My Thoughts On The Bisignano Confirmation Hearing

     I have finally watched the Bisignano confirmation hearing. I found it tedious. For the most part, it wasn't a job interview. It was a performance by all parties. I understand that there are private meetings between nominees and Senators. I hope those are more substantive. 

    Anyway, here are a few thoughts:

• Bisignano said he would improve Social Security's technology generally and telephone answering. How can he possibly do this without a substantially higher appropriation? He wasn't asked about this. I wish he had been.
• Bisignano said he was committed to a six year term. I don't know but I'll be surprised if he's still there in December 2028 much less December 2030.
• Bisignano and Committee members repeatedly likened the work of the Social Security Administration to the work of the companies Bisignano has led. I don't have experience in those businesses but I just can't imagine the work of those companies being that similar to what Social Security does. Social Security is unique. It's work is vastly more complicated than processing massive numbers of simple credit card charges. He said he had 13,000 IT professionals at Fiserv. He'll have a vastly lower number at Social Security and no funds to hire more.
• Nobody asked Bisignano where he will be working. Will he be engaging in much telework from his home in New York City? I think agency employees would be interested to know. If they're being forced back to the office so should the Commissioner
• Bisignano talked about reducing improper payments as if no one at Social Security has ever tried to reduce them. That's wrong. There have been extensive efforts by many people over many decades. I don't think there are any measures imaginable to substantially reduce them. Only incremental progress is possible.
• Bisignano added a useful note of reality to the discussion of COBOL programs at Social Security. He said that COBOL is still being used extensively not just at Social Security but in many, many businesses. 
• I don’t think that anyone asked Bisignano about the Regional Office consolidations. This process couldn’t have advanced very far. I keep thinking that this bad idea will be quietly abandoned.
• I remain convinced that everybody in the Trump Administration thinks that federal employees are stupid and lazy and that simple measures can lead to dramatic improvements in government functioning even with fewer government employees. This is a fallacy. 
• Bisignano testified that in his business experience he did not arbitrarily pick a number of employees to fire without analyzing how many employees were needed to get the work done. DOGE has not been following this obvious practice.
• By the way, it appears that Senator Warnock has a trigger finger -- his right pinkie. I'm mystifying many readers, I'm sure. I talking about something medical here. It’s what I do.

Identity Proofing Won't Apply To Disability Claims

Press Release

Social Security Updates Recently Announced Identity Proofing Requirements

In-Person Requirement Will Not Apply to Disability Insurance, Medicare, and SSI Applications

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is taking proactive steps to enhance the security of its services by implementing stronger identity verification procedures. The updated measures will further safeguard Social Security records and benefits for millions of Americans against fraudulent activity. In-person identity proofing for people unable to use their personal my Social Security account for certain services will be effective April 14, 2025.

“We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “In addition to extending the policy’s effective date by two weeks to ensure our employees have the training they need to help customers, Medicare, Disability, and SSI applications will be exempt from in-person identity proofing because multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person’s identity.”

Under the updated policy beginning April 14, 2025, individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) who cannot use a personal my Social Security account can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office.

Individuals who cannot use their personal my Social Security account to apply for benefits will only need to prove their identity at a Social Security office if applying for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (Spouse or Child) benefits. SSA will enforce online digital identity proofing or in-person identity proofing for these cases. The agency will not enforce these requirements in extreme dire-need situations, such as terminal cases or prisoner pre-release scenarios. SSA is currently developing a process that will require documentation and management approval to bypass the policy in such dire need cases.

Individuals who do not or cannot use the agency’s online my Social Security services to change their direct deposit information for any benefit will need to visit a Social Security office to process the change or can call 1-800-772-1213 to schedule an in-person appointment. The agency also recommends that individuals unable to apply online call to schedule an in-person appointment to begin and complete a claim for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (Spouse or Child) benefits in one interaction.

SSA recently required nearly all agency employees, including frontline employees in all offices throughout the country, to work in the office five days a week. This change ensures maximum staffing is available to support the stronger in-person identity proofing requirement.

The agency will continue to monitor and, if necessary, make adjustments to ensure it pays the right person the right amount at the right time while safeguarding the benefits and programs it administers. SSA plans to implement the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service’s payment integrity service called Account Verification Service (AVS). AVS provides instant bank verification services to proactively and timely prevent fraud associated with direct deposit change requests. SSA will continue to fight fraud while balancing its program integrity responsibilities with delivering on its customer service mission to the American people.

People who do not already have a my Social Security account can create one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount/.

Stay up to date about SSA’s identity proofing requirements and exceptions at What to Know about Proving Your Identity | SSA.

OK Mr. Whiz Kid, Make It Work Better

 

    From Popular Information:

The Trump administration has installed a DOGE operative as the new Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Social Security Administration (SSA) in an apparent effort to evade a federal court order blocking DOGE affiliates from accessing databases containing the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans. 

Popular Information obtained an internal memorandum from Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek announcing Scott Coulter, a DOGE operative previously assigned to NASA and the SSA, as the SSA's new CIO. 

