Shockwaves are rippling through Washington after the release of a bizarre leaked audio recording of Frank Bisignano, the newly appointed head of the Social Security Administration (SSA), reacting to his unexpected job offer.
Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, was recently sworn in to lead the SSA — a massive federal agency responsible for distributing retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to over 70 million Americans.
But according to leaked audio from a town hall with SSA managers held on May 21, the appointment seemed to surprise Bisignano as much as the public. In the recording, he candidly admitted he had not been seeking a role in the Trump administration and appeared to be completely blindsided by the offer.
“I wasn’t looking for a job,” he told attendees, in what many have described as a bewildered and unfiltered exchange.
Frank Bisignano insisted he wasn’t looking for a job ahead of being offered the top social security administration role (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
He said: “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.
“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.
“I’m like, ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?’”
Hilariously, during the meeting, he also bemoaned about media leaks from within the agency…from a now leaked piece of audio.
He continued: “Put that as the headline for the Post: ‘Great Googler in Chief. Chief in Googler’ or whatever.”
“By the way, I like to have fun at work, we are allowed to laugh, we are allowed to have fun, we are allowed to know each other’s family, we are allowed to be normal, how is that.”
Well despite this, people on social media haven’t exactly been kind about Bisignano seemingly not having a clue what his job is or will entail.
One Twitter user commented: “So he’s 100% in on the time tested and foolproof ‘fake it till you make it’ strategy. Got it.”
Another said: “The qualifications to hold a position in the Trump Admin is to NOT be qualified. If your resume has relevant experience, you don’t even get past the phone screen.”
A third added: “This makes my blood boil. These are NOT serious people, but they’ve accepted serious jobs just for novelty?”
People on social media ripped into Bisignano for not understanding the role (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
However, some users did defend the new appointment.
One person commented: “People act like you need some elite PhD to run the agency…. You don’t…. What it needs is someone who’s actually built things, managed huge teams, and delivered results.
“Frank Bisignano has done that at the highest level, running billion-dollar companies with real accountability.”
