early actions by Elon Musk<\/a> and the Department of Government Efficiency to downsize the agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDemocratic senators pressed Bisignano on whether he was involved in discussions about DOGE operations regarding onboarding personnel, which he denied. They grilled him on whether he agrees with Musk\u2019s rhetorical attacks on the program, which he sidestepped. They asked him to reassure them that Trump is telling the truth when he says he doesn\u2019t want to slash benefits for seniors, and that he\u2019d protect the program if confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bedlam out there in Social Security,\u201d said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking member of the Finance Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe urgency for today\u2019s hearing couldn\u2019t be greater. Since Donald Trump took office, Social Security has experienced the most chaos in its history,\u201d he said. \u201cMass personnel layoffs, eliminating phone service for basic help, sending seniors to overcrowded and understaffed field offices that have also been put on the chopping block for closure, political appointees poking around your most sensitive private information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., asked Bisignano whether he agrees with Musk\u2019s claim that Social Security is a \u201cPonzi scheme.\u201d The nominee didn\u2019t directly answer, saying twice that it\u2019s \u201ca promise to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bisignano told Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that his objective is to continue and improve Social Security. When asked if it should be privatized, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t believe anybody\u2019s thinking about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said Trump \u201chas Elon Musk … running rampant through Social Security, and he\u2019s laying off staff and making it much more difficult for people to get benefits.\u201d She asked if he\u2019d stand up to Musk and DOGE if they come for benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bisignano promised to \u201clead the agency in the manner that this Senate Finance Committee wants me to do\u201d and said he has no thought about slashing benefits. He made clear he reports to Trump amid questions about Musk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans, meanwhile, largely avoided the issue of DOGE and its actions on Social Security, which have prompted concerns from a few House GOP lawmakers in swing districts, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe president of the United States has said very clearly that we are not going to cut Social Security benefits,\u201d said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the chairman of the committee. \u201cAnd no matter what folks \u2014 whether it\u2019s the media or whether it is those who want to attack the administration \u2014 want to say, the reality is that it is scare tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Democrats accused Trump of lying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a bit of a plot afoot here. Step one is to lie about not intending to damage Social Security and to protect Social Security benefits,\u201d Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., leaned on his private sector experience to emphasize the importance of customer service, telling Bisignano it is weak at Social Security. He said he has sought to call the line and experienced unacceptably long wait times while forcing customers to listen to \u201cD-grade elevator music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked Bisignano whether he will make sure the staffing at the Social Security Administration is sufficient to ensure beneficiaries can effectively use the services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will commit to have the right staffing to get the job done,\u201d Bisignano replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo get the job done, meaning delivering the benefits people are entitled do?\u201d Warren said, to which the nominee responded yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to hold you to that,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Musk has taken a dim view of federal workers, Bisignano lauded them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy father, a 46-year Department of Treasury employee, worked in Customs Enforcement, boarding ships early in the morning, and sometimes when I come home for days, he took pride in his job, and he was awarded the Albert Gallatin award,\u201d the nominee told the committee. \u201cI view federal workers from that vantage point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Frank Bisignano, Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration, was pressed at his Senate confirmation hearing to answer for Elon Musk’s actions. WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, got an earful from Senate Democrats at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, in the wake of early actions by Elon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":40195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2655,2389,1746],"class_list":["post-40194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-nominee","tag-security","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40194"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40197,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40194\/revisions\/40197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}