Last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing the personal data systems at the agency.
Senate Democrats questioned Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration (SSA) on March 25 about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) operating inside the agency, including accessing databases.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) made clear his views about DOGE going into Social Security as part of its effort to flag waste, fraud, and abuse.
“Every day there’s more hard evidence, so it is time to bring a halt to the DOGE destruction of Social Security before it goes any further,” he said in his opening statement during Bisignano’s nomination hearing.
“With these developments, the DOGE crowd is breaking a sacred promise to deliver Americans their earned Social Security benefits, and it is time for every member of this committee to step up and commit to rolling back these disastrous actions and bringing sanity back to Social Security,” continued Wyden.
Wyden said that a former senior staffer at the Social Security Administration spoke with his office, alleging Bisignano—between being nominated and the hearing—approved of DOGE hires at the Social Security Administration in addition to receiving “frequent briefings.”
Bisignano denied the allegations.
Bisignano said he never talked to the agency’s acting administrator, Leland Dudek.
Wyden asked Bisignano if he would “lock DOGE out of” the Social Security Administration databases. Bisignano said he would ensure the databases are protected.
“I’m going to do whatever is required to protect the information that is private information, so I don’t know what ‘lock DOGE out’ means, but there’s way more than DOGE that can’t have access to that information,” he said.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) asked Bisignano if he would ensure that DOGE’s access to the Social Security Administration databases will not allow for “private actors to get back into to access Social Security’s data system.”
Bisignano said there will be “a total review.”
Last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing the personal data systems at the agency.
“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” wrote Judge Ellen Hollander of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
“To be sure, rooting out possible fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the SSA is in the public interest. But, that does not mean that the government can flout the law to do so,” she added.
Other issues that came up in the hearing included the long wait times recipients experience when on the phone with the Social Security Administration.
Bisignano said that under his watch there would be multiple ways to get in touch with the agency: phone, in person, and online.
“They have to execute well,” he said.
“So it’s not enough to just have them,” he continued. “We have to be able to also use all the technology available to us today to do a great job for our beneficiaries.
When it comes to phone service, Bisignano said that the average wait time should be measured by “what percentage [of] calls get answered within 30 seconds” given that it can take as long as an hour and a half for callers to get in touch with someone from the Social Security Administration.
Another issue was Social Security recipients getting their benefits on time.
Bisignano pledged to do so if confirmed.
“My first actions are going to be to get organized around delivering the services,” he said.
Moreover, Bisignano was asked whether he would close Social Security Administration offices nationwide.
He said it is not a great idea to lay off half of the staff in the offices. This comes as 47 offices are scheduled to close this year.
Finally, Bisignano said he has not considered privatizing Social Security.
“I’ve never thought about privatizing. It’s not a word that anybody’s ever talked to me about,” he said.
“And I don’t see this institution as anything other than a government agency that gets run for the benefit of the American public,” he continued.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.