that one wants to use in order to accomplish the chore they want to get done with us Senator Lankford (01:24:17): One of the things that you and I have talked about already in my office and thank you for stopping by so we can get a chance have a longer conversation is about the disability determination That process can be two to three years long There's a lot of aspects of it that end up taking a very long time to just get an answer on it The reconsideration process is certainly broken in the process and takes a tremendous amount of time on just the reconsideration for something they already know to be able to go through the same hoop again There are a lot of challenges that are in this process (01:24:48)As you walk into this I'm not going to ask you how you're going to fix it because you're walking in and got to look at it to see what can be done You said you were already aware of some of those issues as well How do you begin the process of trying to reform the disability review so that disabled individuals don't have to wait three years to actually get into that process and people that are not qualified can get an answer faster Mr. Bisignano (01:25:13): thank you for the time in your office and you enlightened me a lot in your dialogue with me around this process And my first objective would be to process engineer it from front to back understand really what is taking what amount of time you were kind of to talk to me about the jobs and the fact that person who maybe 30 years ago was determined to be disabled and wasn't highly motivated by the system to be able to work today So one of the first things I'm going to look at when I get there is all of those elements that we talked about in your office And I'm positive when you analyze something from front to back and you think about the age of today versus 30 years ago that we could get a lot better answer for Americans Senator Lankford (01:26:09): And there are folks that have great needs that qualify for disability That it takes years to be able to get through that process And there are others that are trying to game the system that need an answer faster to say you are able to work and we want you to be able to do that and I'll just bring them up briefly to you We've got about 915,000 people still listed in a bit of limbo on that That's from the Inspector General's report from 2024 (01:26:48)And we have on the opposite side of that multiple people using the exact same social security number to apply for a job that then show up just as Social Security number in the process on it So we've got some numbers being used multiple times We've got 915,000 in the death master file that just need to be clarified So that's again a technology piece that we're going to count on you to be able to go chase down to be able to figure out how to be able to clearly identify that and make decisions So appreciate your time and your leadership and for your willingness to step in this role Mr. Bisignano (01:27:22): Senator Mike Crapo (01:27:23): Senator Hassan (01:27:25): It was very nice to visit with you in our office and congratulations to you and your family for your nomination I want to ask you a simple question that I'm asking every nominee now related to recent events If directed by the President to take an action that would break the law would you follow the law or follow the President's directive Mr. Bisignano (01:27:53): but I can't ever imagine the President asking that Senator Hassan (01:28:00): I challenge the notion that you can't imagine this president instructing somebody to break the law but there are plenty of examples of it since he took office Elon Musk and President Trump have set their sights on cutting Social Security and Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for corporate special interests and billionaires Elon Musk has referred to Social Security as a and he recently called for cutting up to $700 billion from Social Security and Medicare That could mean cutting one-third of these programs (01:28:42)Social Security operates as you know on simple math you'd either have to take away benefits for one-third of the people currently receiving them or cut the payments that they're getting by one-third Are you going to throw one-third of the people off of the program or cut their benefits by a third Mr. Bisignano (01:29:03): Senator Hassan (01:29:06): So if the President and the Congress decide to cut these benefits you're going to stand up for the beneficiaries Mr. Bisignano (01:29:15): I mean ultimately these decisions get done in the Senate Finance Committee It's not the commissioner's job to make that decision Senator Hassan (01:29:25): So do you oppose cutting one-third of Social Security benefits Mr. Bisignano (01:29:30): I think the President has made it very clear that he has no objective and he's made it very clear to cut any benefits from Social Security Senator Hassan (01:29:42): Yet he has Elon Musk who until he was told he couldn't by a court running rampant through Social Security and he's laying off staff and making it much more difficult for people to get benefits That's inconsistent with the President's pledge will you commit to stand up to Elon Musk and DOGE and stop them from cutting one-third of Social Security benefits which Musk has already said he wants to do Mr. Bisignano (01:30:11): I have the ability to lead the agency in the manner that this Senate Finance Committee wants me to do that And I don't know of any thought that I have about cutting one-third of the benefits of Americans or even entertaining anything of that sort Senator Hassan (01:30:43): I think I will echo the ranking member's request that we get a commitment from you that you will keep DOGE out of Social Security because one of the things we're seeing since this administration took over is steps that are making it harder and harder for people to apply for benefits which is one way of course of slowing benefits and reducing costs at the expense of beneficiaries One in five Granite Staters receive Social Security benefits that they paid into for their entire lives Earlier this month at the direction of Elon Musk and DOGE the administration announced plans to close 47 Social Security offices (01:31:36)Shortly thereafter the Social Security Administration announced plans that would force more applicants and beneficiaries to go in person to offices while at the same time laying off staff who work in those remaining offices North Country seniors would be forced to travel nearly 100 miles to the next closest New Hampshire field office will you commit to keeping the Littleton Social Security Office open or will you do what Elon Musk commands you to do on this issue Mr. Bisignano (01:32:09): I'm going to be running the agency and I report to the president running the agency I will evaluate the whole situation and I'll report back to you Senator Hassan (01:32:23): I'd like with unanimous consent to offer into the record this archived copy of the listing by DOGE that includes the Littleton New Hampshire Social Security Office as one that they would like to close Senator Mike Crapo (01:32:38): Senator Hassan (01:32:40): but I do want to note that Commerce Secretary Lutnick has suggested that seniors wouldn't mind if the Social Security Administration didn't send out benefits one month and that only fraudsters would complain And I will ask the nominee to reflect on how long he would be okay delaying Social Security checks to seniors Senator Mike Crapo (01:33:07): Senator Cortez Masto (01:33:09): Mr. Bisignano (01:33:15): Senator Cortez Masto (01:33:16): Let me just get a couple of questions out of the way and hopefully we just have this candid conversation and we carry it through like we did in my office Recently in an interview with Joe Rogan on February 28th Do you believe that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme Mr. Bisignano (01:33:42): Senator Cortez Masto (01:33:50): Mr. Bisignano (01:33:52): Senator Cortez Masto (01:33:56): Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that only fraudsters would complain about missing a Social Security check and that most people wouldn't mind if the government simply skipped a payment that only fraudsters complain when the government fails to send Social Security checks Mr. Bisignano (01:34:25): I don't think anyone would appreciate not getting their Social Security check on time Senator Cortez Masto (01:34:29): Mr. Bisignano (01:34:29): Senator Cortez Masto (01:34:30): Mr. Bisignano (01:34:35): Senator Cortez Masto (01:34:39): his implication is if you're questioning whether you got your check or not Mr. Bisignano (01:34:47): Senator Cortez Masto (01:34:49): Mr. Bisignano (01:34:50): Senator Cortez Masto (01:34:52): The current Social Security Administrator briefly ended a contract that had allowed parents of newborn babies in Maine to sign their children up for Social Security number at the hospital he required them to do so in person at an office said he had ordered the move after watching Governor Janet Mills clash with Mr but said he did it because he felt that the governor of Maine was not being real cordial to the president Do you think social security should be used as a political weapon against individuals in the future Mr. Bisignano (01:35:40): I believe its job is to deliver for the American population Senator Cortez Masto (01:35:49): But do you think it should be used as a political weapon at the whim of somebody who wants to show fealty to the President Mr. Bisignano (01:35:57): Senator Cortez Masto (01:35:59): Senator Cortez Masto (01:36:00): It should not be because everything you've said up until now has agreed that we should get the benefits out to individuals that we should ensure that our focus is making those that need this disability benefits or who worked hard their entire lives they're entitled to these benefits really get them (01:36:21)Let me also jump back to a couple of questions more than 570,000 Nevadans rely on Social Security after paying into it for decades yet they face long wait times and inaccessible offices problems that have only worsened under the so-called efficiency measures introduced by DOGE they've closed field offices and they've shifted services online I'm hopeful that you are going to address this issue and as you think about moving into this office what are you going to do based on all of the complaints that we are hearing now there are more so than before this administration came into office How do you expect to in the first a hundred days address these issues Mr. Bisignano (01:37:11): In the mortgage crisis when I was asked to come in and work shoulder to shoulder with the government we figured out how to clean up a pretty big mess Senator Cortez Masto (01:37:25): And so would you reverse some of the DOGE decisions if you felt that they were inappropriate and they weren't getting to the beneficiaries the information Mr. Bisignano (01:37:35): Any decision I thought was inappropriate would be re-looked at Senator Cortez Masto (01:37:40): And you'd be willing to reverse it if you felt it was appropriate Mr. Bisignano (01:37:41): Senator Cortez Masto (01:37:41): And you would be willing to reverse it if you felt it was appropriate Mr. Bisignano (01:37:45): Senator Cortez Masto (01:37:48): There's a lot of concern and rightfully so about individuals who don't even work in the administration They are actually rifling through the personal information of Americans and I am hopeful that you are going to guard that personal information for anybody who has provided it to Social Security Administration Are you willing to protect their private information Mr. Bisignano (01:38:12): Senator Cortez Masto (01:38:15): Mr. Bisignano (01:38:16): Senator Cortez Masto (01:38:18): Mr. Chairman (01:38:21): Senator Marshall (01:38:23): We appreciate you answering the call that this is a job you don't need but instead you're one of the patriots that's stepping forward to help save this nation (01:38:42)We heard some fearmongering this morning and I just want to reassure Americans that Republicans are the party that wants to save Social Security that we want to ensure that the folks that have paid into Social Security their whole lives who've earned these benefits get the money that they were promised And I also want to remind Americans that we're the party that wants to stop the taxing of Social Security benefits as well We want Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money and not have to pay a tax on this benefit that they paid into their whole lives (01:39:18)The Social Security Administration had probably 10 billion dollars of improper payments in 2023 Can you explain how you use your past experience in payments processing to bring down these improper payments Mr. Bisignano (01:39:34): I think my past experiences beyond payment processing but I think in this case it's good to talk about in a broader sense I think every error requires root cause analysis My lifetime of experience shows there's pattern recognition and the fact that we produced an inspector general report that talks about a 1% error rate that is completely too high for the function we're talking about Senator Marshall (01:40:11): Mr. Bisignano (01:40:13): Senator Marshall (01:40:20): Mr. Bisignano (01:40:21): And if you think about that type of error rate running through the agency it creates the opportunity for more problems than we need we're talking about quality of service to our beneficiaries I know that there's lots of stats that are produced they're not at the level that you all should accept or that I will accept or that the American public should accept Senator Marshall (01:40:57): Certainly one way of saving Social Security is by eliminating or decreasing these improper payments I don't think anyone could argue against that (01:41:05)Let's talk about customer experience a little bit more How will you use your background to improve processing times and customer service Mr. Bisignano (01:41:12): I think many of this is about what I call process engineering Understanding where we are creating backlogs Obviously with the amount of time it's taking I don't know if our standards are appropriate yet We have a six-month standard on disability A lot of things we need to go analyze them but I don't believe that this is going to take us years I think there's many things we'll solve in year one and I want the people in the agency to feel like they're winning Senator Marshall (01:41:57): Let's talk about Americans personally identifiable information even this week I got another alert from health insurance that our data has been violated What's your experience been like in the private world to protect people's identifiable information and how can you improve and protect that Mr. Bisignano (01:42:22): You must have the trust and that's something needs the highest level of scrutiny and protection and we need to understand who can access what information and ensure that that information's anonymized so they're not getting data that they could use in a bad way Senator Marshall (01:42:57): Let's talk about the IT systems that you used What can you do from an IT standpoint to improve Social Security's efficiency and improve customer experience Mr. Bisignano (01:43:08): You have to figure out how to make it work better You have to understand how to make yourself more efficient I think one of the greatest efficiency opportunities we have is using artificial intelligence That doesn't mean we use it for answering the phone It means we use it to learn how to do our work better I don't think these are monumental economic spends Senator Marshall (01:43:39): Mr. Bisignano (01:43:42): Mr. Chairman (01:43:43): Senator Johnson (01:43:44): (01:43:49)I have to compliment President Trump and his team I can't imagine them finding a more qualified individual for this position did President Trump or anybody on his team in interviewing you and deciding to make this nomination did any of them