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Donald Trump’s new head of the Social Security Administration admitted that, prior to accepting his position, he had had to look it up online.
Frank Bisignano boasted to a town hall meeting that he was “one of the great Googlers on the East Coast,” and had used his “skills” to quickly look up the role he was being offered.
Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, was sworn in for the top SSA job earlier this month. The SSA is one of the largest federal agencies, and is responsible for the distribution of retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million U.S. citizens.
In an audio recording of the town hall, obtained by ABC News, Bisignano reportedly told agency staffers that he had not been looking for a role in the Trump administration before being offered one.
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“So, I get a phone call and it’s about Social Security. And … I’m really not, I swear, I’m not looking for a job,” he said, according to the outlet. “And I’m like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’”
So “I’m Googling Social Security. You know, one of my great skills, I’m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast … I’m like, ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?'”
Lambasting media leaks, Bisignano added jokingly: “Put that as the headline for the Post: ‘Great Googler in Chief. Chief in Googler’ or whatever.”
According to ABC, he later sought to calm concerns about the future of the agency amid the recent crackdown by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has sought to slash the federal workforce.
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Bisignano told the managers in the meeting that Social Security was “not going away.”
An SSA official said Bisignano was “clearly” making a joke about needing to Google the details and responsibilities of his new role.
The Senate confirmed him to the position May 7, despite Democrats citing his reputation for slashing workforces in the private sector, as well as accusing him of previously having improper contact with SSA officials about operations amid accusations that he was helping DOGE.
“Commissioner Bisignano’s proven success in the financial services industry uniquely positions him to lead the Trump administration’s commonsense efforts to modernize the agency and improve its efficiency,” Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson, told Nextgov/FCW.
