When a country undergoes a change in leadership at the presidential level, the heads of many departments are also faced with change. Since being elected to office earlier this year in January, the Trump Administration has been making various sweeping changes to federal operations. The Social Security Administration (SSA) in particular has been dealt with an array of changes to its processes. Most importantly, however, a new commissioner has finally been elected.
The new SSA Commissioner has been confirmed to be Frank Bisignano by the Senate. Here is what to know.
New SSA Commissioner elected after months of turmoil at agency
Frank Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, was confirmed as the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration after a vote from the Senate on Tuesday. Nominated by President Trump, Bisignano’s position was confirmed by a 53 to 47 vote that had been split along the party lines.
The SSA has been plunged into the depths of chaos over the past three months, the cause of which appears to be traced back mainly to the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. This means that Bisignano will be stepping up as head of the agency at a crucial juncture. The agency faced a series of sweeping changes led by DOGE that included major cutbacks and the manipulation of sensitive databases. As a result, SSA employees, former commissioners, and beneficiaries alike have been left feeling shocked and fearful.
Thus the question remains: Will Frank Bisignano be able to return the agency to steady footing and ensure that the over 70 million Americans reliant on these benefit checks are catered to without any hassle?
According to employees at the SSA, the environment currently is quite chaotic. Additionally, it appears that morale has already been strained due to heavy workloads but now it seems even lower.
What are people saying?
Due to Bisignano’s decades of experience in leadership with larger financial institutions, Republican Senator Mike Crapo urged his colleagues to vote in favor of Bisignano. Democratic lawmakers, on the other hand, were not exactly on board and raised some concerns, with the most pressing question being, “Would he give in to calls by DOGE that could further hobble the program, or will he act independently in the best interest of the agency and its beneficiaries?”
Speaking against Bisignano’s confirmation, Massachusetts Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren, expressed fears that he would “rubber-stamp Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Musk’s agenda. He’ll let them keep slashing services and threatening benefits,” she claimed from the Senate. “That will hurt people everywhere — from seniors who count on their monthly checks right now, to the parents of kids with a disability supported by Social Security, to every American paying into the program now for later down the line.”
Bisignano has an impressive employment history with positions held at firms like Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase, not to mention earnings in the millions. In a February interview, he referred to himself as a “fundamentally DOGE person,” however, since then it appears that Bisignano is indeed distancing himself from the latest changes made at the SSA.
Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, challenged this characterization at the hearing with a statement from a letter that was said to be from a whistleblower. Wyden alleged, citing the letter, that “Mr. Bisignano had personally intervened to get key DOGE officials involved at the agency, including one who was approved in the middle of the night.” This claims were subsequently dismissed by Senate Republicans who claimed that Bisignano addressed the issue at the hearing and in writing.
“He has stated that he does not currently have a role at the S.S.A. and was not part of the decision-making process led by the acting commissioner, Lee Dudek, about S.S.A. operations, personnel or management,” Senator Crapo shared in a statement.
It remains to be seen how Bisignano’s run at the SSA will turn out but some groups appear to be quite hopeful. The American Federation of Government Employees General Committee, along with its local unit representing Social Security workers, stated that they, “appreciate Mr. Bisignano’s vow to ‘run the agency in the right fashion,’ as long as that means a course correction from January.”