In a 53-47 vote, the U.S. Senate has confirmed the nomination of tech CEO Frank Bisignano to be the commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
Bisignano, a donor to President Trump and the former CEO of payments technology company Fiserv, will lead the federal agency that runs programs providing retirement, survivor and disability benefits, as well as supplemental income for the very poor.
Former commissioners and advocates for older and disabled Americans have raised serious concerns about proposed widespread restructuring and mass layoffs at the agency, which has a staff of more than 55,000 employees and serves more than 73 million Americans.
Those advocates say changes like new requirements for beneficiaries, regional office closures, cuts to overtime pay and plans to cut 7,000 jobs from the agency will lead to longer wait times for services for millions of Americans.
Democrats in the Senate have also raised concerns about Bisignano's alleged communication with members of billionaire Elon Musk's team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore, accused Bisignano of lying "about his actions and communications with DOGE and the Social Security Administration prior to his hearing." During Bisignano's confirmation hearing before the Finance Committee, Wyden said a whistleblower told his office that the nominee "personally intervened to get DOGE officials installed … and got basically approved in the middle of the night as a result of [Bisignano's] insistence."
Bisignano denied multiple times during the hearing that he had been in contact with leaders at the Social Security Administration, as well as DOGE.
"I was not involved in onboarding anybody in the middle of the night," he said.
Former and current SSA employees have said that the agency's recent problems stem from DOGE's involvement in the agency. On April 2, a group of disability advocates filed a federal lawsuit against SSA leaders, Musk and DOGE. In the lawsuit, they say agency leaders, "under the direction of Elon Musk and DOGE," have "systematically dismantled, and continue to dismantle, the core functions of SSA, abandoning millions of Americans to poverty and indignity."
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, said in a statement during the Senate's consideration of the nomination that "Social Security needs a commissioner whose loyalty is to beneficiaries, not Elon Musk." She said Bisagnano is not that person.
"Bisignano describes himself as 'a DOGE person,'" Altman said. "That's something he has in common with the current acting commissioner, Lee Dudek, who has slashed staff and services at the direction of Elon Musk's DOGE. … He is not only unqualified, with no expertise regarding this vital program — he is dangerous to it."
During his hearing, Bisignano told senators that he thinks the issues plaguing the agency right now stem from the interim commissioner, Dudek, who has been working closely with Musk's team, not the DOGE team itself.
"We have somebody in the acting role and you hear him in the papers every day," Bisignano said. "I don't know if this is a DOGE issue. I think we have a leadership issue, and that's why I'm hopeful, if I'm to be confirmed, that I will be in charge of the agency."
Copyright 2025 NPR
