Fact-Checking the Frankster 2.0
The Trump administration celebrated Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano’s first year on the job with a triumphant press release, hailing the agency as a “premier service organization.” In truth, there isn’t much to celebrate, despite Bisignano’s boasting:::
“Over the last year, we have delivered better, faster, higher-quality customer service for the more than 330 million Americans we serve. We are just getting started.” – Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, from 5/7/27 press release
Beneath the glossy language lie sketchy data and questionable claims that don’t square with what advocates — and beneficiaries — are actually seeing on the ground.
On face value alone, it’s hard to reconcile Bisignano’s glowing report with the brutal cutbacks and harmful policy changes that the Trump administration made shortly after DOGE invaded the Social Security Administration (SSA) in early 2025. Media reports tell a starkly different story than the official line: DOGE interference has devastated the agency’s ability to properly serve the public. For the actual facts, read on:::
FALSE CLAIM #1:
“Commissioner Bisignano has reduced the average speed of answer on the National 800 Number to 6.6 minutes — an 84 percent reduction.”
THE FACTS:
SSA has not been transparent about how it calculates this metric, and there’s reason to be skeptical. Seniors’ advocates are hearing reports of calls being marked as “successfully completed” even when callers reach a live agent or not.
Kathleen Romig of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) warned that the agency’s claims rely on what she calls a “statistical sleight of hand.” Key parts of the caller experience are effectively excluded from wait time calculations. As Romig explains, once a caller is routed to an automated system or selects a ‘self-service’ option, they are no longer counted as “waiting,” even if they never reach a human being or get their issue resolved.
When we talk to beneficiaries across the country, we hear stories that run counter to what SSA claims: longer wait times both online and in person, more reliance on automated systems that can’t handle complex questions, and staffers re-assigned to phone lines after only a few hours of training. Some calls are being answered by new AI bots which the tech news site C-NET described as “maddening.” Bots have reportedly asked callers, “Do you want to hang up now?” and many people have done just that, out of sheer frustration.
Last fall, The Washington Post published an investigation documenting severe problems with SSA’s 1-800 phone line, including beneficiaries who struggled for hours (if not days) to get help. “This is ridiculous. There’s no reason for it. It’s a kick in the butt to people who have worked all of their lives or those who are disabled and need help,” said a 72-year old beneficiary named Kathy. “You want to pick up the phone. You want to talk to someone. And those days, unfortunately, are just about over,” said Keith, a 73-year old caller.
FALSE CLAIM #2:
“SSA is achieving a 20 percent increase in online transactions, completing nearly 90 million more transactions in FY 2025 compared to FY 2024.”
THE FACTS:
This is not surprising, as SSA has purposely cut customer service via phone and at field offices, forcing seniors online to do business with the agency. While many seniors are perfectly capable of accessing their benefits online, others lack the technical know-how or connectivity to do so. And speaking of know-how (or lack thereof), DOGE’s incompetence caused the SSA website to crash several times in 2025, interrupting customer service.
Also — the higher number of online transactions may say more about fear and dysfunction than actual progress. Rightly concerned about DOGE malfeasance at SSA, many beneficiaries rushed to create online “My Social Security” accounts to download their earnings records. They simply didn’t trust the Trump administration to properly preserve their data. Of course, it turns out that their personal data has been grossly abused by DOGE in the meantime.
Even if the raw number of online transactions has increased, it does not mean that the quality of customer service has improved; in fact, given the cuts in personal, one-on-one service, the result is likely the opposite.
At a congressional hearing in March, Commissioner Bisignano could not account for DOGE data breaches at SSA
FALSE CLAIM #3:
“SSA is shortening field office wait times by 30 percent in over 1,200 field offices, enabling nearly 30 percent of calls to be resolved via self-service or callback.”
THE FACTS:
Under Commissioner Bisignano, SSA has made plain its desire to steer beneficiaries away from field offices, where they typically received the most personal service by knowledgeable staff — and onto the online system. Why? Because Trump/DOGE cut so many staffers that field offices couldn’t be adequately staffed.
Last month, Business Insider reported that the Trump administration had closed in person services at more than a dozen field offices around the country, some for lack of resources due to DOGE cutbacks.
For many Americans, especially those with lower incomes, seniors, and people with disabilities, “self-service” is not really an option. Recent reporting is already telling us that many seniors are driving up to 2.5 hours each way to receive in person help from SSA offices. In response, many will simply disengage from the entire process. This is no way to treat those who have earned these benefits.
