MW Could Social Security go private? Senators are grilling Trump's pick to lead the agency.

By Jessica Hall

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden press Social Security nominee Frank Bisignano ahead of his confirmation hearing

Frank Bisignano, the nominee for Social Security commissioner, is being pressed by Democratic senators over whether he will commit to not privatizing any parts of the $1.6 trillion program that provides benefits to about 70 million Americans.

In a March 23 letter to Bisignano, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon outlined their concerns about recent changes at Social Security brought on by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, such as job cuts, elimination of certain phone services and office closures.

"Will you commit to not privatizing any components of the Social Security program?" the senators said in the letter, along with other questions about reversing recent changes made at the agency that they saw as hurting beneficiaries, who include older adults and disabled individuals.

"These new developments leave us deeply concerned that DOGE and the Trump administration are setting up the SSA for failure - a failure that could cut off Social Security benefits for millions of Americans - and that will then be used to justify a 'private-sector fix,'" the letter stated.

"Republicans have flirted with the idea of privatizing Social Security for over two decades. The latest changes at the Social Security Administration leave us worried that Elon Musk - with his clear disdain for the program that provides financial security to millions of Americans - has taken up the mantle as the latest privatization crusader," they said.

Musk has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," and has repeated debunked claims that Social Security benefits were being paid to tens of millions of dead people.

Several of his allies from private-equity firms are embedded at the agency, the senators said.

"We are gravely concerned about the current trajectory of the SSA and more specifically, that those charged with leading it might profit off its destruction. As we have noted, DOGE's efforts may be a 'prelude to privatization,'" the letter said.

Read: Social Security is on a path to privatization, experts warn, led by Elon Musk's 'DOGE'

Bisignano, chief executive officer of financial-technology company Fiserv Inc. $(FI)$, was nominated to be head of the Social Security Administration despite having no government experience. He joined Fiserv in 2019 through its acquisition of First Data, where he was chairman and CEO.

Bisignano recently told CNBC that his role was to carry out President Donald Trump's mission and find ways to improve efficiency, including working with DOGE.

"100%. I'm fundamentally a DOGE person," Bisignano told CNBC.

Warren and Wyden also asked Bisignano if he retained any equities in Fiserv and whether he has committed to divesting any holdings in the payments-technology firm.

A spokesperson for Fiserv declined to comment. The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

If confirmed, Bisignano would take the helm from interim commissioner Leland Dudek, who was named to that role when the acting Social Security commissioner, Michelle King, stepped down after refusing to provide representatives from DOGE access to systems containing beneficiaries' data, according to media reports.

Warren and Wyden previously wrote a letter to Bisignano, expressing their concerns about changes at Social Security.

"The acting SSA administrator has admitted that DOGE could 'break things,' raising concerns about an interruption of benefits and threatening the finances of millions of Americans," Warren and Wyden wrote in a March 11 letter to Bisignano.

"As President Trump's nominee for SSA commissioner, you will be responsible if the Trump administration's attacks on the program result in failures or delays in getting Americans their Social Security checks - in other words, a backdoor cut to benefits," the senators wrote in the letter.

-Jessica Hall

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March 24, 2025 16:37 ET (20:37 GMT)

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