According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Frank Bisignano, the new head of the Social Security Administration (SSA), recently stated in an interview that he plans to leverage members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to spearhead a comprehensive digital transformation of the SSA and accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). Although the DOGE team has now decoupled from the White House, they remain a crucial driving force for reform.

Bisignano emphasized that the expertise and technical support provided by DOGE will help reform customer service processes, reduce average call waiting times, and expedite the handling of applications for retirement benefits, disability, and Medicare. He stated, "I consider them as a resource to assist me." Bisignano, who was sworn in on May 7, describes himself as a pro-DOGE advocate and aims to make the SSA a "digital-first" institution, allowing the public to more easily handle tasks like reissuing Social Security cards online or by phone, while still preserving in-person services to free up human resources.

Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban on DOGE last Friday, allowing them to regain access to sensitive data. White House spokesperson Liz Huston stated, "Under President Trump's leadership, the SSA is charting a new path of reform, prioritizing customer service, reducing waste and fraud, and allowing personnel to focus more on direct service to the public."

However, some SSA employees have expressed reservations about DOGE, fearing that the team's involvement might jeopardize internal processes and cybersecurity. Bisignano reassured that DOGE will only focus on technological assistance, ensuring that American citizens' personal data remains secure.

He admitted that the current state of SSA's phone customer service is less than ideal, with an average wait time of 19.2 minutes, and some users waiting over two hours. He has set a target to reduce the average wait time to 12 minutes by the end of September 2026, while also aiming to increase the on-time completion rate for retirement and Medicare applications from 83% to 100%, and to shorten the review time for initial disability applications from 231 days to 190 days. Bisignano also vowed to address the issue of erroneous benefits. According to a report from the SSA Inspector General, the total amount of erroneous payments in fiscal year 2023 reached $8.9 billion, with retirement benefits accounting for $97 million in fraudulent payments. He stated that the AI integration would help accelerate application processing and reduce errors but acknowledged that "integrating AI is a long journey."

In response to concerns about reducing Social Security benefits, Bisignano clarified, "I will not cut Social Security payments; that is the responsibility of Congress. My goal is to solidify it." He humorously noted that when he received an invitation from Trump in December last year, he specifically searched Google for the duties of the SSA Administrator. He has previously served as the CEO of payments giant Fiserv and held senior positions at JPMorgan Chase and First Data Corp, promising to implement digital transformation using his private sector experience while maintaining the SSA's annual budget of $14.8 billion. The SSA currently employs about 52,000 staff, a noticeable reduction from 68,000 in 2010. Bisignano stated that he has visited multiple offices to understand the current situation and believes that the focus should be on "providing good service" rather than merely staffing levels.