FALSE CLAIM #4:
“SSA has reduced the initial disability claims backlog by 33 percent, from a high of 1.27 million in 2024 to 853,000 cases in April 2026.”
THE FACTS:
This claim raises more questions than it answers. SSA’s workforce has been cut by roughly 7,000 employees — about 12 percent — while funding has failed to keep pace with inflation.
Without transparency on how these reductions were achieved, it’s fair to ask: are claims being processed more efficiently, or being denied more quickly?
During the Biden administration, under Commissioner Martin O’Malley, the Social Security Administration significantly reduced disability hearing delays. SSA reported that average hearing wait times fell from 450 days in FY 2023 to 280 days by the end of 2024. The hearings backlog also fell to about 263,000 pending cases — nearly the lowest level in more than 30 years.
Forgive us for giving greater credence to Biden’s statistics than Trump’s.
FALSE CLAIM #5:
“SSA is protecting systems and infrastructure with a renewed focus on data integrity and enhanced controls to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”
THE FACTS:
This may be the most misleading, laughable, and flat-out WRONG claim of them all.
Under Bisignano, Musk, and the DOGE catastrophe, SSA has been playing hot potato with Americans’ personal data. The brave testimonials from former SSA official Chuck Borges — aka the “SSA Whistleblower” — revealed a historic violation of privacy, in which Americans’ personal data was uploaded to an unsecured server. A court filing last September further revealed that DOGE bros had offered to share Social Security data with a conservative political activist.
At the same time, the administration continues to invoke “fraud” as justification for policy changes that diminish seniors’ access to their earned benefits. These actions completely ignore the fact that fraud in Social Security programs is exceedingly rare. If anything, recent actions have increased the risk of “waste, fraud, and abuse.” The entire DOGE reign at SSA was a case study in abuse of public trust.
In Conclusion
Bisignano and his “technology-forward, humans-left-behind agenda” ignore a basic reality. Social Security isn’t a tech company to be sold to private equity and gutted. It is SOCIAL INSURANCE, a generational compact between Americans young and old.
No amount of statistical spin can substitute for a system that has been working quite well for 90 years – never missing a benefit payment. America’s seniors have earned these benefits, and are entitled to a competent SSA with trained staff, accessible services, and respect for their personal data. The Trump administration’s reckless actions at SSA are wrecking the agency from within while setting the stage for Wall Street to step in (just ask Ted Cruz).
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Read our post where we fact-checked Bisignano in September, 2025 HERE.
Listen to our podcast interview with former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley HERE.
Watch our documentary about the 90th anniversary of Social Security HERE.
Equal Time: Dudek’s Bizarre Attack on Rep. Larson
Former Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek must be a skilled contortionist, because he tied himself into knots attacking a true champion of Social Security, Rep. John Larson (D-CT) in a recent Hartford Courant opinion piece — only a few months before Connecticut’s Democratic primary. (Our PAC has endorsed Congressman Larson for re-election as a longtime champion of Social Security.)
Dudek’s column prompted a letter to the editor by NCPSSM CEO, Max Richtman:::
“I’m not sure why Leland Dudek felt compelled to inject himself into Connecticut’s District-01 Democratic primary by smearing the incumbent. I have known the congressman for nearly three decades; There is no more passionate protector of Social Security in the U.S. House than John Larson.” – NCPSSM President Max Richtman, letter to the editor of the Hartford Courant
It’s beyond audacious that Dudek, who handed the keys to the Social Security Administration to Elon Musk and DOGE in 2025, accuses Rep. Larson of undermining the program. Dudek spent his time at SSA aligning himself with DOGE, not protecting beneficiaries. The acting commissioner opened the door for the Trump/DOGE regime to eventually:
*Cut more than 7,000 jobs SSA, creating an understaffing crisis and massive “brain drain.”
*Copy huge troves of Americans’ personal data to be misused and abused for purposes unrelated to Social Security
*Weaken customer service on phone lines; close and understaff SSA field offices.
*Manipulate statistics to make it appear that customer service had improved, when the opposite is true
Meanwhile, Congressman Larson, as ranking member of the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee, has demanded accountability and transparency. He accused Musk and DOGE of “the largest data theft in American history” – and called for participants in the stolen data scheme to be prosecuted.
We’re not sure why fmr. SSA acting commissioner Leland Dudek (right) gratuitously attacked Rep. John Larson, a bona fide champion of Social Security
Dudek bizarrely accuses Larson of “inaction” on Social Security, despite the fact that the congressman introduced (with more than 200 U.S. House cosponsors) the Social Security 2100 Act – to extend trust fund solvency and expand benefits. Rep. Larson also has been one of the loudest voices against Republican proposals to cut and privatize Social Security. (The 14-term congressman earns a 100% rating on our NCPSSM legislative scorecard.)