ever talk about cutting benefits for Social Security Mr. Bisignano (01:44:13): always talked about it's something we wouldn't do Senator Johnson (01:44:18): Mr. Bisignano (01:44:20): Senator Johnson (01:44:21): Mr. Bisignano (01:44:22): Senator Johnson (01:44:25): You mentioned in previous answer to question here that the 1% error rate is too high the payment processing that you've done at Fiserv and other companies to Social Security Just give the committee some sense of your depth of experience in dealing with these things versus Social Security Mr. Bisignano (01:44:49): we have 13,000 software engineers today at Fiserv I like to believe we're fundamentally a tech company that provides payments a hundred percent of the American households A lot I've heard is about the old Cobalt system at Social Security I actually believe that's the system we have and we know how to build around it Senator Johnson (01:45:21): Mr. Bisignano (01:45:23): Senator Johnson (01:45:26): Mr. Bisignano (01:45:27): I think one of the things I'd say is there's no substitute for experience and I think I'm the first commissioner that's actually been a technologist and operator whether it was 9/11 or whether it was '08 or the mortgage crisis So I come with a depth of experience in how to make systems work for the people inside the agency and for our users Senator Johnson (01:46:09): do you have off the top of your head just the annual number of payments Fiserv makes to virtually every household in America versus Social Security Mr. Bisignano (01:46:20): We do 250 million payments a day for two and a half trillion dollars versus 74 million a month on Social Security Senator Johnson (01:46:31): Mr. Bisignano (01:46:33): Senator Johnson (01:46:37): What is the error rate within Fiserv or other company- Mr. Bisignano (01:46:39): I think you think about it five decimal points to the right I think about it five decimal points to the right and we're always trying to strive to get that better I think about answering the phone in less than a minute We do it in 22 minutes right now at Social Security Senator Johnson (01:46:56): What do you think drives the much higher error rate in Social Security Mr. Bisignano (01:47:08): Senator Johnson (01:47:13): Mr. Bisignano (01:47:14): Senator Johnson (01:47:15): So something you think you can with your experience you can fix Mr. Bisignano (01:47:21): Senator Johnson (01:47:23): I don't know if anybody else has done this but do you have any idea what Senator Wyden and Senator Whitehouse were talking about in terms of these whistleblowers Do you want to take an opportunity to just address what allegations they were throwing your way Mr. Bisignano (01:47:43): Mike Russo sent me a note and he came in as the CIO Senator Johnson (01:48:02): So obviously the folks on the other side of the aisle have a real problem in trying to make government more efficient and trying to root out waste fraud abuse I'm a huge supporter of what Elon Musk and his DOGE group are doing these are accomplished individuals that have a depth of experience and they're asking questions of government that have never been asked before we are not given access to this information So you have to be inside the administration to actually ask these questions Mr. Bisignano (01:48:42): The president's been very clear the agency heads are in charge of the agency Senator Johnson (01:49:10): I can't imagine somebody more qualified for this position Mr. Bisignano (01:49:15): Senator Johnson (01:49:16): Mr. Chairman (01:49:19): Senator Daines (01:49:23): Since the Social Security Administration was first established as an independent agency the importance of the public trust has always been integral to that core mission (01:49:37)I want to just cut to the chase though on customer service for a moment if I might I spent most of my career in the private sector I went to work for a customer experience CRM solution We worked with call centers to make sure the customer was getting a great experience (01:49:59)And so as we prepared for this hearing yesterday let's just see what it's like to call the Social Security Administration So we went online and there's a nice little box here that says Now I realize you're going to be coming in here to fix some of the problems but I want to make you aware of the customer experience my staff member experienced when they called the 800 number we are here to help (01:50:28)So to recant what happened here they were disconnected twice when they got on the phone Finally got through to wait to speak to a representative And here's what my staff member encountered for an hour (01:51:15)I mean they could have at least had a Olivia Newton John or some mediocre seventies music but for an hour this repeated over and over again and then they were disconnected I'd encourage anybody try calling the Social Security 1-800 number And in fact it says if you call in the morning our automated telephone servers are available 24 hours a day and the third time after waiting an hour listening to these really D grade elevator music (01:51:57)So we've got a lot of work to do to serve the taxpayers in this country and improve their customer experience that just want to have some help And I realize this isn't happening on your watch but let me just put one of your to-do's is maybe try calling at 1-800 number and see what it's like from your own experience (01:52:17)As you begin looking at areas for innovation and improvements in the delivery of the vital services and benefits will you commit to me and to my office to ensure that Montanans have access to Social Security particularly for Montanans who live in rural areas Mr. Bisignano (01:52:38): thank you for talking about the phone service because although we publish a 22 minute wait time And I think the better way to measure it over the long haul is what percentage calls get answered within 30 seconds Because we have percents of calls that are taking an hour and a half and only half the callers get through (01:53:14)So I bring that up because I have a multi-channel strategy I think about which is to meet beneficiaries where they want to be if they want to do it over the phone or if they want to do it over the web But all three of those channels have to execute well We have to be able to also use all the technology available to us today to do a great job for our beneficiaries So you have my commitment to work my tail off on all of it Senator Daines (01:53:54): One of the challenges we face oftentimes when they post-customer service hours is the call centers are open when many people are not available because they're at work And so you just described there the multi-channel type approach getting information directly from the internet to really lock in on service levels that we can make sure we're providing to our customers the taxpayers of this country and those beneficiaries have been paying in that system their entire life And I hope you will bring much needed change to the Social Security Administration with your leadership Mr. Bisignano (01:54:47): Mr. Chairman (01:54:48): Senator Sanders (01:54:49): you mentioned that last year the Inspector General reported that the error rate in Social Security was less than 1% and it was an error rate that you wanted to improve upon Mr. Bisignano (01:55:09): Senator Sanders (01:55:10): But in the State of the Union Address listened to by millions and millions of Americans of Social Security checks are going out to people who are between the ages of 140 and 360 years old You've just acknowledged what is true is that the error rate in Social Security is less than 1% 99 point whatever of the people who get the checks paid into the system and deserve those checks So what I want to ask you is do you think that President Trump was just expressing an outrageous lie Or was he just grossly uninformed about the reality Mr. Bisignano (01:56:06): I think what the president was representing which further was represented again and proven to be accurate is that there were millions of Social Security records that did not have people deceased Senator Sanders (01:56:27): What you have just acknowledged is that in 2024 the Social Security Administration paid out over 99 point whatever percent of people eligible Millions and millions and millions of people 200 or 300 years of age did not get checks Mr. Bisignano (01:56:57): What I represented was that a 1% error rate in a mission critical function like Social Security is way too high Senator Sanders (01:57:09): Mr. Bisignano (01:57:10): Senator Sanders (01:57:11): Mr. Bisignano (01:57:13): Senator Sanders (01:57:14): President was lying and what he was trying to do was undermine the foundations of Social Security by saying the system is out of control (01:57:29)All right Why if right now it is hard for people to get through in Vermont and all over this country why do you think the Social Security Administration is now closing down offices and laying off 7,000 employees Dudek that he wants to cut up to half of Social Security's work was when the department is now understaffed Do you think it makes sense to lay off half the staff Mr. Bisignano (01:58:09): Senator Sanders (01:58:12): Do you think it makes sense to lay off half of the staff when right now it is a fifty-year low in terms of staffing Mr. Bisignano (01:58:22): Dudek gets his information from and I don't communicate with Mr Senator Sanders (01:58:31): I think common sense would suggest that when it's bad Mr. Bisignano (01:58:43): I believe that we can drive efficiency for the rest of our life I also understand that it takes 20 plus minutes to answer the phone- Senator Sanders (01:58:55): Mr. Bisignano (01:58:56): Is not how I would report the numbers because I think- Senator Sanders (01:59:02): but all that I'm asking when you have a system that is not working now do you think it's a great idea to lay off half of the employees Mr. Bisignano (01:59:08): I don't know if do I think it's a great idea to lay off half of the employees when a system doesn't work Senator Sanders (01:59:15): and you made a hundred million dollars recently in compensation at a given year my question is not to deal with that per se but right now we have 22% of seniors trying to survive on less than $15,000 a year older people living in desperation in America Some of us want to expand Social Security benefits because we think people should not be living on $15,000 a year We're concerned about the solvency of Social Security We want to extend it beyond where it is right now Do you agree with me that it does not make sense for somebody like yourself who makes a hundred million dollars a year in compensation to be paying the same amount into Social Security as somebody who makes 176,000 Or would you work with me to raise that cap so more money can come into the system Mr. Bisignano (02:00:09): I know there's an actuarial function in the area I'm happy to study anything and work side-by-side with you Senator Sanders (02:00:20): all I ask in general right now the system is stressed financially Mr. Bisignano (02:00:25): Senator Sanders (02:00:26): we want to increase the solvency and increase the benefits which is now what I think 174,000 so that wealthy people contribute more into the system Mr. Bisignano (02:00:39): I don't think that's the commissioner's job at all I think the commissioner's job is to run the agency right I'm happy to provide all the information you want and I'm happy to be a partner in solving every problem Senator Sanders (02:00:50): Mr. Chairman (02:00:53): Senator Cantwell (02:00:55): I want to follow on my two colleagues in their questions about the operation they're very bothered by billionaires taking a shot at their Social Security And so I just think it sounds out of touch Secretary Lutnick saying stop payment to find fraud who everybody is questioning what his role is anyway That's what he was saying on Social Security The American people are scared to death that you're really going after Social Security (02:01:52)So instead of hiring people like my colleagues are suggesting to improve the service basically you're allowing Elon Musk little DOGE team to go in there and to find fraud So did they find a dead person in Seattle that was getting Social Security Here's the article from the Seattle newspaper by Danny Westney (02:02:17)Oh So not only did my constituent not get his payment in February they went to his bank account and tried to claw back previous payments from January and December He had to go down to the building in Seattle the federal building that you are trying to close and stand in line for hours and hours and hours to try to say he wasn't dead and to stop taking his money they think their office is about to be closed down and they don't know where they're going to go It feels like the agency is being gutted." (02:03:11)So I have to ask you why are we allowing these people to go in and cause havoc to our constituents instead of hiring people to do the job So I have several questions that you can just answer yes or no Do you think Social Security is a Ponzi scheme Mr. Bisignano (02:03:30): I've said I believe it's a promise to pay and it's been here for 89 years It's been one of the truest things we have for our aged and our disabled and my objective is to continue it and do a great job for the American public Senator Cantwell (02:03:49): Do you think Social Security should be privatized Mr. Bisignano (02:03:53): I've never heard a word of it and I've never thought about it Senator Cantwell (02:03:56): Mr. Bisignano (02:03:59): I don't believe anybody's thinking about that Senator Cantwell (02:04:02): Do you think Social Security aid should be raised Mr. Bisignano (02:04:05): Senator Cantwell (02:04:05): Other people have suggested in the administration I think including the president a prior that Social Security should be raised Mr. Bisignano (02:04:14): The commissioner's job is to ensure that the agency operates correctly I want to provide all the information required by Senate and by anyone else in order to make the decisions But I don't believe I'm a decision-maker on any of these items but I'm happy to provide every piece of information required Senator Cantwell (02:04:39): With this kind of havoc going on my constituents want and deserve answers Will you commit to posing any cuts to Social Security benefits Mr. Bisignano (02:04:48): And I've been told by the president to ensure that we preserve and protect Social Security Senator Cantwell (02:04:57): Do you believe that you should be hiring enough staff to service people and stop the DOGE people from cutting my constituents off of their well-deserved check (02:05:08)Now I don't know who his mother-in-law is or what kind of support she's got but I know my constituent needed that check and he wasn't dead And so the notion that he has to go through these extraordinary efforts and you guys are encouraging it when they're going to stop doing that and instead the services of Social Security so that these poor seniors can get their checks (02:05:37)Thank you Mr Mr. Chairman (02:05:39): Senator Warren (02:05:43): Congress passed the Social Security Act and the deal was simple you pay into Social Security across all your earnings years you can count on having those Social Security benefits that you paid for Trump and Musk want to renege on that deal So DOGE has taken a sledgehammer to the Social Security Administration the acting commissioner of Social Security who is openly working with Elon Musk actually threatened to shut down the entire agency Elon said the quiet part about his plans right out loud The richest man in the world said that Social Security for 73 million Americans should be destroyed (02:06:45)Mr you have been nominated to be in charge of Social Security and seniors need to have a right to know if you're going to protect their benefits Say a 66-year-old man qualifies for Social Security could the Social Security Administration or Elon Musk or Donald Trump