The new commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) told agency managers that President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is helping “make things better.”
Frank Bisignano, who earlier this month was confirmed by the Senate, spoke to managers at a Thursday meeting, a recording of which was obtained by Nextgov/FCW.
“Your bias has to be — because mine is — [that] DOGE is helping make things better,” Bisignano said at the meeting. “It may not feel that way, but don’t believe everything you read.”
In a February appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, DOGE head Elon Musk said Social Security is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
In April, House Democrats urged the SSA’s inspector general to open an investigation into the changes being made to the agency by DOGE, which initially cut 12% of the 57,000-person workforce. That left SSA’s customer service most at risk.
During Thursday’s meeting, Bisignano frequently noted his desire to prevent news leaks, and said technology and automation are top priorities, Nextgov/FCW reported.
A Wall Street veteran and former Fiserv CEO, the commissioner also told managers that he represents “consistency” and “stability” for the agency.
“Social Security is not going anywhere,” Bisignano said, promising to improve morale at the agency.
He admitted that he conducted a Google search to find out the duties of an SSA commissioner.
“So I’m Googling Social Security,” he said. “One of my great skills, I’m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast. Put that as the headline for the [Washington] Post.
“One of my main jobs is not having newspaper articles saying we’re a problem.”
After Trump nominated Bisignano to lead the SSA, Democrats opposed the nominee, citing his reputation for cutting workforces in the private sector.
“Commissioner Bisignano’s proven success in the financial services industry uniquely positions him to lead the Trump Administration’s commonsense efforts to modernize the agency and improve its efficiency,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told Nextgov/FCW.
Although Bisignano told managers he had “no intent to RIF [reduction in force, aka lay off] people,” he did not rule out further cuts.
“If I wake up and we can do all our work with 20,000 people — which I can’t see that right about now — well, then we’ll be 20,000,” he said. “If I wake up and see, we need 80,000, we’ll be 80,000. I gotta determine what the right staffing level is. But nobody asked me to come do this job and RIF people.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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