The move, which was not announced publicly, seems related to a federal lawsuitfiled by a coalition of labor unions — including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — on February 21. The lawsuit alleged that DOGE officials were accessing "personal, confidential, private, and sensitive data from the Social Security Administration" in violation of federal law, including the Privacy Act. The labor unions sued the SSA, Dudek, and then-CIO Michael Russo to stop the disclosure of the data to DOGE. 

On March 21, the federal judge overseeing the AFSCME case, Ellen Lipton Hollander, granted the plaintiffs a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) which prohibited SSA, Dudek, and Russo from "granting access to any SSA system of record containing personally identifiable information" to DOGE or any "members of the DOGE team established at the SSA." The order defined the DOGE team at SSA as "any person assigned to SSA to fulfill the DOGE agenda." …

     I’ll say this. The longer Coulter hangs around Social Security the fewer illusions he’ll have about the agency.  At this point DOGE’s illusions about Social Security may be a bigger threat than its malevolence.

The Whole Truth?

      From the Washington Post:

Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Social Security Administration, testified under oath at his confirmation hearing Tuesday that he has had no contact with the Elon Musk cost-cutting team that is directing a major downsizing of the agency. 

But Sen. Ron Wyden (Oregon), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the claim is “not true,” citing an account the senator said he received from a senior Social Security official who recently left the agency. The former official — whose detailed statement was shared with The Washington Post — described “numerous contacts Mr. Bisignano made with the agency since his nomination,” including “frequent” conversations with senior executives. 

The nominee “personally appointed” Michael Russo, the chief information officer leading Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service team at Social Security, and the two speak frequently about agency operations, the former executive said. 

The Post confirmed the former official’s account with two people, including another former senior official who heard Russo speak regularly about his interactions with Bisignano over policy changes. The other, a disability advocate, said she was told by acting commissioner Leland Dudek that the nominee and Russo “spoke multiple times a day” about Social Security operations. The advocate requested anonymity to preserve her relationship with the agency, while the former official did so because they were not authorized to disclose internal details…. 

The former official said in their statement to Wyden that after Russo had trouble persuading the career staff to expedite the hiring of a DOGE software engineer named Akash Bobba, “Mr. Bisignano personally intervened … to instruct SSA staff to onboard Mr. Bobba and give him immediate access” to the agency’s private data systems. Bisignano did not address what role he may have had in helping Bobba gain access. Bobba and Russo did not respond to requests for comment. …

Senate Republicans Say “Don’t Blame Us”

      From NBC News:

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is moving to downsize the Social Security Administration with office closures, cutbacks on phone services and new rules requiring in-person visits for some prospective beneficiaries to register.

And DOGE is making those changes without consulting or notifying some of the most senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill who oversee Social Security, including GOP allies of President Donald Trump. …

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a Senate Finance Committee member who on Tuesday pressed Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration about long wait times for customer service, said in an interview that he, too, hasn’t been in the loop for the administration’s changes.

“No, we haven’t,” he said. “I haven’t had any heads-up on any specific announcements.” … 

     If there were only something these Senate Republicans could do, like delay a nomination or hold a hearing on what DOGE is doing, but, of course, that’s out of the question. 

Reports On The Confirmation Hearing

     I haven't yet been able to watch the Bisignano confirmation hearing. I'll get to it when I can. In the meantime, here are reports from ABC and NBC.

Chaotic Conditions At Social Security -- But Maybe The Post Office Will Help

 

    From the Washington Post:

The Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days this month, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts because the servers were overloaded. In the field, office managers have resorted to answering phones at the front desk as receptionists because so many employees have been pushed out. But the agency no longer has a system to monitor customers’ experience with these services, because that office was eliminated as part of the cost-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk. ...

Depending on the time of day, a recorded message [on the 800 line] tells callers that their wait on hold will last more than 120 minutes or 180 minutes. Some report being on hold for four or five hours. A callback function was only available three out of 12 times when a reporter for The Post called the toll-free line last week, presumably because the queue that day was so long that the call would not be returned by close of business. ...

On Monday, Dudek said the agency is working with U.S. Postal Service on an agreement to take on new requirements to verify claimants’ identities. ...

Meanwhile, a DOGE-imposed spending freeze has left many field offices without paper, pens and the phone headsets staff need to do their jobs communicating with callers — at the exact moment phone calls are spiking, the employee in Indiana said.

The freeze drove all federal credit cards to a $1 limit. Social Security saw the number of its approved purchasers reduced to about a dozen people for 1,300 offices, said one agency employee in the Northeast.

...

Self Awareness In Advance Of The Bisignano Nomination Hearing

      From a New York Times piece on the Bisignano nomination:

… Because of Mr. Dudek’s self-admitted bumpy tenure, he said he did not expect to last much longer.

“I can’t imagine the nominee would want to keep me after the way I’ve been doing things here,” Mr. Dudek said, adding that he had had no contact with Mr. Bisignano. …

     Remember, the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Bisignano is set to begin at 10:00 Eastern time today.  Watch it online.

     I wouldn’t shed many tears for Dudek. The wingnutosphere always takes care of its foot soldiers.