decide to cut her benefits by $5,000 for no reason without a new law passed by Congress Mr. Bisignano (02:07:19): Senator Warren (02:07:20): Mr. Bisignano (02:07:22): Senator Warren (02:07:23): Could they by law cut those benefits without coming to Congress Mr. Bisignano (02:07:29): Senator Warren (02:07:30): Suppose this same 65-year-old calls the helpline to apply for Social Security So he waits until his niece can get a day off to take him to the local Social Security office so they have to drive two hours to get to the next closest office Senator Warren (02:08:00): … two people who are staffing a 50 person line so he doesn't even make it to the front of the line before the office closes and he has to come back let's assume it takes our fellow three months to straighten this out and he misses a total of $5,000 in benefits checks Mr. Bisignano (02:08:29): Senator Warren (02:08:33): Mr. Bisignano (02:08:41): I have no intent to have anything like that happen to my wife ma'am Senator Warren (02:08:43): Mr. Bisignano (02:08:49): Senator Warren (02:08:53): Is the person getting the $5,000 they were legally entitled to Mr. Bisignano (02:09:00): Senator Warren (02:09:03): So are they getting $5,000 they were legally entitled to Mr. Bisignano (02:09:09): Senator Warren (02:09:09): Mr. Bisignano (02:09:10): Senator Warren (02:09:12): That you keep $5,000 from them by announcing a policy it's illegal but there are backdoor ways to accomplish the same thing DOGE is considering slashing up to 50% of the Social Security Administration's workforce And for everyone who gives up or who dies before they get their benefits sorted out those delays and errors also turn into benefit cuts (02:09:43)Elon Musk is the richest man in the world but only Congress can cut Social Security benefits and Elon is trying a backdoor way (02:09:57)So Mr will you commit to reversing these cuts so that seniors get the money that the law says they are entitled to Mr. Bisignano (02:10:10): What I will commit to is that I will run the agency and I will be in charge of the agency and I will look at every item you want me to look at Senator Warren (02:10:20): You just answered the previous questions by saying you would follow the law Mr. Bisignano (02:10:27): Senator Warren (02:10:27): The law is to deliver the benefits that people are legally entitled to people don't get what they're legally entitled to are you willing to commit right now that you will put enough people back to work so they can do the job of delivering the benefits that Americans earned Mr. Bisignano (02:10:57): I will commit to have the right staffing to get the job done Senator Warren (02:11:00): Meaning delivering the benefits people are entitled to Mr. Bisignano (02:11:04): Senator Warren (02:11:04): Mr. Bisignano (02:11:07): Speaker 1 (02:11:14): Speaker 2 (02:11:16): Senator Young (02:11:18): told me I should really be at this hearing and kick the tires make sure you're qualified for the job because the Social Security Administration needs skilled leadership They need effective administrators and people who will level with Congress about the finances of this program and all the rest that you possess the requisite skills to carry out this mission (02:11:59)I can tell you as someone who's represented the state of Indiana for a number of years lots of my constituents contact our offices about challenges they're facing with the administration difficulties scheduling appointments with local Social Security field offices do you commit to working with my office to ensure that my constituents their cases and concerns are addressed in a speedy and thorough manner Mr. Bisignano (02:12:40): Senator Young (02:12:41): In addition to individual cases brought to you by my and other congressional offices do you commit to working to ensure that the Social Security Administration provides robust customer service to all Americans Mr. Bisignano (02:12:56): Senator Young (02:12:58): Along with long wait times and other lapses in customer service my constituents report a high volume of errors being made by Social Security payment centers Those errors are particularly frequent when processing disability payments and these errors can take months to resolve and correct creating stress and uncertainty for beneficiaries Mr. Bisignano (02:13:28): which the inspector general reports I believe is probably five digits needs to move five digits to the right decimal I think we'll do all the root cause analysis we'll do all the process engineering and everything that's required to get to why we have them and how to eliminate them Senator Young (02:13:55): You have an extensive background in the payment services industry How exactly would you apply this previous experience to improve the payment processing systems of the administration Mr. Bisignano (02:14:16): I think one thing is about this error rate I think we have to understand it and in there we're going to find a lot of opportunity to improve I think when we look at what we do every day and how we do it I do also say this idea of the phone rings it takes us on average 20 plus minutes to answer it (02:14:40)When we understand why all those phone calls come we can figure out how to serve the American public a lot better but I look at all the data it produces and I see a land of opportunity Senator Young (02:15:06): There's a lot of conversation in our country within Congress about artificial intelligence and the promise it might bring to large organizations efficiencies and reduction of errors and all the rest So in the context of improvements at the Social Security Administration I'm impressed by the potential that AI might have to enhance government service (02:15:30)As a former tech executive do you have thoughts about how AI might be integrated into your service delivery and improve operations for the American people Mr. Bisignano (02:15:42): I think originally when people hear you say you're going to apply AI This is a very vulnerable population and we have to be available And that's why I like to say we're going to meet people where they want to be met If they're going to come in the field office we'll be available and obviously on the web (02:16:08)But we're also going to improve the jobs of the people within the agency We can do a lot of what they do through AI and be able to get to answers faster I think AI doesn't only have to be client facing It needs to be helping out people in the organization do their jobs better I think it'll help us understand what the right staffing level is I know we talk a lot about the staffing level here but we don't really know what the right staffing level is and I think that'll help us across the board Senator Young (02:16:48): Speaker 2 (02:16:52): Senator Bennet (02:16:54): thank you for letting me defer for a moment I'm glad I was to hear Senator Young's questions about his mom because I think those are exactly the questions that everybody in Colorado has Thank you for being here and your willingness to serve (02:17:13)I know how you understand how important it is that Americans receive their Social Security benefits on time and that if a problem arises that they're able to resolve it quickly and easily which they have not been able to do for a long time And you've emphasized the "need to meet beneficiaries" in the three places they want to be the Social Security Administration said that Americans wouldn't be able to access a number of service options over the phone they'll need to either use an online verification process or call to make an in-person appointment The agency itself estimates that this will add 75,000 to 85,000 in-person visitors a week to field offices wait times for appointments can already take a month and that in-person appointment is only going to get harder to make if the agency cuts 7,000 employees and ends up with the lowest headcount in decades (02:18:23)I'm worried that that's not going to meet the American people where they are I realize you haven't been over there making these decisions I know you spent a lot of time in the private sector and I know that there is no well-functioning corporation that would have the kind of waits that we're talking about here And so I think when it comes to Social Security really the American people are the ultimate shareholders It's the American people and Senator Young's mom that matter (02:19:03)I want to ask you whether you'll commit to hearing from my constituents in Colorado and people across the country before making cuts to staff or before restricting access to customer service I guess the point I'm making is don't just make assumptions about it the true shareholders in a discussion about how best to serve them Mr. Bisignano (02:19:31): thank you Senator Bennet and thanks for taking the time to in your office with me previously Senator Bennet (02:19:39): Mr. Bisignano (02:19:39): And I thought you were highly insightful and I'm appreciative Senator Bennet (02:19:44): Mr. Bisignano (02:19:49): I thought as I've watched what I consider a fair amount of press releases and announcements that have gone out because that's just kind of how I learn what's going on I get up in the morning and look at Social Security news And I thought to myself that… And I was fortunate enough during the last week to meet with Senator Wyden's staff and Senator Crapo's staff and then have a session with all the Senate Finance Committee staffs That we should have some form of group that before we make a statement of what we're doing Much like I do all the time on anything you do Now we're never going to get 100% of agreement on many things Senator Bennet (02:20:55): Mr. Bisignano (02:20:56): But people also understanding the reason why I serve tens of thousands of bank branches And what we have to do with our technology and innovation there is different than what we may have to do in large cities And you have to take in the full population and think it through but I commit to us thinking through a better way for change and understanding what the constituents have to go through Senator Bennet (02:21:39): I'll submit my other question for the record If offices are closed and if they can't be served I think you'd be a lot better listening on the front end than taking the incoming on the back end from Republicans and Democrats up here who have concerned constituents when it comes to Social Security Speaker 2 (02:22:11): Senator Tina Smith (02:22:14): I actually don't have any questions for you today I can see the handwriting on the wall here and I've heard your responses to the questions so far So I'd like to just take my time to make a couple of observations about where we are (02:22:34)I have no doubt that you approach this job with the faith that your private sector experience can help make the Social Security Administration work better it has become clear to me that since Elon Musk's DOGE took over the Social Security Administration last month that this administration is intent on dismantling Social Security and cutting millions of Americans' benefits including the more than one million Minnesotans who rely on it And I don't think that I've heard anything today that has changed my assessment of that And I honestly don't think that there's anything you could say (02:23:16)You recently said on CNBC that you are fundamentally a DOGE person and I take you at your word So what I see happening here is that President Trump and Elon Musk's move fast and break things game plan is in fact breaking Social Security As several of my colleagues have noted today Musk recently called Social Security the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time and described entitlement spending as the big one to eliminate Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that if Social Security checks didn't go out seniors like his 94-year-old mother-in-law would just assume their check would come the next month and that would be fine Secretary Lutnick is not in touch with the reality that 22 million Americans would be living in poverty were it not for Social Security (02:24:06)Last week acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek threatened to shut down the entire agency in a fit after a federal judge informed him that DOGE is not allowed to root around in people's private data This is a travesty and we can see what's going on here and Minnesotans can see it as well This is a wholesale effort to dismantle Social Security from the inside out And this is not about rooting out waste and fraud and abuse What's happening in the Social Security Administration right now (02:24:36)Now President Trump understands that Americans love Social Security and so he's claimed that his administration won't touch Social Security But that is not what is happening and Americans can see it They are crippling the Social Security Administration They're making it nearly impossible for people to get their benefits are simultaneously trying to fire the people who make the Social Security system work They're closing field offices and then requiring seniors and others to visit those offices to prove that the money that they need is theirs that they earned (02:25:14)And I know what this means for Minnesota I hear it from my constituents loud and clear when I was home last week and in my office today the Social Security Administration announced that it would drastically reduce phone service and force people to apply for benefits in person a leaked internal memo acknowledged that this change would cause foot traffic in offices to rise sharply So you can call this rank incompetence or you can call it the don't know don't care game plan that DOGE has taken across the board (02:25:52)So I know that Republicans are saying that they want to save Social Security And if you want Social Security workers to feel like they're winning again I can tell you that right now the public servants at SSA feel like they are losing and the people that they serve are losing too Speaker 2 (02:26:18): Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:26:18): I appreciate many of my colleagues on the committee that they hit on some of the same themes and notes that I'm going to touch on today as well (02:26:36)Now do you believe that every American who has earned Social Security benefits deserves equal access to their benefits regardless of their zip code Mr. Bisignano (02:26:53): Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:26:56): acting Commissioner Lee Dudek has made several changes to service delivery at the Social Security Administration One of those changes is a new requirement that all individuals applying for benefits or requesting a direct deposit change through the national 800 number visit in person a field office to verify their identity (02:27:21)Now requiring folks to visit an office in person can mean driving several hours in one direction will you commit to completing an analysis of how this policy change will impact Social Security recipients in rural and frontier counties who will now have to drive and travel to access the services they've earned Mr. Bisignano (02:27:56): Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:28:00): will you commit to not closing any field offices in New Mexico Mr. Bisignano (02:28:07): I have no idea whether I can make that commitment because I don't really know what the issue in New Mexico is But I'm happy to look at it and come back to you Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:28:16): Will you commit to not closing any field offices in rural and frontier America Mr. Bisignano (02:28:22): I think it is hard to commit to not doing things without ever having analyzed it I commit to you or anybody that before an office is closed they will be notified of the analytics and be a partner in the decision Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:28:41): do you think Social Security beneficiaries would prefer to have their benefit claims handled by an American worker or an AI chatbot Mr. Bisignano (02:28:53): Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:28:55): Do you think that Social Security beneficiaries in America would rather have their calls answered by an American Mr. Bisignano (02:29:07): I can't determine that for every beneficiary but I think they're owed the option to do all of it Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:29:19): When I call someone based on the wrong charge on a credit card or a ticket that I bought that I can't get my hands on I keep pressing that zero button until I get a real person Mr. Bisignano (02:29:32): Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:29:36): It's nice to speak to someone that can answer the question instead of just wasting your time Mr. Bisignano (02:29:51): Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:29:54): The Social Security Administration stores a range of sensitive personal information including medical information bank account numbers and Social Security numbers he's authorized several members of DOGE to access Social Security Administration systems and view the sensitive personal information that is stored at the agency (02:30:24)In our meeting you confirmed that you've been in contact with individuals affiliated with DOGE has anyone affiliated with DOGE shared with you a justification for accessing the sensitive personal information of Americans outside of agency protocol Mr. Bisignano (02:30:42): I haven't talked to anybody in DOGE about anything around any of that Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:30:48): As an American citizen who was assigned a Social Security number at birth do you feel comfortable with DOGE having access to your sensitive Mr. Bisignano (02:31:00): I think I'd like to answer your question even more broadly Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:31:26): that was the answer you gave me in the office So I'm going to ask the question one more time because it sounds like we're in agreement here Mr. Bisignano (02:31:48): I guess I'm answering the question much broader I'm not comfortable with having it exposed by- Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:31:52): Mr. Bisignano (02:31:56): I think you're limiting the item to DOGE and I'm trying to tell you the job is to protect all PII Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:32:02): Do you feel comfortable with anyone having access to your sensitive Mr. Bisignano (02:32:07): Senator Ben Ray Luján (02:32:08): I think that's what we're trying to illustrate here is just to get to the bottom of this nonsense of what we see happening and people's information just being attacked (02:32:21)There was an article this weekend about what's the name of that company that you send your DNA And I saw article and article after one another suggesting to people across the country they should go in there and try to clean up their information because they don't know who's going to buy it Speaker 2 (02:32:45): Senator Barrasso (02:32:46): I think you're the right person for the job I appreciate the chance we've had to meet and to visit because look clearly Social Security's critical to the people of our state I hear from individuals all around and they depend upon the program And we're looking for you to continue to make sure that people of Wyoming and people all across the country continue to receive the benefits that they've earned And I think it's critical that the program remains strong Keep our promises to current beneficiaries as well as to future generations (02:33:22)In order to do that there are a number of issues that I think need to be addressed Social Security Administration needs to focus on improving customer services need to modernize and streamline technology and prevent improper payments And improper payments is a part of this as well So I think you're the right person to fix these problems Are you committed to doing everything you can to strengthen the Social Security program and to helping our seniors Mr. Bisignano (02:33:49): I want to work on every aspect of what we talked about It's a services org that has to have a high degree of quality and accuracy Senator Barrasso (02:34:02): We talked here recently about some of the problems with the press's reporting that are just plain wrong And as the previous senator from New Mexico said (02:34:18)And case in point is we have a Social Security office in Rock Springs And I understand that there is a hearing room that is hardly ever used yet what gets reported in the news is the whole thing is going to be closed when there's no truth to that whatsoever So I think it's incumbent on people to if they can't get a direct answer go to one of your representatives and let them try to check into it But I'm sure you've seen cases after case of similar misrepresentation in the press Mr. Bisignano (02:34:55): Senator Barrasso (02:34:56): and I want to talk about legislation helping terminally ill individuals Under current law individuals who are given less than six months to live they're currently forced to wait more than five months to receive their Social Security disability insurance benefits I've been working on a bipartisan basis across the aisle on legislation to help these people with terminal illnesses receive timely access to benefits People facing terminal illnesses shouldn't be worrying about whether and when they're going to receive the benefits that they need especially when they have so little time to live and they by law (02:35:37)That's why I've co-sponsored legislation called the Expedited Disability Insurance Payments for Terminally Ill Individuals It ends the five-month disability insurance waiting period for those diagnosed with a terminal illness that have less than six months to live It ensures people with terminal illnesses receive disability benefits in a timely manner while still preserving the integrity of the system 30,000 people died waiting for their disability decisions from the Social Security Administration The last thing people need to deal with when they're facing these end-of-life decisions should be concerned about trying to work their way through the red tape of the Social Security Administration Americans or loved ones facing significant hardships should get help when they need it the most So do you have views on the need to streamline and expedite these SSDI benefits for terminally ill individuals Mr. Bisignano (02:36:33): many of these are really about process engineering on how to change how we do it that should hit high priority because of the sensitivity of the issue and I'm happy to go look at it if I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed sir Senator Barrasso (02:36:53): including providing technical assistance as needed on making sure that we can get through this red tape Mr. Bisignano (02:37:02): Senator Barrasso (02:37:02): and my colleague from New Mexico was just asking the same thing about the average wait times on the national 800 numbers doubled from about 20 minutes in 2019 to over 40 minutes in 2024 under the last administration What are your plans for addressing performance management and improving customer service Mr. Bisignano (02:37:25): I think call centers is one of the easiest areas to manage and monitor and generate individual performance reports and collective performance reports I also think that we need to ensure that we have the right technology for the agents who answer the phones we've got to look at what the length and duration of call is what they have to do to collect the information the call center agent get to the problem much quicker Senator Barrasso (02:38:07): What's the biggest obstacle that you might face in trying to upgrade the systems and the infrastructure as you just talked about Mr. Bisignano (02:38:17): Senator Barrasso (02:38:24): Speaker 2 (02:38:25): Senator Welch (02:38:29): I want to tell the senator from Wyoming that I commit to working with you getting those benefits for terminally ill people we had a very good meeting and I appreciate it You've got an incredible experience and one of the things you have experience in is cutting costs and making things more efficient (02:38:49)Here's my question you would examine the function in the program and assess where changes could be made That might include changes that reduce personnel but it also might be a function where you had inadequate personnel and the point would be to enhance the delivery of the purpose of that mission Mr. Bisignano (02:39:21): Senator Welch (02:39:22): There's nobody here who doesn't want to have our committee run more efficiently or our Congress run more efficiently But my point here is it's a point you've made Mr and it's really had incredibly damaging effects on what's going on Senator Welch (02:40:00): all of us are concerned about the service that is being provided to the citizens that we all represent But there was an article in the Washington Post that just was talking about how the services totally deteriorating That's been in the Wall Street Journal as well isn't that upside down where they shoot first and aim later not asking you to comment on the great Elon Musk Mr. Bisignano (02:40:42): Senator Welch (02:40:43): The question is doesn't it make sense for an agency whose goal is to have it place be more efficient to study the function first before they start firing people Mr. Bisignano (02:40:57): I think that the agency needs is a multi-discipline- Senator Welch (02:41:06): DOGE has sent out termination notices to people by DOGE employees who have no idea who the people are that they're firing They just know they're on a list and they need a body count in order to be able to claim they're saving money But nobody took a look at what the function was before they started firing people have you ever done that in all of the time of your successful career that's been a hallmark of being able to make organizations run more efficiently Mr. Bisignano (02:41:47): Senator Welch (02:41:50): Mr. Bisignano (02:41:54): Senator Welch (02:41:57): And here's the dilemma that you and every other nominee is in He could care less about what the function is from our perspective has way more control over every agency than the head of the agency looks carefully at what the function is and then makes determinations about how to improve the delivery of that function So you're going to be under the thumb of DOGE Mr. Bisignano (02:42:41): I am planning on running the agency reporting to the president and I think the president has made clear that DOGE is there for input Senator Welch (02:42:54): One Vermonter contacted me about the death benefit Mr. Bisignano (02:43:10): Senator Welch (02:43:11): it is when the death benefit and Social Security was established 255 bucks It doesn't go as far today as it did before And I want to work to have that come up to 2025 standards Do you support doing that in a way that's fiscally responsible for the Social Security benefits Mr. Bisignano (02:43:34): Senator Welch (02:43:36): Senator Mike Crapo (02:43:40): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:43:43): welcome to you and to your family present today Mr. Bisignano (02:43:52): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:43:53): Thank you for meeting with me and my office a couple of weeks ago Mr. Bisignano (02:43:55): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:43:57): I look forward to continuing our conversation I want to follow up on some of the issues that we discussed in my office when we met I shared with you my strong view that retirees in Georgia who rely on Social Security deserve reliable timely delivery of their full benefits with world-class customer service and you've got a long record of delivering that in the private sphere That's why so many Georgians and I were alarmed looking at what's happening last month when several news outlets reported that Elon Musk and his DOGE team announced on their own website plans to permanently close five Social Security customer service offices throughout Georgia Thomasville and Vidalia would give Georgia the highest number of planned Social Security office closures of any state (02:44:58)Those five cities represent five counties with over one hundred and thousand people who rely on Social Security benefits I guess that's what you call the platform now denying the closures that it posted on his own website They posted those closures on their website and now no one seems to know what's true or whether or not these announced closures will affect Georgians access to their benefits or other services (02:45:38)So Sir I know that you aren't currently at the Social Security Administration and perhaps you can't speak to the plans hatched by Elon Musk or DOGE without you but if you're confirmed to lead the agency Americans deserve to know who will actually be in charge of their benefits I think we heard an answer from you a moment ago from my colleague but I'm going to ask you again for the record where will a buck stop on decisions specifically with respect to office closures As someone who represents the state where they announced five closures Then they withdrew them and acted like I made it up I just need to know when it comes to office closures Mr. Bisignano (02:46:31): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:46:33): And so I hope to be able to follow up with you on that Mr. Bisignano (02:46:37): And I'm a hundred percent available for you Senator Raphael Warnock (02:46:39): Mr. Bisignano (02:46:40): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:46:43): Mr. Bisignano (02:46:54): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:46:56): Will you commit to keeping all field offices in my state open for Georgia seniors Mr. Bisignano (02:47:04): I am asked this question more than one time today and what I will commit to is that there will be no decision made without you knowing about it so it's a little hard to commit to something without- Senator Raphael Warnock (02:47:23): just an effort to close offices to be able to announce that you're addressing waste And we all know this is true regardless of whether we're Democrats or Republicans because then they've had to go back and rehire because some of the people they fired and you said earlier you wouldn't operate in this way And the reason I'm asking about these field officers and these announce changes because it could lead to an increase of 7 million visits to field officers per year across the country The fact that they're now not allowing you to call on the phone An estimated 200,000 additional visits in Georgia alone which is why frankly I think that it's a terrible idea (02:48:16)But if confirmed will you commit to increased staffing at Georgia Field Officers to account for this massive expected increase in appointments and to help ensure Georgians can easily and efficiently make appointments If you're no longer able to call on the phone which is a decision that's already been made and you got to go online or go to the office and actually have it an in-person appointment So I want to know what's the answer to that How is it that I can assure the seniors in my church that their lines are going to get longer and longer she wouldn't worry about it." I guess she wouldn't That is not the story of the seniors in my church Will you make sure that they have access to find out what's going on with the benefits that they have earned Mr. Bisignano (02:49:14): I've spent my career overseeing financial institutions and today I serve 3,500 financial institutions in America and that means we have community banks and I know what it means to have to serve neighborhoods and also serve rural communities My commitment is that it will be a fact-based rule-based organization we run that we will ensure we have the staffing to get the best level of service for our constituents but we will have the talent that we need to get the job done at a service level better in today's Senator Raphael Warnock (02:50:08): Mr. Bisignano (02:50:16): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:50:16): No one's giving them anything they've paid into the system Mr. Bisignano (02:50:19): Senator Raphael Warnock (02:50:21): Senator Mike Crapo (02:50:22): Speaker 3 (02:50:24): Mr. Bisignano (02:50:28): Speaker 3 (02:50:29): We are delighted to have you before us and we look forward to getting you confirmed and to the Social Security Administration so you can begin to address the problems that exist And as my colleagues across the aisle have talked this morning I have found it so interesting that they have wanted to speak in favor of protecting the status quo And we know that service and wait times and backlogs have existed But you know what is so interesting is they accepted that during the Biden administration and they refused to call it out And now they are wanting to blame the problem they caused an inaction caused and lack of oversight caused on someone who is not even there and confirmed at this point (02:51:33)So we do look forward to getting you there and we do look forward to having someone who is going to bring the expertise to make certain that the accountability the transparency that is necessary for a payment system is going to be put in place I have found it to be so interesting some of their questions around this because what I have found is that the union employees the labor unions have sought to protect the people that work at Social Security but their emphasis has not been on the retirees and the recipients then there are going to have to be new systems I would hope that your emphasis will be on protecting those retirees and their payments and not on protecting these labor unions and that you will go through this process of right-sizing and eliminating some of these union employees who have really been obstructionist in this process Mr. Bisignano (02:53:01): I plan on assessing everything we have and having it operate optimally in a manner that serves their beneficiaries All the people have paid into the system with their hard-earned money Speaker 3 (02:53:14): You mentioned in several of your responses today using AI and quantum networks Basically what I've discerned from what you've said is you would more or less build a new infrastructure Mr. Bisignano (02:53:32): many times you keep what you have but you peel away parts of it technically you build a middle layer and then you put in modern technology in front of it it was a lumbering legacy company that was supposed to be at a business and we had the same situation but we're able to build a product called Clover which became the leading small business software technology and that was able to change the paradigm of the company I feel we could do the same thing with Social Security I think we have a strategic advantage with AI Speaker 3 (02:54:32): And then speak your approach to fraud and improper payments by using technology to trace and chase Mr. Bisignano (02:54:42): today I helped 3,500 banks figure out how to eliminate their fraud We don't need to expose any PII to minimize fraud We need to use better analytic tools and obviously one of the things I'm going to look at is the anti-fraud group and understand how well we're doing there and do they have the right tools to do their job Speaker 3 (02:55:16): We know you have done this for other companies Our goal is to make certain that our Social Security recipients are going to receive what they're entitled to in a timely manner and we know that rooting out the waste and the fraud and the improper payments will help to assure that they get every single penny they're entitled to Senator Mike Crapo (02:55:49): Speaker 4 (02:55:52): I also appreciate you taking time to meet with my staff I apologize for not being able to meet with you but I'd already decided I was going to confirm our voting in support of your confirmation You have exactly the right sort of skills that we need in this whether it's your business acumen that helped turn around the mortgage banking business unit at JPMC in the middle of a fiscal crisis you've got a pretty wide array of experience that I think is going to serve the agency well there's this current body of work that some of which makes sense The key performance indicators are not moving in the right direction yet Mr. Bisignano (02:56:57): I want to understand how they actually operate Speaker 4 (02:57:03): What you're going to find out is after you do the analytics every member of Congress except for me probably will like your analytics except to the extent that it affects one of their offices and their district or state Mr. Bisignano (02:57:19): Speaker 4 (02:57:19): If you present analytics and say the best and highest use of American taxpayer dollars to support those who are on Social Security is somewhere else Go after it the way you would in private sector Mr. Bisignano (02:57:37): the phone rings a lot and we don't answer it a lot What are the staffing levels we need to do the job What's the technology that we need to do the job that doesn't mean I'm saying we need to add people Speaker 4 (02:58:00): Or you may not have the right people in the roles Mr. Bisignano (02:58:02): So I think it's assessing where we're meeting beneficiaries because job one is taking care of all those that rely on us Speaker 4 (02:58:14): Are you going to be the executive sponsor for the transformation of Social Security Mr. Bisignano (02:58:18): Speaker 4 (02:58:19): Do you see anybody else being outside of the organization being anything more than advisors and strategists to help you to that role Mr. Bisignano (02:58:26): Speaker 4 (02:58:27): Would you ever knowingly allow any PII to be viewed by anyone who's not authorized part of a process that you're running Mr. Bisignano (02:58:34): Speaker 4 (02:58:38): I believe someone mentioned in an interview you said you're fundamentally a DOGE person My guess is what you were saying there is you're fundamentally an efficiency driven person Mr. Bisignano (02:58:48): The largest thing that causes large expense in a company is bad control environments Speaker 4 (02:59:08): Mr. Bisignano (02:59:09): I was driving efficiency before there was such a word Speaker 4 (02:59:11): People only have to look at your resume to understand the context that you intended in that comment That's why I think you're going to be great for the role There were other people that were suggesting one of the… I knew I was going to be last so I get to finish wind up I'm not going to go too far over though at all but I really feel like people need… There were suggestions made that maybe you're going to cut benefits I was in the White House with the president two weeks ago he made it very clear that benefits cuts are off the table And he said the same thing about Medicare and he said the same thing about Medicaid (02:59:55)So you're really there to make sure that people who are eligible for it the vast majority like my 92-year-old mother are not a part of gaming the system and no she really would appreciate getting the check every month although family members would chip in that as her source of income You're committed to making sure the checks get out every month Mr. Bisignano (03:00:19): Speaker 4 (03:00:20): You're committed to making sure that whether is fraud Mr. Bisignano (03:00:23): Speaker 4 (03:00:24): You're committed to making sure that every key performance indicator you're committed to moving those in a positive direction Mr. Bisignano (03:00:34): Speaker 4 (03:00:36): Mr. Bisignano (03:00:39): Senator Mike Crapo (03:00:40): Senator Wyden has asked if he could ask one more question and certainly he can And then he and I will probably make very brief wrap-up statements and we'll be done MR. WYDEN (03:00:55): The nominee has been talking to people at Social Security as far as I can tell he's made no objection to anything going on he's been getting people by his insistence brought into the DOGE mentality there at Social Security So my question to our nominee today is I look at DOGE and I say to myself "I'm dying to know what our nominee would give the DOGE people for a grade." What kind of grade would you give them for the last couple of months I look around and I see phones out of whack I'm not sure I'd give them a very good grade What kind of grade would you give them for the first couple months Mr. Bisignano (03:01:52): I'm a high quality provider of services to customers MR. WYDEN (03:02:12): Mr. Bisignano (03:02:15): MR. WYDEN (03:02:19): I'd like to get your appraisal of what their track record is for the first couple of months Mr. Bisignano (03:02:23): MR. WYDEN (03:02:25): Mr. Bisignano (03:02:26): I believe you need to focus on the client and in this case it's the beneficiary what I see is an acting commissioner that has maybe been put in a position the Senate Finance Committee as opposed to a board of directors And I think we have somebody in the acting role and you hear them in the papers every day I think we have a leadership issue and that's why I'm hopeful And if I'm to be confirmed that I will be in charge of the agency MR. WYDEN (03:03:40): So let the records show that I asked our nominee twice to give a grade for the DOGE operation He said he's not even sure it has anything to do with them they are terrified because they can't get through on a phone I think you think that AI is a silver bullet That's what people are asking for right now I'm all in on trying to work with longer term approaches if seniors are interested in that but right now they're interested in phone service and somebody who can help them (03:04:26)And you have taken a pass all through the last two and a half hours on giving us any ideas and you want us to accept that because you have had some background in business and that whistleblower thinks that you haven't told the truth So I look forward to the answers we're going to get I'll keep the record open on my side for any ideas that you have to do something now that'll help people or your assessment of DOGE's performance Senator Mike Crapo (03:05:01): is that you are the person that needs to have this job You know how to deliver what we all want from Social Security and we are all looking forward to moving ahead expeditiously with your nomination I want to repeat something that Senator Tillis said The attack all day has been on DOGE and undercutting Social Security and shutting it down or privatizing it or whatever it is The bottom line is the President of the United States has said that we are not going to cut Social Security benefits He has said we are not going to cut Medicare benefits and we are not going to cut Medicaid benefits whether it's the media or whether it is those who want to attack the administration want to say We look forward to having you at the Social Security Administration to deliver on the performance that you've discussed so well today And we thank you for being willing to step into this situation and help our country Mr. Bisignano (03:06:28): Lectus donec nisi placerat suscipit tellus pellentesque turpis amet Sign up to get Rev content delivered straight to your inbox Two Senate Democrats are calling on Frank Bisignano to oppose any cuts to Social Security ahead of hearings on his nomination to lead the agency Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano faces calls from two prominent Democrats to fight changes to the Social Security Administration and divest his company holdings ahead of a hearing on his nomination to lead the agency Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden want Bisignano, who was nominated to serve as Social Security Commissioner by President Donald Trump on Dec to divest from Milwaukee-based Fiserv if he is confirmed and avoid any changes that would make it more difficult for Social Security recipients to access their benefits They laid out their concerns in a letter Sunday to Bisignano posted on their websites Recent changes at the SSA, including a move to require more recipients to visit Social Security offices in person to finalize claims or enroll in benefits “These new developments leave us deeply concerned that DOGE and the Trump Administration are setting up the SSA for failure,” the letter reads referring to the acronym for the Department of Government Efficiency which is headed by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and is leading efforts to shrink the federal government About 73 million Americans who are 62 or older receive Social Security payments Bisignano, who became CEO of the giant Milwaukee-based processor in 2020, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday at 10 a.m EST to answer questions about his nomination The senators’ letter alleges that Fiserv stands to gain from the privatization of Social Security financial services firms are salivating at the possibility of profiting off of Americans’ hard-earned retirement benefits,” the letter says Fiserv — which ‘enables money movement for thousands of financial institutions and millions of people’ — could theoretically benefit from a privatization of Social Security.” The letter cites a March 17 Forbes article featuring comments from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink about letting Americans put Social Security benefits into private retirement accounts Bisignano owned 3,260,608 shares of common stock in Fiserv as of March 1, 2024, according to the company’s 2024 proxy statement The payments firm has not yet released its 2025 proxy statement A spokesperson for Fiserv did not respond to a request for comment Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” in a February appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast although Trump has pledged not to reduce Social Security benefits A spokesperspon for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how the DOGE efforts may affect Social Security The Social Security Administration announced in February that it would reduce staff by about 7,000 employees to around 50,000 and close regional offices. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made waves on Friday when he implied that some Americans might not mind missing a Social Security payment “Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who's 94, she wouldn’t call and complain,” Lutnick told the All-In podcast last week hosted by investors Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg “The Secretary is committed to protecting Social Security for all eligible Americans,” a Commerce Department spokesperson told Axios in response to Lutnick’s comments Former PNC Financial Services Group President Michael Lyons will take over for Bisignano after the current Fiserv CEO departs. The company said in a Jan. 23 news release that Bisignano will stay with Fiserv until June 30 unless he is confirmed by the Senate sooner Dan Cody is a journalist based in London. His focus is increasing the search visibility of Newsweek's reporting across all subjects. Dan joined Newsweek in 2024 from the London Evening Standard and had previously worked at The New Statesman. He is a graduate of Nottingham Trent University. You can get in touch with Dan by emailing d.cody@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Social Security Administration (SSA) has come under scrutiny over his connections to a federal downsizing initiative that has prompted widespread office closures While Bisignano insisted he would not reduce services critics argued that many of the agency's recent changes already amount to functional benefit cuts for vulnerable populations Bisignano is a longtime Wall Street executive who has served as chairman of financial services technology firm Fiserv since 2022 He previously led First Data Corporation and held leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase His business background has drawn praise from some Republicans who argue his operational experience could help modernize the agency you will be responsible for leading an agency with a critical mission and numerous operational and customer service challenges," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) During the hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren described a hypothetical scenario where a senior citizen with limited mobility or internet access is turned away from a shuttered field office She then asked: "Isn't that a benefit cut?" Bisignano responded: "I have no intent to have anything like that happen under my watch." asking whether someone who is delayed in getting benefits due to lack of service and thus loses out on $5,000 they can never recover I'd call it a horrible situation," Bisignano replied The SSA currently serves approximately 72.5 million Americans. In recent months, the agency has begun laying off 7,000 employees, closing field offices and mandating in-person identity checks—changes that have drawn criticism from lawmakers and advocacy groups president of social welfare organization Social Security Works said the hearing "showed that Frank Bisignano is not the cure to the DOGE-manufactured chaos at the Social Security Administration would make it even worse," according to the Associated Press (AP) said a staffer tested the agency's main phone line and was disconnected twice before holding for an hour on the third try "They could have at least had Olivia Newton-John or some '70s music.. Bisignano has previously called himself "fundamentally a DOGE person," referring to the Department of Government Efficiency—a Trump-backed initiative led by Elon Musk to shrink government spending he distanced himself from DOGE's operational influence He also said that he has had "no contact" with DOGE's cost-cutting team That claim was disputed by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden who said a senior agency official informed him Bisignano had "frequent" contact with Russo and personally appointed him Two other sources told the Post that Russo "spoke multiple times a day" with Bisignano about agency operations Bisignano did not respond directly to allegations that he helped DOGE software engineer Akash Bobba gain access to internal Social Security data systems He did say he supports using artificial intelligence to improve service and called the agency's 1 percent error rate in benefits delivery "way too high." "If you think of that type of error rate running through the agency it creates more problems than we need," he said declined to ask questions during the hearing "This is a wholesale effort to dismantle Social Security from the inside out." Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter. Newsletters in your inbox See all has won over analysts and investors with his experience at bank clients and payment peers Fiserv’s incoming CEO will bring broad industry expertise to leadership of the processing giant based on prior works with banks and payments peers according to analysts who follow the company That experience is the main reason President and CEO-elect Michael Lyons has been well-received managing director of fintech and payments research at the investment firm Stephens Inc Lyons is the former president of PNC Financial Services Group “one of Fiserv’s biggest clients,” Nabhan pointed out That means Lyons is “familiar with what Fiserv is doing from a strategic perspective,” said Ryan Coyne a payments and fintech analyst for the investment bank Mizuho Securities President Donald Trump nominated outgoing Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and Lyons was tapped in January as his successor In addition, Lyons serves as chair of Early Warning Services, the bank-owned company that operates the Zelle peer-to-peer payment network, according to his profile on Fiserv’s website He also previously worked as a portfolio manager for Maverick Capital a hedge fund focused on financial technology companies Bisignano will remain in his current roles at Milwaukee-based Fiserv until June 30, unless he is confirmed by the Senate sooner, according to a Jan. 23 news release announcing Lyons’ appointment Lyons reports to Bisignano in the meantime The incoming CEO “has been well-received by the investors that we've spoken to thus far,” Coyne said Lyons is respected in the financial services industry citing positive comments from bank analyst colleagues who previously followed Lyons there are questions about hiring a bank executive instead of an internal hire of someone from another payments company Investors are “questioning if the transition from bank executive to fintech executive will be seemless,” he said “In certain respects it requires different skillset.” If confirmed by the Senate, Bisignano will lead an agency expected to lose thousands of workers. The Social Security Administration has announced plans to reduce its workforce from 57,000 to 50,000 as Trump continues his quest to shrink the federal government Bisignano’s confirmation hearing have not been scheduled Spokespeople for members of the Senate Finance Committee which will consider Bisignano’s nomination referred questions about the confirmation timeline to Idaho Sen A spokesperson for Crapo did not respond to a request for comment Analysts who follow Fiserv note the company also has a deep bench of executives who will remain after Bisignano’s departure Those executives include Chief Operating Officer Guy Chiarello Executive Vice President Takis Georgakopoulos and Chief Financial Officer Bob Hau Spending trends also favor Fiserv, said Hal Goetsch, a managing director for the investment firm B. Riley Securities. The company makes money when consumers use credit and debit cards at the point of sale, and surveys consistently show the percentage of consumers using cash is declining “The ecosystems that are pushing every payment company along are very healthy,” Goetsch said Small businesses are also adopting more sophisticated point-of-sale software that lets customers leave tips and use reward points As more merchants demand these services, the companies that provide them, such as Fiserv, stand to benefit, he said, stressing that Fiserv’s Clover — a point of sale system largely used by small businesses — is one of the payments company’s major strengths The incoming CEO will inherit leadership of a top payments company noting that Fiserv is pushing into international markets like Brazil and Mexico Bisignano previously served as the CEO of First Data Corporation a position he took in 2013 and held when Fiserv acquired the company in 2020 where was promoted to co-chief operating officer in 2012 When former Fiserv CEO Jeff Yabuki stepped down and Bisignano was named as his replacement in 2020 concerns were raised about the then-new CEO maintaining the company’s track record of growth and consistency “I could say with pretty high certainty that he's delivered and exceeded expectations,” he said Forcing banks to reimburse authorized payments could encourage bad behavior and would not deter scammers The big bank’s payments unit and Y Combinator were among investors providing $65 million in financing for the business-to-business upstart this month Senator Cornyn Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) met yesterday with Frank Bisignano whom President Trump has nominated to serve as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to discuss eliminating government waste in conjunction with DOGE and increasing efficiency at the SSA but those wishing to do so may credit the Office of U.S please check your information and try again CEO Frank Bisignano quickly deemed his successor Fiserv’s leadership transition was over in less than two weeks last month with the payment processor now run by two top executives after Chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano deemed his successor ready to lead after about 10 days at the company Michael Lyons, Fiserv’s president and CEO-elect and the former president of PNC Financial Services Group, joined a monthly Fiserv management committee meeting on Jan. 27, his first day with the company “We announced (it) on a Thursday, and he showed up for work on Monday, which gets at a little bit of the speed of the company but also the speed of Mike,” Hau said at the Wolfe Research FinTech Forum 2025 event “I would say probably 10 days into that transition Frank declared the transition over internally,” Hau said Mike and I are now leading the company together.’” Bisignano, the former head of First Data until the companies merged six years ago, was nominated by President Donald Trump in December to run the Social Security Administration. Fiserv announced Bisignano’s future departure on Dec He’s expected to leave Milwaukee-based Fiserv June 30 or before depending on the timing of a Senate confirmation In terms of strategy changes under the new CEO with Lyons telling employees and investors to not “expect a big unveil” once he assumes the top job on a solo basis “He's not changing the direction of the company,” Hau said “He came to Fiserv because of his belief in the strategy and the focus and the future of the company Over the past year, Fiserv has become a slightly smaller company, in terms of employees. The company lost about 10% of its workforce in 2024, ending the year with 38,000 employees, according to its annual report filed last month Fiserv continues to stand by its aggressive growth prospects for Clover its point-of-sale payments solution for small businesses Clover faces competition from rivals such as Toast Shopify and Square that target the same retail and restaurant clients The company expects Clover revenue of $3.5 billion by year’s end, after building sales to $2.7 billion last year Clover sales are expected to increase by another $1 billion to $4.5 billion Fiserv introduced Clover in Brazil in December and plans to launch the service in Mexico and Australia with all three markets “starting to ramp” later in 2025 “We have good visibility into the Clover growth confidence in that international channel,” he said because his wife runs a small business using Clover “He knows the company quite well,” Hau said and it's been a pretty smooth transition.” In terms of small-business operations, Hau said 39 banks had adopted Fiserv’s new CashFlow Central product by year’s end a platform the banks use to help improve and cement their relationships with small businesses The first banks using that platform will go live by June 30 That business line is expected to contribute significantly to revenue over time “I think it's meaningful over the next several years and we expect it to be a nine-digit number,” he said President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Social Security Administration "Social Security needs a commissioner whose loyalty is to beneficiaries Senate Finance Committee grilled financial services executive Frank Bisignano at his confirmation hearing to oversee Social Security on Tuesday a progressive think tank reported that the Trump administration's cuts to the popular program have already created "unnecessary barriers for millions of beneficiaries to access the benefits they earned." The group outlined four ways in which Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire tech CEO who he named as head of the advisory board he created to slash public spending, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have created "the potential for significant damage to the program" without taking action to explicitly make cuts to the benefits relied on by 73 million retirees Trump and Musk have worked to weaken Social Security by: longtime employees of the SSA have shed light on the impact of DOGE cutting 12% of the staff with the former acting chief of staff to acting Commissioner Leland Dudek saying in a court filing before her retirement in February that DOGE's "disregard for critical processes.. and lack of interest in understanding [SSA's] systems and programs.. combined with the significant loss of expertise as more and more agency personnel leave have me seriously concerned that SSA programs will continue to function and operate without disruption." But at Bisgnano's confirmation hearing on Tuesday Democratic lawmakers were alarmed by his refusal to acknowledge the damage done by DOGE at SSA Noting that Bisignano has referred to himself as a "DOGE guy," Sen Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked the nominee what grade he would give Musk's advisory body's activities at the SSA over the past two months "I look around and I see phones out of whack "I'm not sure I'd give them a very good grade but you're a 'DOGE guy.'" Bisignano did not answer the direct question instead saying he has spent his career pursuing "employee satisfaction" and "increasing control." Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) told reporters after the hearing that with Bisignano signaling he is "all in on DOGE.. I see no reason to trust that he is going to do anything but be an enthusiastic participant in what Elon Musk and Donald Trump are trying to do to Social Security Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, noted that Bisignano's career in financial services has been "right in line with DOGE." "He cut staffing to the bone and reportedly created toxic work environments," said Altman the now toxic work environment at SSA will likely get worse." Wyden's questioning of Bisignano also revealed that the nominee was involved in discussions about DOGE at the agency with Bisignano claiming that he was not before the senator produced a statement from a senior official saying the nominee insisted "on personally approving DOGE hires at the agency." "Today's hearing showed that Frank Bisignano is not the cure to the DOGE-manufactured chaos at the Social Security Administration would make it even worse," said Altman Bisignano would not even contradict Musk's slander that Social Security is a criminal Ponzi scheme Every senator who cares about Social Security's future should vote no on the confirmation of Frank Bisignano with no expertise regarding this vital program—he is dangerous to it." While Democrats expressed outrage over the administration's efforts to gut the program that 40% of American retirees rely on as their primary source of income Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) explicitly gave Bisignano his blessing to "go after [Social Security] the way you would in the private sector." "With his comments today in support of Social Security office closures Tillis revealed the fact that protecting seniors and the disabled is an afterthought for congressional Republicans and that they have one true agenda—gutting vital programs like Social Security to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires," said Unrig Our Economy spokesperson Kobie Christian "The 73 million Americans currently receiving Social Security are not numbers on a balance sheet that Republicans should 'go after.' They are everyday people who worked hard to earn their benefits It's time that members of Congress stop this crusade on families across the country and put an end to this pro-billionaire agenda." As Common Dreamsreported Tuesday the changes at SSA that Tillis endorsed and called for more of include the agency's website crashing four times in 10 days recently panicked beneficiaries being forced to wait on hold for up to 4-5 hours and employees left wondering whether they will receive proper training to verify people's identities at field offices as the agency prepares to end phone services at the direction of the White House At the hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) explained how those changes are in fact cuts to Social Security benefits—no matter how many times Trump claims otherwise If a 65-year-old retiree can't use the SSA's phone service to verify his identity and apply for benefits and has to wait for a family member to get a day off work to drive him two hours to the only understaffed SSA office in the area that hasn't been closed "let's assume it takes our fellow three months to straighten this out and he misses a total of $5,000 in benefits checks "Is that a benefit cut?" Warren asked saying he wasn't sure "what to call" the scenario described by the senator Bisignano claimed at the hearing that he will "run the SSA in a way that properly serves beneficiaries," said Max Richtman president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare "But that will be impossible if he does not undo the reckless policies that acting Commissioner Leland Dudek has put in place under the influence of Elon Musk and DOGE with the implied consent of President Trump which have seriously disrupted customer service for seniors and people with disabilities." Bisignano would not commit to ending Musk and DOGE's interference at SSA nor to reversing any of their dangerous policies," said Richtman "He cannot live up to his promises to put the interests of beneficiaries first if the man who recently called Social Security a Ponzi scheme continues to call the shots." Bisignano’s background signals he will be more focused on seeking efficiencies and administration than any policy reform efforts President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to nominate Frank Bisignano CEO of fintech and payments company Fiserv as commissioner of the Social Security Administration with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday evening “He will be responsible to deliver on the Agency’s commitment to the American People for generations to come!” Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights a global provider of financial technology and services to institutions such as banks Bisignano held leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase He became CEO of payments processor First Data Corp. which Fiserv acquired for $22 billion in 2019 Trump had not yet formally nominated Bisignano to the Social Security Administration post that was held until last month by former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley who resigned to seek the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee The Social Security position requires Senate confirmation Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, views Bisignano’s nomination as consistent with Trump’s stance “Bisignano’s professional background is that of an executive who would administer an agency not a public policy expert who would advocate broader changes to the program,” Biggs says “The Social Security Administration in general is a service agency focused on paying ‘the right check to the right person at the right time.’” Biggs notes that the new commissioner’s primary challenges would likely be administrative rather than policy-driven expediting disability applications or reducing improper payments “I anticipate that Bisignano would focus on administrative priorities rather than Social Security reform,” Biggs adds Trump praised Bisignano’s “long career” in financial services citing his leadership at major institutions and extensive experience in fintech innovation Bisignano will oversee an agency tasked with managing benefits for millions of Americans amid ongoing debates over the program’s future funding and structure When asked about potential impacts on retirement planning economist Biggs said the Social Security Administration could take steps to integrate benefit estimates with private retirement projections regulated by the Department of Labor “There are things the Social Security Administration might do to make retirement planning easier,” Biggs says “But that would depend upon the commissioner’s interests and priorities.” remains bullish that its Cash App financial-services platform will remain a growth driver … currently president of PNC Financial Services Group Payment processing behemoth Fiserv has named Michael P Lyons as the successor to CEO Frank Bisignano who was nominated last month by President Donald Trump to lead the Social Security Administration Lyons, who is currently president of PNC Financial Services Group, will become Fiserv's president and CEO-elect on Jan. 27, a Thursday news release from the company said Bisignano will continue as CEO until June 30 unless he is confirmed as commissioner of the Social Security Administration by the U.S and become CEO and a member of the board as soon as Bisignano leaves the company Lyons, who was BofA’s global head of corporate development and strategic planning, played a key role in PNC's acquisition of the Houston-based bank BBVA USA from the Spanish financial group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria He has three decades of experience in financial services Trump announced his selection of Bisignano as commissioner of the Social Security Administration on December 4. Fiserv said at the time that it had established a long-term succession plan to find a successor Bisignano became CEO of Fiserv in 2020, and before that he was the CEO of rival First Data, a position he held in 2013 when that company was acquired by Fiserv in 2019. He was appointed Fiserv’s chairman in 2022. Before joining First Data, he worked for JPMorgan Chase, where he was promoted to co-chief operating officer in 2012. Analysts were upbeat about Fiserv's decision, citing Lyons' decades of experience in financial services. "He was very influential in the strategic acquisitions that PNC made over the years, which is important for Fiserv, given a meaningful piece of the Fiserv strategy will be tied to [mergers and acquisitions]," Wells Fargo analyst Andrew Bauch said in a phone interview. Still, investors he has spoken to questioned whether Lyons could make the transition from a bank to a financial technology company, but the incoming CEO will have a “deep pool of talent” to lean on as he takes over from Bisignano, Bauch added. His selection was "logical" given his leadership experience, Baird Equity Research analyst David Koning wrote in a note to investors Thursday. "Fiserv likely benefits from a leader with relationships across large banks," he wrote. Lyons' selection was a "modest surprise" because he is an external hire, TD Cowen analyst Bryan Bergin wrote in a note to investors Thursday. But the pick is "a clear nod to the importance of bank relationships and focus on rounding out a financial solutions product suite," he wrote. Lyons can "hit the ground running" thanks to the pre-existing relationship between Fiserv and PNC, Bergin wrote. The payments processor looked for a leader with industry experience and strategic vision, Doyle R. Simons, lead independent director of Fiserv, said in Fiserv's news release. "I have known the company for a long time as an investor, banker, and technology service provider and look forward to advancing Fiserv’s 40-year track record of success," Lyons said. Forcing banks to reimburse authorized payments could encourage bad behavior and would not deter scammers, bank executives said in a Senate hearing. The big bank’s payments unit and Y Combinator were among investors providing $65 million in financing for the business-to-business upstart this month. Keep up with the story. Subscribe to the Payments Dive free daily newsletter Subscribe to Payments Dive for top news, trends & analysis Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano faced tough questions about DOGE cuts before the Senate Finance Committee this week, but members voiced their expectations that he will be confirmed as the next Social Security commissioner. Frank Bisignano commissioner of the US Social Security Administration nominee for US President Donald Trump At a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Tuesday President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Social Security Administration said he’s “never thought about privatizing” the agency which has become a prime target of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting crusade “The commissioner’s job is to ensure that the agency operates correctly,” Bisignano said Maria Cantwell’s question about privatization “I want to provide all the information required by the Senate but I don’t believe I’m a decision maker.” a self-professed “efficiency guy” or “DOGE person,” faced tough questions by Senate Democrats and was called to account for the recent upheaval at the SSA Bisignano was the chairman and CEO of First Data Corp. and oversaw the merger of First Data and Fiserv in 2019 he worked as co-chief operating officer of JPMorgan Chase and had also previously held senior positions at Citigroup Democrats on the committee repeatedly pressed Bisignano on whether he supports cuts to Social Security and if he agrees with Musk that the program is a “Ponzi scheme.” He avoided directly answering those questions “I’ve been told by the president to ensure that we preserve and protect Social Security,” he said Members of both parties voiced their expectation that Bisignano would be confirmed by the full Senate. Sixty-two percent of small business owners say inflation is their biggest stressor By Paul Wilson and Lily Peterson | May 02 We talk about the noise surrounding PBMs and prescription drugs; discuss the importance of trying to do the right thing; and dig into how to filter out all the noise and bad actors and find people and companies that truly align with their mission At a crossroad and facing an endless list of daunting challenges how can benefits advisors and their partners truly make a difference / For questions about BenefitsPRO, please call 800-458-1734 (9:00am-5:30pm ET, Monday through Friday, except holidays), or send an email to [email protected] Bisignano's career suggests that he understands the unique needs of older and disabled Americans," said the Alliance for Retired Americans' leader President-elect Donald Trump's pick to run the Social Security Administration warned this week that the Wall Street veteran may not be the best choice to run an agency that provides one of America's most important social safety nets Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said in a statement that "nothing in Mr Bisignano's career suggests that he understands the unique needs of older and disabled Americans." "We are also concerned that his decades on Wall Street will leave SSA with a cheerleader for risky schemes like allowing investment firms and crypto corporations to gamble with the trust funds and benefits that Americans paid for and earned through a lifetime of work," Fiesta added "Frank is a business leader, with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations. He will be responsible to deliver on the Agency's commitment to the American People for generations to come!" Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this week In reaction to Bisignano's nomination, Wisconsin state Sen. Chris Larson (D-7) quipped on X: "Why leave a $28 million/yr gig to work in government My prediction: to cut Social Security." A Wisconsin-based company rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, marking the end of one of the worst days for the stock market in years. Fiserv, the payment and financial technology company headquartered in downtown Milwaukee, was picked to ring the closing bell. At the forefront was Chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano, who is amid a Senate confirmation process as President Donald Trump picked him to lead the Social Security Administration. stock losses closed sharply lower on Thursday with the blue-chip Dow losing nearly 1,700 points and the broad S&P 500 tumbling about 275 points for its biggest single day loss since March 2020 The market fallout comes a day after Trump unveiled his tariff plan Wednesday of at least 10% on all countries He also announced higher tariffs for some specific countries Dollar Tree and Amazon that import a bulk of their goods from Asia dropped because of its large manufacturing base in China tumbled more than 5.5% for its worst day in almost three years on fears a global economic slowdown will reduce demand for the black gold His nominee to head the SSA backs technology over people nominee to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration speaking at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee and long waits for service that represent a “destruction of the agency from the inside out,” according to Sen as part of a fruitless hunt for largely nonexistent benefits fraud More from David Dayen There’s reason to believe that Bisignano is being brought in to finish DOGE’s job based on his past experience as the CEO of the oligopolist data processing firm Fiserv the nation’s largest provider of back-office banking services Crippling Social Security’s ability to serve customers is seen by many as a stalking horse for privatizing parts and companies like Fiserv are waiting in the wings “Wall Street wants part of the $1.6 trillion that flows through the agency,” said Nancy Altman a member of Social Security’s advisory board and president of the advocacy group Social Security Works Republicans treated Bisignano like a savior who could use his skills as “a leader in payments and financial technology,” as Finance Committee chair Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced him But Fiserv’s role in the banking system is worth studying as its CEO migrates into the government SSA could be yet another one of Bisignano’s company’s many conquests FISERV HAS A STORY LIKE ONES WE’VE SEEN in practically every corner of the U.S. economy. Founded in 1984 through a merger between First Data Processing and Sunshine State Systems Fiserv grew by acquiring at least 40 companies in the data processing space (see chart) Among Fiserv’s biggest mergers were the 1995 purchase of Information Technology which had devised the Premier bank platform that was the biggest account processing system in the U.S at that time; the 2007 acquisition of CheckFree which had itself just swallowed up four tech service companies and was the leading online banking and check-clearance processor in the country; and the $22 billion deal in 2019 for First Data who had previously worked at Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase and he became CEO of Fiserv a year after the deal along with Fidelity National Information Services (known as FIS) are “core providers” that control the back-end technology for the majority of U.S If you want to keep track of customer deposits and virtually everything else a bank needs to function and attract customers the Big Three’s percentage of the market for smaller banks which cannot develop their own technology and must rely on outside help and “banking as a service” (BaaS) providers in recent years The Kansas City Fed described Fiserv and its two counterparts as “one-stop shops” that have “market power over depository institutions of all sizes,” though Fiserv in particular specializes in smaller banks In 2022, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Rohit Chopra made remarks to community bankers in which he cited figures showing that core providers had only a 5 percent net satisfaction rating from community banks “In a market where small financial institutions need to compete head-to-head with big players I am concerned that the core services providers that small players rely on have too much power in the system,” Chopra said Smaller lenders, who depend on core providers for their livelihoods, have complained about complex expensive long-term contracts (some totaling large shares of a bank’s annual profits) and substandard services that Fiserv and its competitors offer Fees are apparently charged for implementation and upgrades as well as for early termination of contracts And multiple lawsuits allege that renewals for core provider services were coerced “Executives at some small banks say they feel like they are becoming franchises of the core providers because they are so reliant on their technology,” the Journal reported in 2019 The satisfaction of employees at Fiserv is apparently no better than that of the banks that use its services. According to Branko Marcetic Bisignano has engaged in multiple rounds of layoffs and outsourcing of jobs the now toxic work environment at SSA will likely get worse,” said Altman in which it had also been an early investor THE REAL QUESTION IS HOW FISERV could insinuate itself into Social Security. