By Elizabeth O'Brien

Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Social Security Administration, says his company processes far more payments than the agency, with greater accuracy, positioning him to improve its operations.

Bisignano, the CEO of the global payments company Fiserv, told lawmakers at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday that he would leverage that expertise in the role.

"I have experience with this inside and out," Bisignano said, including serving clients, motivating employees, and safeguarding personal data. Fiserv processes 250 million payments a day, compared with the agency's 74 million a month, with a lower error rate, he said.

Democratic lawmakers grilled him about what they called Trump and Elon Musk's efforts to undermine the Social Security Administration through exaggerated claims of waste, fraud and abuse, draconian staffing cuts, and service reductions that could result in missed or delayed payments.

"The American people are scared to death you're really going after Social Security," said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Washington).

The Social Security Administration has announced plans to cut its staffing by 12%, representing about 7,000 jobs out of its 57,000 workforce, in keeping with the Department of Government Efficiency's goals. The agency also plans to shutter dozens of field offices around the country even as it reduces phone service for certain transactions. These cuts have already led to a steep deterioration of service, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

At the same time, Trump and Elon Musk have repeated claims of widespread waste, fraud, and abuse within the program. The Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General found that less than 1% of total Social Security payments were improper from 2015 to 2022.

That improper payment rate is still unacceptable, Bisignano said on Tuesday. "A 1% error rate is five decimal places too high," he said.

Rates of actual fraud in the program are much less, said Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Oregon), representing just 0.009% of Social Security payments.

Democrats also pressed Bisignano on the recent remarks of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said on a podcast that his 94-year-old mother-in-law wouldn't complain if she didn't receive her Social Security check in a given month.

"Anybody who's been in the payment system and the process system knows the easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen," he said. "Because whoever screams is the one stealing."

Most older adults couldn't miss a check without repercussions. An estimated 22 million more Americans would be living in poverty if it weren't for Social Security, said Tina Smith (D., Minn.), and for them, "missing a check means missing dinner."

The Department of Commerce didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bisignano said he would commit to the right staffing to deliver on-time benefits, and that the issue merited further study. "We don't really know what the right staffing level is," he said.

Trump has promised not to touch Social Security. "Any American receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive them," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Barron's last week. "The sole mission of DOGE is to identify waste, fraud, and abuse only."

While Democrats said the Trump administration's actions belie that promise, such accusations were "fear mongering," said Sen. Roger Marshall (R. Kansas) on Tuesday.

"Republicans are the party that wants to save Social Security," Marshall said.

Write to Elizabeth O'Brien at elizabeth.obrien@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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March 25, 2025 15:05 ET (19:05 GMT)

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