Mass. Sen. Warren scores sitdown with Trump’s Social Security boss; seeks answers on privatization
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will huddle with the head of the U.S. Social Security Administration on Wednesday, where she plans to press for answers on whether the White House plans to privatize any parts of the agency that provides benefits for tens of millions of Americans.
The sitdown between Warren, D-Mass., and SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano comes as Democrats on Capitol Hill continue to push back against the social safety net cuts in the domestic policy mega-bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last month.
While it doesn't touch Social Security, new data released this week shows that Trump's signature bill will cause 10 million people to lose health care nationwide, even as it piles an additional $3.4 trillion onto the deficit over the next decade.
Still, reductions by the quasi-governmental Department of Government Efficiency have cost the sprawling agency 7,000 employees since January. Those constrictions mean that there will be one SSA employee for every 1,480 beneficiaries, according to one estimate .
"Under the Trump administration, Americans are being forced to deal with hours-long phone wait times, understaffed field offices, AI doom loops, and website glitches," Warren said in a statement, adding that the agency's current leadership is "making it harder for Americans to get the Social Security benefits they've earned over a lifetime of work.
"That's wrong — and I'm looking forward to meeting with him and getting answers for the American people," Warren said.
Ahead of Wednesday's session, Warren said she sent Bisignano a list of 10 questions that include the impact of those staff cuts and whether the White House plans to privatize any part of the New Deal-era agency.
The questions mirror those that Warren posed to Bisignano before a scheduled appearance before a U.S Senate committee in March .
The White House has insisted it has no plans to privatize Social Security.
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