May 01,2025

Wyden Opposes Bisignano Nomination to Lead Social Security Ahead of Floor Vote

As Prepared for Delivery

Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here

I ask unanimous consent that the Milande Watson of my team be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

I rise to urge my colleagues to reject Frank Bisignano’s nomination to be the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term has been a deluge of chaos and cruelty that has reached into every corner of American life. But perhaps no development has been as alarming to seniors and other concerned Americans as Trump’s attacks on Social Security.

Social Security has long been considered the “third rail” of American politics. It’s simply too important to American workers who have spent their lives paying into the program out of every paycheck for politicians to idly propose major changes that would harm Americans’ earned benefits.

And yet, Trump and his billionaire cronies have decided they are immune to the concerns of American citizens. They’re about to find out just how wrong they are.

Over the past several months, the Trump administration has attacked nearly every aspect of Social Security. First it was Americans’ sensitive private information protected by Social Security.

Then it was scheduling field offices for closure across the country.

Then it was eliminating phone service for many Social Security claims. Worst of all, there is a widespread view among Trump’s top lieutenants, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick, that Social Security is chock full of fraudsters.

The whiplash caused by day after day of disruption and chaos has resulted in bedlam at Social Security, and it has put the earned benefits of millions of Americans in jeopardy.

I wish I could stand in this body today and say “the calvary is coming! The chaos will soon be over!” But I’m afraid that is just not the case. If Frank Bisignano is confirmed, he will bring more of the same chaos, lies and callous disregard for Americans who count on Social Security that the Trump Administration has brought to the agency through DOGE.

That was front and center when he came before the Finance Committee in March. Just before the hearing, I received a remarkable statement from a whistleblower, a former senior official at Social Security, stating that Mr. Bisignano had been deeply involved in the DOGE chaos at the agency. The whistleblower stated, quote, “I am concerned that the President’s nominee to be Commissioner of Social Security, Frank Bisignano, will not temper the chaos but rather bolster it.”

The allegations presented by the whistleblower center around Elon Musk’s DOGE and their attempts to access Social Security databases that hold reams of sensitive personal information of every single American. These databases represent the Fort Knox of Americans’ personal lives. Bank account numbers, home addresses, work history, salaries, medical records. Trump’s DOGE cronies wanted unfettered access to this database. They’re still fighting for that as we speak after being blocked in court.

According to the whistleblower, Mr. Bisignano personally appointed his Wall Street buddy, Michael Russo, to be the leader of DOGE’s team at Social Security. According to the Washington Post, which independently verified the whistleblower’s account: “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.” That’s a remarkable statement that should alarm any American. I asked Mr. Bisignano about his affiliations with DOGE before, during and after the hearing. Each time, he disavowed the whistleblower’s allegations.

I viewed that moment as an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to come together on a bipartisan basis to get to the bottom of this before the Finance Committee reported the nominee to the full Senate. Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues did not see it that way. I asked the Chairman of the Finance Committee for a bipartisan meeting with the whistleblower to evaluate their claims and seek additional evidence to determine if the nominee lied to members of the committee. The majority refused to hold that meeting or postpone the committee vote unless we agreed to hand over any information received from the whistleblower directly to the nominee and the Trump Administration. This is a violation of Whistleblowing 101, because it allows the government to identify the individual blowing the whistle through a process of elimination. It jeopardizes the whistleblowers anonymity and safety, and I will have no part in that.

There is a long, bipartisan tradition in the Senate of treating whistleblowers with deep care and respect. I’m here to warn America about a dangerous erosion of congressional oversight that will have a chilling effect on public servants who are thinking about coming forward and blowing the whistle when government agencies are acting against the interests of the Americans they serve. I fear that this episode is going to cause public servants who want to do the right thing to put away their whistles. That’s bad for good government, it's bad for congressional oversight of laws we delegated to the Executive Branch through our Constitutional authority, and it is bad for Americans who expect their government to be responsive and transparent.

The double whammy of disrespect for Social Security and the Americans who count on its earned benefits, along with the culture of secrecy and lies that exists throughout the Trump Administration is a bad omen for what's to come on Social Security. Even if the Republican Party decides to pretend none of this is happening, Americans from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine are speaking out.

All Americans should be concerned that a nominee for a position of public trust like Commissioner of Social Security is accused of lying about his actions at the agency and that efforts to bring this important information to light are being thwarted. If Mr. Bisignano can get away with lying before he’s even in place as commissioner, who knows what else he’ll be able to get away with once he’s in office. He could lie by denying any American who paid their Social Security taxes the benefits they’ve earned claiming some phony pretense.  He could lie about how sensitive personal information is being mishandled or worse exploited for commercial use.

I’m going to have more to say about the nominee and the Trump Administration’s disastrous record at Social Security. Today, I urge my colleagues to vote No on this cloture vote, to bring some sanity back to Social Security and safeguard the Senate’s long standing role as a safe haven for government whistleblowers who want to speak truth to power.

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