SSA head wants to beef up agency tech as it sheds thousands of staff

SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano testifies at his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Bisignano told lawmakers at a June 25 hearing that he aims to use technology to improve the agency's service delivery. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano has a “technology agenda” to improve productivity at the agency, which has shed thousands of staff since January, he told lawmakers Wednesday. 

SSA announced a plan to shed 7,000 workers, or about 12% of its already historically-low workforce, in February. 

At this point, SSA has lost nearly 3,700 employees this year, mostly through the Trump administration’s use of voluntary incentives to shrink the federal workforce, according to the commissioner’s written testimony. Apart from voluntary departures of staff, the agency also fully shuttered its civil rights and transformation offices, only to then ...