So, I saw this story referenced at LGM and it was so nutty I had to, well, Google it.
Via ABC News: New head of Social Security, hired from Wall Street, tells staff he had to Google the job when he was offered it.
The newly sworn-in head of the Social Security Administration told agency staff this week that when he was first offered the job in the Trump administration, he wasn’t familiar with the position and had to look it up online.
Frank Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, said during a town hall with Social Security managers from around the country on Wednesday that he wasn’t seeking a position in the Trump administration when he received a call about leading the SSA.
“So, I get a phone call and it’s about Social Security. And I’m really, I’m really not, I swear I’m not looking for a job,” Bisignano said, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by ABC News. “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.”
The brazen indifference to expertise is something to behold.
I would hasten to add that this is a reminder that even if Trump ultimately proves to unsuccessful in some of his pursuits, he is doing real and lasting damage to key functions of the federal government.
Just stunningly stupid and irresponsible.
“I’m like, ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?’” said Bisignano, who now oversees one of the largest federal agencies that’s responsible for distributing retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans.
“Put that as the headline for the Post: ‘Great Googler in Chief. Chief in Googler’ or whatever,” said Bisignano, who throughout the meeting repeatedly bemoaned media leaks from within the agency.
On the one hand, improving service would be a good thing, knowing something about it all is kind of important.
While Bisignano, who previously served as chairman and CEO of financial technology company Fiserv Inc., brings experience managing large organizations and overseeing complex payment systems to his new role, he has no prior history working in government or with the Social Security system.
A Social Security official told ABC News that Bisignano is “working to transform the agency into a premier service organization.”
This, however, inspires little confidence.
Bisignano told the managers that they needed to believe that DOGE was “helping to make things better” even if “it may not feel that way.”
“Who’s heard of DOGE? Raise your hand, right? Your bias has to be, because mine is, DOGE is helping make things better. It may not feel that way, but don’t believe everything you read.”
He said DOGE would be involved in rebuilding the Social Security website and integrating artificial intelligence into the agency’s phone support systems.
The ongoing erosion of expertise at the highest levels of the federal government is concerning and will have long-term negative consequences.
BTW, there is audio if you want to actually here him say it.
