President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration will testify before the Senate on Tuesday.
The SSA is at the forefront of political and legal battles following efforts to shrink the government drastically, which are assisted by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Frank Bisignano, chief executive of financial technology company Fiserv, is expected to face questions over whether plans to cut costs will interfere with the agency’s ability to process and disburse benefit checks to more than 72 million people.
During his time at Fiserv, Bisignano oversaw rolling layoffs in the name of cutting costs, making him an ideal ally for the White House. Under his leadership at the payment processing firm, he has overseen thousands of layoffs, cuts to worker benefits, and closures of branches. Bisignano was an executive at Shearson Lehman Brothers and also worked at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.
His confirmation hearing comes as a spotlight has been on SSA after a new escalation in legal proceedings. A federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing personal data at the agency. In response to the ruling, the agency’s acting commissioner, Lee Dudek, told Bloomberg that the ruling was so broad that it may interfere with the SSA’s services.
In recent weeks, DOGE has taken a chain saw to the agency’s operations. At a time when SSA’s staffing is at a 50-year low, the agency announced plans to cut up to 12% of its workforce. Dozens of SSA offices are slated to close this year due to actions taken by DOGE. The DOGE website listed 47 SSA offices listed for closure.
Last week, the agency announced changes requiring beneficiaries to prove their identity when claiming benefits or changing their direct deposit information to crack down on fraud. Beginning on March 31, beneficiaries will no longer be able to verify their identity on the phone. They will either need to register for a “My Social Security” account online or visit a Social Security office.
“These changes are not intended to hurt our customers. These changes are designed to make sure the right payment goes to the right person at the right time. This is a commonsense measure that every bank uses,” Dudek said during a call with reporters last week.
Democrats have signaled they intend to highlight Musk’s comments calling Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” during a three-hour interview with Joe Rogan this month.
The billionaire also claimed without offering proof that undocumented immigrants are collecting fraudulent benefits from both Social Security and Medicare.
“By using entitlements fraud, the Democrats have been able to attract and retain vast numbers of illegal immigrants,” Musk said during an appearance on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) podcast.
Democrats have already been pressing Republicans on possible cuts to Medicaid, but it’s clear they view threats to Social Security as a political opportunity.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), both members of the Senate Finance Committee, previewed their concerns over looming cuts at SSA in a letter to Bisignano earlier this month.
“As President Trump’s nominee for SSA Commissioner, you will be responsible if the Trump Administration’s attacks on the program result in failures or delays in getting Americans their Social Security checks — in other words, a backdoor cut to benefits,” Warren and Wyden wrote in the letter.
The senators posed a series of questions in an attempt to understand how Bisignano would address “the threats from these cuts,” as well as whether he would allow Musk and DOGE to access sensitive information and whether he intended to implement the suggested cuts.
They also pointed to a smaller Social Security workforce in the 1980s that led to 80,000 people not receiving their benefits, the senators said.
Committee Democrats have also urged Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) to schedule a hearing to investigate DOGE’s access to sensitive information and the planned cuts at the agency.
“At a time when the agency’s workforce is at a 50-year low, the potential loss of centuries’ worth of agency experience will risk worsening backlogs, longer wait times, and interruption of benefit payments,” all the committee Democrats wrote in a letter to Crapo.
“When combined with SSA providing inexperienced individuals unfettered access to the agency’s sensitive systems, there is a profound risk of causing irreparable harm to the agency’s systems and Americans’ financial security.”
Trump has vowed not to touch Social Security benefits but also has said that he plans to target “waste, fraud and abuse” in entitlement programs. Republicans and Dudek say that Democrats are distorting their position on Social Security and that their changes will allow them to bolster the program to ensure future generations will get the money they paid in.
“I think you can expect a lot of theatrics next week from Democrats during this hearing,” said a Republican Senate aide speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Bisignano is a great nominee and won’t have any problems answering their questions about the DOGE cuts that will strengthen Social Security and ensure that everyone who has paid in will get it in the future.”
JUDGE BLOCKS DOGE FROM ACCESSING SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMS CONTAINING SENSITIVE DATA
After meeting with Bisignano last week, Crapo called him “exceptionally qualified” to lead the agency.
“Frank’s decades of leadership in the private sector, specializing in financial services and payments, make him exceptionally qualified for the task ahead,” the Idaho senator said in a statement. “I look forward to swiftly considering his nomination before the Finance Committee.”