“President-elect Trump has nominated financial software CEO and GOP donor Frank Bisignano to head the agency that administers Social Security benefits for some 70 million Americans. If confirmed, Bisignano will be accountable — not to corporate boards or stockholders — but to the American people, who depend on their Social Security benefits and pay for them over a lifetime of work.
We urge the nominee to continue the efforts of former Commissioner Martin O’Malley to improve customer service and workforce morale at the Social Security Administration (SSA), while lobbying Congress for better funding for the cash-strapped agency.
Commissioner O’Malley had made significant strides to reduce wait times on the agency’s 1-800 number, keep field offices open, speed up disability insurance decisions, and make the overpayment recovery system less punitive. We hope that nominee Bisignano will build on those successes. It also will be essential for the new commissioner to advocate for adequate funding for SSA, which has been chronically underfunded for the past 15 years.
The administration of Social Security benefits is already paid for by workers with every paycheck. Underfunding SSA is tantamount to cutting Social Security. Commissioner O’Malley called it ‘blind neglect.’ We urge nominee Bisignano to press the new GOP-controlled Congress for adequate funding in order to honor President Trump’s promise not to cut Social Security.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
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Media inquiries:
Walter Gottlieb
ncpssm.org