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), in a letter to Bisignano sent on Sunday raised the possibility that Fiserv could “theoretically benefit from a privatization of Social Security.” At the least SSA could steer agency contracts to Fiserv to provide the agency back-office support even if Bisignano personally recused himself from the decision Fiserv’s contracts are often onerous and expensive SSA could find itself in a similar position to those community lenders locked into contracts that are more lucrative deals for Fiserv than good deals for the people who depend on Social Security But even if Bisignano and Fiserv want to upgrade SSA’s back-end technology the payments themselves aren’t really the problem Bisignano talked repeatedly in the hearing about Social Security’s error rate (which is less than 1 percent) and how he could improve it but this betrayed a lack of understanding about what that error rate comprises “The overpayments result from the complexity of the law,” Altman said “When you get paid Social Security you get paid for the month before If you die on a Tuesday that is the last day of a month No payments system in the world will solve that SSA doesn’t actually send out the payments either; they compile lists of where the money goes for the Treasury Department’s payment system While Republicans treated Bisignano as a kind of oracle who could use his private-sector experience to fix Social Security’s problems his experience is not where the agency’s problems—which are primarily budgetary—actually lie “The problem is Congress made the law too complicated and didn’t give it enough resources and now Musk and Trump are demolishing it all,” Altman explained This wouldn’t be the first time that a Trump appointee was mismatched for the job they received Bisignano would have the authority to revamp IT or other services at the agency which could lead to contracts for his old company And the contracts are a source of complaints from some banks that work with Fiserv Bisignano has worked at some of the largest banks on Wall Street from Morgan Stanley to Citigroup to JPMorgan Chase Those banks could definitely benefit from a privatized Social Security system that looked more like a 401(k) retirement account The SSA commissioner wouldn’t be able to do that on their own but if Congress added a private account setup the commissioner would pick the private-sector partners to manage it In Tuesday’s hearing, Bisignano referred to Fiserv as a “tech company,” and touted his ability to problem-solve. But when asked repeatedly about privatization, he maintained that nobody had talked to him about privatizing Social Security and that he hadn’t thought about it. Asked about Bisignano’s Fiserv empire after the hearing, Sen. Wyden said “I’m especially troubled by the prospect that he just seems mesmerized by AI and won’t respond to any constructive suggestions to get phone service up for the seniors because that’s what they need right now.” Bisignano has called himself a “DOGE person.” Altman sees him as a loyal foot soldier for the gang that is hobbling the landmark social insurance program upon which millions rely “They want to convince everybody it’s full of fraud and that they’ll get rid of the fraud,” she said “What they want to do is destroy the program.” David Dayen is the Prospect’s executive editor His most recent book is ‘Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.’ About the Prospect | Contact Info Careers |FAQ Newsletters Browse Archive / Back Issues Manage A Print Subscription Manage A Recurring Donation Privacy Policy DONATE TO THE PROSPECT This purchase is available as a free download with your MyC-SPAN account C-SPAN.org offers links to books featured on the C-SPAN networks to make it simpler for viewers to purchase them C-SPAN has agreements with retailers that share a small percentage of your purchase price with our network C-SPAN earns money from your qualifying purchases C-SPAN only receives this revenue if your book purchase is made using the links on this page Any revenue realized from this program goes into a general account to help fund C-SPAN operations Please note that questions regarding fulfillment or issues relating to your book orders should be directed to the Webmaster or administrator of the specific bookseller's site and are their sole responsibility MyC-SPAN users can download four Congressional hearings and proceedings under four hours for free each month There are three ways to set in and out points for a clip: Check your selection with the "Preview Clip" option If you are editing the times of an existing clip you may only set a start and end time within the original clip boundaries WASHINGTON — As Donald Trump assembles his administration he’s so far picked two people with a connection to Wisconsin for top jobs He nominated former Congressman Sean Duffy for Transportation Secretary and now Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano to head the social security administration Fiserv is a payment and financial services provider based in Milwaukee “All I know about him is positive,” said Rep It’s a feather in the cap of the state of Wisconsin.” According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Bisignano was the highest paid CEO among Wisconsin’s biggest companies last year Before assuming his role as CEO at Fiserv in 2020 a payment services provider in the e-commerce industry He oversaw the First Data’s IPO in 2015 and merger with Fiserv four years later Bisignano will need to be confirmed by the Senate to lead the Social Security Administration which distributes retirement and disability benefits to people who paid into the system as employees and I want to completely eradicate any waste because every dollar that’s fraudulently spent is one dollar that cannot go to help a senior or someone who is vulnerable,” said Rep In a post online Trump said Bisignano “has a long career leading financial services institutions through great transformation,” and “will be responsible to deliver on the Agency’s commitment to the American People for generations to come.” Bisignano donated $125,000 to the Republican National Committee and Donald Trump in 2019 he donated $15,000 to Former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie’s PAC and $50,000 to Florida Gov both of whom sought the Republican nomination for President against Trump Bisignano has also donated to Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov he would draw from his background in trying to transform the social security system He’ll remain CEO of Fiserv until his confirmation Follow Charlotte Scott on Facebook and X A Milwaukee CEO has been named to a prominent role in the incoming Trump administration "I am very pleased to nominate Frank Bisignano to serve as the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations," Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social "He will be responsible to deliver on the Agency's commitment to the American People for generations to come!" Bisignano, 65, will oversee the Social Security Administration, a federal agency with over 1,200 field offices and nearly 60,000 employees disability and survivor benefits to around 70 million Americans each month Here's more about Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano: Bisignano's early career included vice president roles at Shearson Lehman Brothers and First Fidelity Bank where he was CEO of mortgage banking and then co-chief operating officer In 2013, Bisignano became chairman and CEO of First Data. After Fiserv acquired First Data in 2019 COO and a director at Fiserv before becoming CEO Federal election reports show Bisignano has a history of donating to political campaigns and his donations mainly support Republicans He previously donated more than $125,000 to Trump's campaign in 2019 but gave $15,000 to former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie's presidential campaign in November 2023 according to Federal Election Commission data donated just over $931,000 to the Trump campaign this past October Lawrence Andrea of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report [Fiserv CEO] Frank [Bisignano] declared the transition over internally,” CFO Bob Hau said with the payment processor now run by two top executives after CEO Frank Bisignano deemed his successor ready to lead after about 10 days at the company Michael Lyons, Fiserv’s president and CEO-elect and the former president of PNC, joined a monthly Firserv management committee meeting on Jan. 27, his first day with the company He’s expected to leave Milwaukee-based Fiserv on June 30 or before the FDIC ordered the company to distribute $1.225 billion in restitution to customers overcharged between 2007 and 2023 The removal of Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka may put other regulators at risk Subscribe to the Banking Dive free daily newsletter Suzanne Blake is a Newsweek reporter based in New York Her focus is reporting on consumer and social trends spanning from retail to restaurants and beyond She is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and joined Newsweek in 2023 You can get in touch with Suzanne by emailing s.blake@newsweek.com Democratic lawmakers are calling for President Donald Trump's nominee for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to undergo an investigation Trump has nominated Frank Bisignano as the next leader of the SSA, but some Democrats say Bisignano has lied about his involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Bisignano, CEO of fintech and payments firm Fiserv, is a Republican donor who has supported Trump as well as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio Allegations that Bisignano is working with DOGE have sparked concerns that he would enforce major cuts to Social Security either through direct benefit reductions or administrative changes Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon voiced their concerns over Trump's new Social Security pick during a news conference Wednesday "This administration is intent on slashing Social Security," Schumer said Wednesday adding that Trump's goal is to "destroy Social Security from within." Trump would be able to privatize the program closing a substantial number of Social Security offices in the process "What they're doing is in effect a benefit cut," Schumer said the SSA announced it would be cutting 7,000 jobs which has some concerned over how seniors and others who rely on monthly Social Security benefits will be able to navigate any issues with their payments Wyden told reporters Wednesday that Bisignano lied about his involvement with DOGE the department Trump created in the early days of his presidency to slash government spending "He handpicked DOGE agents and pressured Social Security employees to cut corners," Wyden said adding that there should be a bipartisan investigation into these allegations During his confirmation hearing, Bisignano was questioned over his ties to DOGE, the department spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk While Bisignano previously called himself "fundamentally a DOGE person," he distanced himself from the department during Tuesday's hearing Bisignano said he had "no contact" with the DOGE team But Wyden said a senior agency official alerted him that Bisignano had "frequent" communication with Michael Russo Newsweek reached out to the SSA for comment via email Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social in December: "I am very pleased to nominate Frank Bisignano to serve as the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations He will be responsible to deliver on the Agency's commitment to the American People for generations to come!" finance expert and founder/CEO of 9i Capital told Newsweek: "I actually think Frank Bisignano has a solid chance of being appointed A lot of Trump's picks in the past made it through even when people initially thought they had no shot." "Now, let's be clear, any significant changes to Social Security would have to go through Congress That includes things like benefit cuts or changes to how the system works while executive orders can tweak certain aspects of the Social Security Administration financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin told Newsweek: "President Trump's nominee to head the Social Security Administration Frank Bisignano seems like a perfect candidate for what this administration has been pushing in terms of efficiency He's worked with a number of prior businesses in helping operations to run more efficiently and be cost-effective in their approach to new and existing endeavors." some past comments made by Bisignano have led to the belief he may want to privatize parts of the administration While we're certainly anticipating cuts to the administration those cuts should primarily be in the form of workforce and services Any cuts to benefits would be a true surprise as both sides of the aisle look at cutting Social Security benefits as equivalent to political suicide in terms of reelection chances." president and cofounder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts a very successful and wealthy CEO of a number of payment companies Leading the profitable success of these businesses though is not the same as being in charge of the SSA Over 50 percent of beneficiaries rely on their monthly checks for the majority of their retirement income I have not seen any past experience or interest by Bisignano in any type of social insurance programs." who has called the Social Security system a "Ponzi scheme." "That kind of rhetoric makes people nervous especially when the person in question could soon oversee the SSA," Thompson said The agency also recently said it would stop allowing Americans to confirm their identity via phone number applicants and beneficiaries will need to provide their proof of identity in person at their local Social Security office These changes are set to go into effect within the next two weeks If you're forcing elderly applicants to either go online or visit an office "We're talking about people who may have physical disabilities Expecting them to navigate a website or wait in long lines without help just isn't realistic This disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable—those with limited mobility The SSA also faces a funding crisis that would see future monthly payments slashed by roughly 20 percent by the mid-2030s unless Congress intervenes Senate Finance Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Frank Bisignano to serve as the next Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) praised the nominee’s qualifications including his over-30 years of experience implementing innovative and operational improvements at leading financial institutions Crapo and Bisignano discussed his vision for the agency and his plans to improve customer service and employee satisfaction issues Chairman Crapo concluded the hearing by saying “You know how to deliver what we all want from Social Security and we are all looking forward to moving expeditiously with your nomination.” Watch Crapo’s opening statement here and line of questioning here or above On addressing Social Security customer service issues: individuals seeking assistance from SSA have faced long wait times and the agency is now undergoing significant organizational changes Could you just put a little more flavor into what you described as what your objectives are and how you will achieve them to make this agency responsible to the American people Bisignano: It's a mission critical function and it's been 89 years where over 200 million American have been beneficiaries of payments and the ability to receive payments on time and accurately is job one The ability to process any type of claim we receive is job one