{"id":1052988,"date":"2025-05-23T10:54:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T14:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1052988"},"modified":"2025-05-23T10:54:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T14:54:44","slug":"trumps-social-security-chief-what-the-hecks-the-commissioner-of-social-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-social-security-chief-what-the-hecks-the-commissioner-of-social-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Social Security Chief: \u2018What the Heck\u2019s the Commissioner of Social Security?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Donald Trump\u2019s pick to administer 70 million Americans\u2019 hard-earned Social Security benefits asked \u201cwhat the heck\u2019s the commissioner of Social Security?\u201d and admitted he had to resort to googling his job. And now, this unqualified Wall Street executive is helping Trump shutter field offices and leave seniors on hold for hours to get the benefits they earned. Make no mistake: Trump and his incompetent MAGA lackeys are putting Social Security on the chopping block to line their own pockets. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW: Donald Trump\u2019s head of the Social Security Administration Frank Bisignano admitted he had to google Social Security when he was hired from Wall Street.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC News<\/a>: \u201cThe newly sworn-in head of the Social Security Administration told agency staff this week that when he was first offered the job in the Trump administration, he wasn\u2019t familiar with the position and had to look it up online. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018So, I get a phone call and it\u2019s about Social Security. And I\u2019m really, I\u2019m really not, I swear I\u2019m not looking for a job,\u2019 Bisignano said, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by ABC News. \u2018And I\u2019m like, \u201cWell, what am I going to do?\u201d So, I\u2019m Googling Social Security. You know, one of my great skills, I\u2019m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018I\u2019m like, \u201cWhat the heck\u2019s the commissioner of Social Security?\u201d\u2019 <\/strong>said Bisignano, who now oversees one of the largest federal agencies that\u2019s responsible for distributing retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Put that as the headline for the Post: \u201cGreat Googler in Chief. Chief in Googler\u201d or whatever,\u2019 said Bisignano, who throughout the meeting repeatedly bemoaned media leaks from within the agency. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[H]e has no prior history working in government or with the Social Security system.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REMINDER: Trump and Elon Musk have moved to gut the Social Security Administration, threatening hard-earned benefits for millions of Americans amid a 50-year low on staffing and throwing the agency into chaos.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cLong waits, waves of calls, website crashes: Social Security is breaking down\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomberg<\/a>: \u201cMusk Says Entitlements \u2018Big One\u2019 to Cut in Trump\u2019s DOGE Push\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBillionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk called entitlement spending \u2014 including Social Security and Medicare \u2014 a key target for cuts\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cSocial Security Administration leadership is under instruction to swiftly produce plans to cut its staff by half, <\/strong>according to two employees at the agency who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Axios<\/a>: \u201cAn internal memo from the Social Security Administration proposes changes to its phone service that could derail the benefits application process for many Americans. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe draft of the memo viewed by Axios says the proposed limitations will be \u2018significant\u2019 for those living in rural areas in particular.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NextGov<\/a>: \u201cMost of the Social Security Administration\u2019s regional commissioners have decided to retire at the end of this week, following mysterious meetings with agency leaders about plans to slash its workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt least five of the eight regional commissioners whose offices oversee and support the agency\u2019s frontline offices across the country are leaving, <\/strong>according to a source familiar with the agency and an SSA employee not authorized to speak on the record. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir departures come amid rumors of impending staff cuts at SSA, where the workforce is already at a 50-year low and has toiled amid a customer service crisis born of lack of funding.\u201d<\/strong>

Prospect<\/a>: \u201cThe decision could target one of the government\u2019s most prominent public-facing initiatives: SSA field offices, where seniors, people with disabilities, and survivors whose parents have died can sign up for benefits and get information.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s pick to administer 70 million Americans\u2019 hard-earned Social Security benefits asked \u201cwhat the heck\u2019s the commissioner of Social Security?\u201d and admitted he had to resort to googling his job. And now, this unqualified Wall Street executive is helping Trump shutter field offices and leave seniors on hold for hours to get the benefits […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1052988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Social Security Chief: \u2018What the Heck\u2019s the Commissioner of Social Security?\u2019 - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-social-security-chief-what-the-hecks-the-commissioner-of-social-security\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-23T14:54:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-23T14:54:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-social-security-chief-what-the-hecks-the-commissioner-of-social-security\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-social-security-chief-what-the-hecks-the-commissioner-of-social-security\/\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s Social Security Chief: \u2018What the Heck\u2019s the Commissioner of Social Security?\u2019 - 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