Donald Trump's pick to lead the Social Security administration called improving customer service "a mission critical function" Tuesday and said the ability to have checks out on time "is job one" after early Trump administration actions undermined or raised questions on both fronts.
"Fundamentally, Social Security is a payment-based customer facing program," said Trump nominee Frank Bisignano in his opening remarks before Senate lawmakers Tuesday, promising "we will meet beneficiaries where they want to be met."
The hearing came as a flood of headlines showed how Elon Musk-led DOGE cuts at the Social Security administration have already led to longer wait times as both phone operators and field offices are cut. Another change would curtail certain phone services within a matter of weeks.
The developments are roiling an agency that pays out $1.6 trillion in benefits annually to 69 million Americans.
The situation even got some Republicans up in arms Tuesday, with GOP Sen. Steve Daines playing from his phone the "D-grade elevator music" that awaits many recipients these days during waits that he noted can last more than an hour and end with a disconnection.
"We have a lot of work to do," the Montana senator added.
Bisignano, a longtime Wall Street fixture who worked for Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and currently is CEO of payments giant Fiserv (FI), responded to the bipartisan questioning Tuesday by leaning on his private sector experience and calling himself an expert in both efficiency and customer service.
"I have experience at this inside and out," he said as the hearing began to wrap up after repeatedly promising that Trump's mandate to him was for no cuts to benefits.
Bisignano also faced questions from Democrats on potential privatization of the agency, saying "I have never thought about privatizing" without offering an opinion about whether it would be a good idea but offering a "guarantee" that he would not seek privatization if he is confirmed.
Leading Democrats nonetheless charged that privatization is a possibility with Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts saying that Trump actions so far could lead to benefit cuts or increased privatization through "backdoor ways to accomplish the same thing."
A question of continued check delivery
A larger concern voiced by many — including the man Bisignano is aiming to replace — is that Trump and Musk's rapid fire moves through the Social Security system could be so disruptive as to lead to checks not being delivered.
Martin O'Malley, who headed the agency during the Biden administration, has long charged that Musk's actions could lead to a benefit interruption. He added to reporters on Monday that "they are breaking the agency by cutting staff."
He contented that the larger goal is to turn Americans against the social safety net program because "in order to rob it they first have to wreck it."
Bisignano rejected the characterization during Tuesday's back and forth.
"My job is to ensure that every beneficiary receives their payments on time," he said at one point and also offered some criticisms of current layoffs.
Under questioning by Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Bisignano acknowledged "do I think it's a great idea to lay off half of the employees when half the system doesn't work? I think the answer is probably no."
Bisignano — who has previously called himself "fundamentally a DOGE person" — also said he would be willing to reverse decisions made by Musk's team.
The nominee on Tuesday also sought to distance himself from Trump's and Musk's often repeated claims, as Trump put it before Congress recently, that they are "identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program."
The nominee on Tuesday instead repeatedly referred to a report from the Social Security internal watchdog that found fraudulent payments amounted to somewhere under 1% of total benefits paid from 2015 to 2022.
He said those findings — which totaled nearly $72 billion in improper payments during that stretch — is much too high and lessening those improper payments is a top priority.
It was part of a message where, again and again, Bisignano presented a plan to lead as a technocrat of sorts if he is confirmed.
Asked about the fraud at one point he offered "we will do all that root cause analysis, we will do all the process engineering and everything that's required to get to how to eliminate" the fraud.
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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