[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 74 (Monday, May 5, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2749-S2750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF FRANK BISIGNANO

  Ms. WARREN. Madam President, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are taking a 
chain saw to Social Security.
  For nearly a century, Social Security has been there for tens of 
millions of Americans. But now, Trump and Musk are threatening to tear 
all of that down. They are firing staff. They are plotting to close 
down offices. They are making it harder for people to get help over the 
telephone.
  Trump's pick to head up Social Security, Frank Bisignano, will 
rubberstamp Trump and Musk's attack on Social Security. He will let 
them keep slashing services. He will let them keep threatening 
benefits. That is going to hurt people everywhere, from seniors who 
count on their monthly checks right now to the parents of kids with 
disabilities supported by Social Security, to every American who is 
paying into the program now for results later on down the line.
  Social Security, by the way, is more than just a retirement program. 
It is insurance. If you are 30 years old today and you get in an 
accident and become disabled, Social Security has you covered. If you 
have a child and something happens to you, that kid will get Social 
Security benefits.
  Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to rip that protection away. Two 
people who don't have the slightest clue how much Social Security means 
to families are now threatening Americans' benefits in order to pay for 
giant tax cuts for billionaires, and since those two cannot begin to 
imagine what it means for working people, let's tell them what Social 
Security does.
  A few weeks ago, I posted a video explaining what Trump and Musk were 
doing to Social Security, and I asked people: Just tell your stories. 
And the stories came flooding in, and here are just a few:

       I'm on Social Security disability--it's about 95 percent of 
     my total income. Every month since Trump took office this 
     year, I've worried about whether or not my [Social Security] 
     payment will come as usual.

  Yes, there are millions of people out there who are worried about 
getting their Social Security payments on time because Trump and Musk 
are out there with that famous chain saw, doing what they can to make 
it harder for people to get the benefits that they have earned.
  Or here is another:

       I've had Medicare medication coverage for around 20 years, 
     and all of [a] sudden, with Musk's appearance, I've had to 
     fight to keep it.

  Here is someone who has a legal right--a benefit--and now, thanks to 
Elon Musk, has to be in the fight in order to keep what this person is 
entitled to.
  Or another:

       I've been getting my Social Security check with zero 
     problems for 15 years. Last night, I was so worried about me 
     not getting a check [that] I stayed up to the early morning 
     hours, to make sure it was in my account. Thanks to Trump and 
     Musk, I worry if I will be able to pay my rent every month. 
     Since Trump has been in office, it's been extremely 
     stressful.

  Yes, that is the stress people are feeling about whether or not they 
will have access to the money that they invested year after year when 
they were working, the money that they earned--their Social Security 
benefits.
  Or another:

       We have a son born with Down syndrome and we are now 
     retired, depending on our Social Security for the three of 
     us--for food, utilities, clothing, medical services, things 
     that we worked [for] all our lives, only to have billionaires 
     come in and take what little we have to live on away.

  Yes, the billionaires may not care about Social Security, but here is 
someone who depends on it every day.
  Or another:

       I'm about to turn 65 and have had a nightmare of a time 
     trying to even talk to a real human being at the Social 
     Security office. It's been just a series of dead ends and 
     mistakes piled atop confusion.

  And, boy, there is the heart of it. Donald Trump and Elon Musk can't 
legally cut Social Security benefits, but what Trump and Musk are now 
doing is cutting access to being able to get your Social Security 
benefits started, which has a very similar effect for people who don't 
get what they earned all their lives.
  Or here is another:

       I had cancer at 52 years old--stage 4 uterine cancer. I 
     spent more than a year fighting cancer. I am currently 66 
     years old and fighting the chronic pain from the chemicals 
     they used to treat the cancer. I rely on my Social Security 
     to survive. What am I going to do?

  This is what is happening in America now because Donald Trump and 
Elon Musk are taking a chain saw to Social Security.
  Or another:

       I'm 71 years old and work part time as a data technician in 
     dementia research, so my [Social Security benefits] 
     supplement my income. I'm anxious that eventually I, too, 
     will have my Social Security check delayed or stopped 
     altogether.

  Or another:

       We all need Social Security to survive, as a nation. I 
     myself have been having it drawn out of my paychecks for over 
     40 years but haven't retired yet and will need it shortly. My 
     only hope is that it is still there when I need it. We earned 
     that right to collect this money and [will] not let a bunch 
     of billionaires take it from us.

  Amen.

       I have worked since I was 16 years old and now I'm 71 but I 
     still work part-time. It goes without saying that I need my 
     [Social Security] benefits to survive and since Trump and 
     Musk took over I don't know from one month to the next what 
     might happen. So scary now!

  This is what Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing to people who are 
counting on Social Security.
  Or another:

       I only get $25,000 yearly from Social Security, and it 
     constitutes more than half of my income. I have a small 
     pension from the company where I worked for 40 years. If I 
     lose my Social Security, I'll have to support myself and my 
     sister (who cannot work) . . . I don't have much in savings 
     due to continuing medical expenses over the years. [We] need 
     my Social Security to survive.

  I will say that again.

       [We] need my Social Security to survive.

  Or another:

       I'm a [Social Security] employee and I just want to say 
     thank you for standing up for the programs SSA runs and the 
     beneficiaries. It is true it's been becoming harder for 
     people to access their benefits but also for other services 
     such as getting their Social Security card replaced. There 
     [are] some days where people are waiting for 8 hours just to 
     talk to a customer service representative or they don't even 
     get the call back and have to call again the next day to have 
     an issue resolved--that's if they have the time [to call] the 
     next day.

  That is testimony from the frontlines, from one who works at the 
Social Security Administration--lines that are 8 hours long.
  Or another:

       I went to a [Social Security] office yesterday because I 
     need[ed] to change my direct deposit for my monthly benefits. 
     The doors were locked . . . All the booths were shuttered. 
     Sign on the door said ``by appointment only'' and there was a 
     number to call, which I did. The automated system put me on 
     hold, and the recording said 15-minute wait, and after time 
     passed, the recording said I would be helped as soon as 
     possible, then said they were receiving higher than normal 
     call volumes . . . After several rings, the recording said . 
     . . leave [a] message (which I did) and someone will return 
     your call, but that hasn't happened yet. As I sat outside 
     that office, another person walked up and said he heard that 
     we have to go into the office in person to show our ID or 
     lose our benefits--then realized the door was locked . . . 
     Now I am very concerned that I might not get my benefits in 
     the future.

  So, Donald Trump and Elon Musk, that is what your attack on Social 
Security means for Americans: more problems and fewer people to fix 
them; hours on the phone or hours waiting in line at an office, trying 
to get help--all to get the benefits that people have

[[Page S2750]]

paid into their entire working lives. That is money they have earned 
and money they are owed.
  Frank Bisignano has made clear he will not stop the chaos. He will 
not stop the harm. That is wrong. On behalf of every single American 
who counts on Social Security, I am voting no on this appointment, and 
I encourage all of my colleagues--Democrat and Republican--to do the 
same.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.

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