Who’s Running The Show?

 

    Frank Bisignano is simultaneously trying to be Commissioner of Social Security and “CEO” of the IRS, a position that doesn’t really exist. When he was nominated to be Commissioner he openly admitted that he knew little about the agency he was supposed to run. Even if he’s a quick learner there’s no way that I can see that he can run Social Security on a day to day basis without subjecting himself to a ton of briefings so that he can understand the issues he’s deciding on. How can he possibly have time for that when he’s also trying to run the IRS, especially if he’s interacting with others at Social Security mainly through video?

      My question is whether insiders think Bisignano is actually running things at the agency on a daily basis. If he isn’t, who is? I suppose one possibility is that Bisignano is making the decisions but without bothering to understand the issues. If you regard Social Security as fundamentally unimportant and don’t expect to be around long, why bother with trying to understand arcane issues? If Trump didn’t bother with understanding the issues presented by embarking with war on Iran, why should Bisignano bother with understanding the issues at Social Security? How important can Social Security be? It pays its Commissioner far less than a million a year, peanuts in Bisignano’s world.