In Dudek’s alternate universe, Rep. Larson somehow abets President Trump’s agenda. In reality, the congressman has rightly warned that Trump is attempting to “dismantle and privatize” Social Security through “chaos and confusion.” According to news reports, Dudek was initially enthusiastic about the DOGE mission, cooperating fully with Musk’s young ‘shock troops.’
In a 2025 recording obtained by ProPublica, Dudek claims that he soon became skeptical. “Dudek described the chaos of working with DOGE and how he tried first to collaborate, and then to protect the agency — resulting in turns that were at various times alarming, confounding and tragicomic,” according to the online news site, Government Exec. But instead of apologizing to the people of Connecticut for his role in compromising Social Security, Dudek now deflects by attacking seniors’ staunchest ally on Capitol Hill, Congressman John Larson.
Leland Dudek lets DOGE run amok at SSA (ProPublica)
As Rep. Larson said last year, “When we take back the House of Representatives, Social Security will be our top priority, and action will take place within the first 100 days. With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day, it’s time to not only speak up, but speak out and act.” This cuts right to the core difference between Dudek’s record and Larson’s. Dudek enabled enormous disruption at the agency that delivers Americans’ earned benefits; John Larson has consistently fought to defend and boost those benefits.
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For another perspective on Larson’s candidacy, click HERE
Listen to Congressman Larson on our podcast HERE
Watch Rep. Larson chatting with our CEO Max Richtman HERE
Trump’s Medicaid Work Requirements Will Rob 5-10 Million of Health Coverage
Medicaid work requirements are coming for millions of people’s health care. This is thanks to Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill, which mandates that states institute work requirements in order for patients to enroll or maintain health coverage under Medicaid. Work requirements are projected to strip 5-10 million people of health insurance in the coming years. And for no good reason, other than Republicans’ ideological opposition to government health care programs — and as a way to pay for Trump’s massive tax giveaway to the wealthy. (Although recently, Trump offered a little more context recently, saying the nation “can’t ‘afford’ Medicaid” anymore because of spending on “military protection” (AKA, his Iran War.)
The Big Ugly Bill — championed by wealthy GOP donors, tech bros, Big Pharma, and Big Oil — mandates that adults enrolled in Medicaid demonstrate that they are working, in school, or volunteering in order to obtain or maintain coverage. States are required to enforce these work requirements no later than January 1, 2027, though they have the option to implement them sooner. As of Friday, May 1, Nebraska will have the dubious distinction of becoming the first state to implement these new work requirements. (They’re just SO excited to take people’s health care away!)
Save Medicaid rally in 2025, before Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill became law
Work requirements are incredibly gratuitous (and enforcing them can be costly). Seventy percent of Medicaid recipients already work or are in school. The others may not be able to work because of physical or mental disabilities, job discrimination, and other extenuating circumstances.
Let’s be clear: When Medicaid was enacted in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, there was no requirement that recipients work. Medicaid was designed to provide health coverage for vulnerable Americans who could not otherwise afford medical insurance. Full stop. It was enacted in tandem with Medicare, which also did not have any kind of work mandate.
LBJ believed that in a nation as prosperous as America, no one should be denied medical care because of their financial status. He didn’t mention anything about having to work for benefits.
We are one of the world’s only industrial nations that does not offer its residents universal health care. Nearly 80% of the world’s countries provide their residents some form of government-sponsored health care.
There is a straight line between the Republicans’ current obsession with punishing society’s ‘undeserving’ and less fortunate and Ronald Reagan’s “Welfare Queen” rhetoric. As the New York Times noted last year, “Republicans targeting safety net programs once invoked women they claimed were living lavishly on government funds. Now as they seek to pare back Medicaid, the imagery has changed — but not the argument.”
Meanwhile, some red states have decided that the federal minimum work requirement is too lenient. Indiana is leading that charge. Idaho has already followed Indiana’s lead, with the governor signing a stringent requirement into law on April 10. Similar efforts are gaining traction in Arizona, Missouri, and Kentucky.
If the aim is to promote employment, work requirements are failing spectacularly. They have not appreciably boosted employment in the states that have tried them (before the Big, Ugly Bill’s mandate). If, on the other hand, the objective of work requirements is to punish vulnerable people by stripping them of health coverage, it’s already promising to work splendidly.
