Trump Nominee for Commissioner of Social Security was Pressed by Democrat Senators on DOGE and the Future of Social Security

Frank Bisignano, President Trump’s nominee to head the Social Security Administration (SSA), testified on Tuesday at his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee. Currently the CEO of the payments company Fiserv, he said in his opening statement: “I am committed to reducing wait times and providing beneficiaries with a better experience” by using his professional expertise in that role. Bisignano said Finserv “processes more than 250 million payments totaling more than $2 and a half trillion dollars a day. We processed 74 million payments a month totaling $1.5 trillion a year.” By comparison, the SSA sent out 73.2 million payments this past February.

Bisignano was questioned on a range of topics. He was asked about his stance on privatizing Social Security (by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.), to which he said: “I’ve never thought about privatizing. It’s not a word anybody’s ever talked to me about. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. asked “whether he will make sure the staffing at the Social Security Administration is sufficient to ensure beneficiaries can effectively use the services,” to which he said: “I will commit to having the right staff to get the job done.”

So far, Robert F. Kennedy has been confirmed as HHS secretary. Dr. Mehmet Oz, nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, had his committee hearing on March 25, and is awaiting a full vote before the senate. And Daniel Aronowitz was nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the agency that oversees employee benefit plans and ERISA enforcement. His hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is pending.

The Last March Social Security Payment Goes Out Today

The day you get a check or direct deposit is always a good day. Today, the last batch of March Social Security payments is going out to beneficiaries whose birthdates are from the 21st through the 31st, who will receive their payments. Make sure to check the 2025 payment schedule to see when the April payments are set to arrive. Some beneficiaries will be getting a bump in their next installment.

Next month, eligible retired public sector employees will receive their increased benefits reflecting the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) that was retroactively applied to benefits starting in 2024.