Frank Bisignano pledges to improve SSA service and protect beneficiary data in Senate hearing

Frank Bisignano, President Trump's nominee to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), told the Senate Finance Committee that he would prioritize improving customer service, reducing payment errors and safeguarding Americans' personally identifiable information if confirmed.

Bisignano characterized SSA as a "payments-based customer-facing program" and said he would focus on reducing wait times and lowering the agency's error rate: "On the phone, I'm committed to reducing wait times and providing beneficiaries with a better experience," he said. He added he would "get the error rate down" and described the 1% error rate cited in the Office of Inspector General report as "five decimal places too high."

Why it matters: SSA pays benefits to tens of millions of Americans and handles a large volume of sensitive personal information. Senators from both parties pressed the nominee on how he would restore service after recent staffing and operational changes and how he would protect data access after reports of outside advisors being given access to agency systems.

Committee questions focused on outside access and recent operational changes. Ranking Member Wyden and others pressed Bisignano on reports by a whistleblower and on actions by what witnesses and many senators called the administration's "Doge" efficiency effort, including whether outside advisors affiliated with the initiative had improper access to SSA databases. A federal judge had ordered limits on outside access, a point senators cited during questioning.

On protecting data, Bisignano said: "I've spent my career protecting PII... I will ensure it's protected." When asked directly if he would "lock Doge out" of SSA databases, Bisignano said he would do "whatever is required to protect the information that is private information" and sought clarification of the term "lock out," but repeatedly committed to protecting PII and to reviewing any access arrangements.

Several senators asked whether Bisignano would reverse recent policy changes that, they said, reduced phone service and proposed field-office closures. Bisignano said he would analyze those decisions and said "there will be no decision made without you knowing about it" when asked whether he would move to close field offices in specific states.

Bisignano described his approach to modernization as practical and incremental: he proposed building modern technology layers in front of legacy systems rather than replacing everything at once, and he said artificial intelligence could be used to assist agency staff and improve accuracy, not to replace beneficiary access to human assistance.

On statutory protections and benefits, Bisignano told senators he would "run the agency in the right fashion" and said he had "no intent" to cut Social Security benefits; he also said he would follow the law. When pressed about whether he would stand up to private advisers or the executive team if their proposals threatened beneficiaries, he said he would run the agency, report to the president and make decisions in the agency's interest.

The hearing included customary pre-nomination questions and a pledge from Bisignano to respond to congressional inquiries in writing. No committee roll-call vote was taken at the hearing; committee leaders said they will notify members about the time of any recorded vote.

Evidence cited during questioning included an OIG report on error rates, press reporting about long phone waits and a court order limiting outside access to SSA systems. Senators urged immediate fixes to phone wait times and disability-processing backlogs and sought a commitment that SSA would have sufficient staffing to deliver benefits.

Bisignano repeatedly framed his priorities as service, accuracy and data protection and said he would "motivate the workforce" of career staff to "get our job right the first time for the American public."