“They (work requirements) haven’t worked in Arkansas which was the first state to experiment with them. The result was that 18,000 fewer people were on Medicaid. It’s obvious that when you’re sick and need health care — regardless of if you’re working — you need that access to health care. That’s why it makes no sense to tie work requirements to Medicaid.” – Anne Montgomery, NCPSSM senior health policy analyst
The data from Arkansas paints a clear picture. Many were booted off Medicaid not because they weren’t working, but because they couldn’t prove that they met the state’s work requirements. Doing so requires navigating a lot of bureaucratic red tape; many people give up or simply can’t complete the certification process. The new policy is even more unforgiving, as it reviews eligibility at both application and renewal, creating a cycle of exclusion that makes it increasingly difficult to enroll or maintain a spot in the program.
Older Medicaid patients could be hit hard by work requirements (Istock)
The risks are even higher for older workers who are not yet eligible for Medicare – a group we refer to as “near seniors.”
“Those who are near elderly — older workers ages 50-64 — have never been subject to any kind of work requirement before. We are worried about this group in particular. They are being laid off at higher rates. There is an idea that we need to clear room for a younger, newer workforce.” – Anne Montgomery, NCPSSM senior health policy analyst
Most modern societies view health care as a right, not a privilege. Under Trump’s reign, the privileged are stripping health care from those who can least afford it.
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Note: Here are some of the groups likely to be hurt by Trump’s work requirements:
- Low-income adults or “gig” economy workers with unstable work (source)
- Parents and caregivers — especially single parents (source)
- People with disabilities or chronic conditions (source)
- Students (source)
- Rural and transportation constrained enrollees (source)
Listen to our podcast HERE
Learn more about this from Health Policy Expert Anne Montgomery HERE
Tommy Tuberville Thinks Your Social Security Benefits are a Scam
Last week, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) showed a blatant disregard for 1.2 million of his constituents who depend on Social Security when he called the program a “scam” in a viral X post. The comment drew immediate backlash from seniors’ advocates, Democrats, and local media in his home state of Alabama.
@SenTuberville on X
Tuberville — who insists on being addressed by the moniker of “coach” from his days leading the Auburn University football team — has had an unremarkable tenure in the Senate, known mostly for partisan mud-slinging, hateful rhetoric, and sketchy financial practices. If we were to use coach-speak, a “highlight reel” from his time on Capitol Hill would include:
*Blocking hundreds of military appointments/promotions: Tuberville held up nearly 450 senior military promotions for roughly ten months in protest of a Pentagon policy reimbursing travel for service members seeking abortion‑related care. His blockade left key national‑security positions vacant and drew bipartisan criticism for undermining the armed forces.
*Repeated violations of the STOCK Act: He failed to timely disclose about 132 stock trades between 2021 and 2023, valuing roughly $1–3.5 million, including in companies with business before committees he sits on. Federal regulators fined him over a quarter‑million dollars for repeated violations of the law.
*Racially charged attacks on public officials: He publicly implied that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani bears responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.
Tuberville’s “scam” remark is part of a larger anti-Social Security narrative that the right has deployed for decades and is intensifying now — in hopes of undermining one of America’s most successful social insurance programs.
During a congressional hearing last month, GOP Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) called Social Security a “forced retirement program.” He has also called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” placing him in the nefarious company of Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump himself (in his 2000 book, The America We Deserve).
The libertarian Cato Institute’s Romina Boccia recently put her own spin on this, labeling Social Security a “legal Ponzi scheme” and arguing that the entire program must be “re-invented.” (We dismantled Boccia’s argument in a book review last year.)
The sharks are circling Social Security because of the projected shortfall in the program’s trust fund in the early 2030’s, which will result in an automatic benefit cut if Congress takes no action. We have repeatedly demanded that Congress take action. As our CEO Max Richtman told CBS News, “My takeaway from all of this is we don’t have much time to spare to address the shortfall.”
That doesn’t mean the program should be cut or radically transformed. We have endorsed legislation introduced by congressional Democrats to bring more revenue into the Social Security system by adjusting the payroll wage cap – so that the wealthy contribute their fair share.
Rep. John Larson (D-CT) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are two of the Democrats who have introduced legislation to strengthen Social Security without cutting benefits
Unfortunately, the political right proposes to raise the retirement age, institute ‘means testing’ (which is antithetical to the concept of Social Security as an ‘earned benefit’), and gamble workers’ payroll contributions on Wall Street (privatization).
Meanwhile, the Trump administration seems to be abusing and misusing executive power to wreck the Social Security Administration, which delivers benefits to some 70 million Americans.
Just this week, the administration reportedly has closed at least 12 field offices in mostly rural areas – making it harder for seniors, people with disabilities, and families to access benefits in person.
There has been significant public backlash since the Trump regime began decimating the Social Security Administration (SSA), including DOGE’s copying and misusing Americans’ personal Social Security data. But the response from the right has been to continue trying to de-legitimize the entire program so that it can be cut and privatized — while Trump continues to sabotage it from within. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s “Social Security War Room” has just issued a new report documenting the impact of Trump administration recklessness at SSA, concluding that severe cutbacks at the agency are having a “catastrophic” effect on seniors and people with disabilities.
The Trump administration reportedly has shuttered at least 12 rural Social Security field offices around the U.S.
Despite Tuberville’s (and others’) rhetoric, Social Security is not a “scam.” It is a social insurance program paid for by workers in exchange for benefits that replace a portion of their income when they most need it — upon retirement, disability, or the death of a family breadwinner. Every year, Social Security keeps tens of millions of our most vulnerable citizens from slipping into poverty.
It is not perfect and has been strengthened over the years (as Congress did in 1983). But Social Security has been working for 90 years and remains overwhelmingly popular with the public. Sorry, Senator Tuberville: If Social Security were a scam, it surely would be the longest-running, most popular, universally beneficial, and victimless ‘scam’ ever.
(For more on actual scams, see: Trump University, Trump Steaks, Trump Sneakers, and TrumpRx.)
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Watch our documentary about Social Security’s 90-year history here.
Listen to our podcast with former Alabama Senator Doug Jones HERE.
Trump Throws Medicare, Medicaid Under The Bus for War in Iran
We always knew Trump wasn’t sincere about protecting Medicare and Medicaid. But he just betrayed his own lie by saying that the two programs – which provide 140 million people with health coverage – should NOT EXIST on the federal level. Why? Because defense should be the federal government’s only priority.
Trump didn’t run as a libertarian. But his (poorly worded) declaration would make the Cato Institute blush:
“It’s not possible for us to take care of… Medicare, Medicaid. They have to do it on a state basis. All these little scams… you have to let states take care of them. We have to take care of one thing: military protection.” – President Donald Trump, April 1, 2026
Trump clearly is using his undeclared war on Iran to justify cutting health care for older and lower income Americans. In other words: we apparently can afford $200 billion for a senseless war in the Middle East, but not for our country’s social safety net programs.
Trump’s remarks — specifically that these landmark programs can be solely administered at the state level — are ludicrous. (So what else is new?) Medicare is by definition a federal program available to all Americans equally. The states could not possibly run Medicare — let alone afford it.
As our senior health policy expert Anne Montgomery explains:
“Sending Medicare to the states is a terrible idea that will never happen. The program doesn’t work that way. It’s a federal guarantee that ensures seniors everywhere receive the same care and protections, no matter where they live.” -Anne Montgomery, NCPSSM
As for Medicaid, it already is a federal-state partnership. But Medicaid depends on the federal government for about 70% of its funding. The states are already scrambling to mitigate the damage from Trump’s “Big, Ugly Bill,” which cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid to fund a tax cut for the wealthy and big corporations.
Advocates worry that Trump and Congressional Republicans are laying the groundwork for another ugly bill using the same budget reconciliation process as last time.Anne Montgomery fears that such a bill would take a scalpel to even more critical health care funding:
“A second reconciliation bill would do a lot more damage — programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and possibly even Medicare are certainly at risk. What we’re seeing is a clear assault on the nation’s major health care programs.” – Anne Montgomery, NCPSSM
This all amounts to what Montgomery calls “a war on seniors and their earned benefits.” In 2024, a majority of voters 65+ backed Trump at the ballot box. Today, only 14 months after his inauguration, 57% of that group disapproves of his performance in office.
In the face of this, why should any senior (other than the wealthy) support Trump-aligned GOP candidates in the upcoming 2026 elections?
Trump and his minions claim that our crucial social insurance programs are rife with ‘fraud,’ in order to justify gutting them. But Montgomery, who previously worked at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzing waste, fraud, and abuse, calls BS on that:
“If this administration were serious about fiscal responsibility, they’d target real cost drivers like defense spending — not vital health programs.” – Anne Montgomery, NCPSSM
After DOGE inflicted trauma and chaos on the Social Security Administration, a devastating Big, Ugly Bill, and exorbitant military misadventures, forgive us for observing that none of Trump’s real agenda feels very “America First.”
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Watch Anne Montgomery take apart TrumpRx here.
Listen to our podcast about how the Trump administration is mucking with traditional Medicare here.