*

Nominee Bisignano says he will review SSA computer systems

*

Bisignano said he could reverse DOGE actions at SSA if

inappropriate

*

Bisignano said artificial intelligence could help the

agency

deliver services

(Adds more details from the hearing, call with SSA staffers

throughout)

By Tim Reid and Nathan Layne

March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's

nominee to oversee the Social Security Administration said on

Tuesday that he would review the agency's computer systems after

aides to tech billionaire Elon Musk were given access to SSA's

massive databases.

Frank Bisignano, a veteran Wall Street CEO, also said he

would be willing to reverse decisions made inside SSA by Musk's

Department of Government Efficiency, which has targeted the

agency for significant cuts to staff.

"If something was inappropriate, it would be changed,"

Bisignano told a Senate confirmation hearing.

A federal judge said last week that the SSA likely

violated privacy laws

by giving DOGE staff aides "unbridled access" to the data

of millions of Americans and ordered a halt to further record

sharing.

Bisignano said he would conduct a full review of the

databases.

The SSA, which pays out $1.4 trillion in benefits to 73

million elderly and disabled Americans annually, is cutting

staff, closing field offices and restricting what recipients can

do over the phone as part of Trump's push to slash the size and

cost of the federal bureaucracy.

The agency has announced a goal to slash staff by 7,000

to 50,000, rattling employees and advocates who fear the cuts

could slow or interrupt the payment of benefits.

Bisignano, the CEO of Fiserv ( FI ), a global financial

technology company, said he envisioned artificial intelligence

being used to help SSA workers do their jobs more efficiently as

well as to identify how many workers the agency needs.

"I know we talk a lot about the staffing level here, but

we don't really know what the right staffing level is,"

Bisignano said.

Musk, who is overseeing the government overhaul, has

falsely claimed that millions of deceased Americans are still

receiving Social Security checks and that the system is rife

with fraud. Trump, who has repeatedly pledged not to cut Social

Security benefits, also says it is beset with fraud and waste.

Lee Dudek, the SSA's acting commissioner, told senior

staff and advocate groups in a conference call on Monday that

3,000 staff at SSA have already taken a buyout offered by the

Trump administration or early retirement, according to a person

on the call.

During the call, Dudek was asked about a planned

reduction in phone services, set to begin on March 31. According

to an internal March 13 memo from acting deputy commissioner

Doris Diaz seen by Reuters, the change could result in an

additional 75,000 to 85,000 claimants visiting SSA field offices

every week. There will also be "longer wait times and processing

time."

Dudek acknowledged on the call that such a major change

to how people make claims would usually take two years to

implement, but he had been told by the White House to push

through the new system in just two weeks.

The agency has been under strain for several years, in

part because of a significant increase in claimants since the

1990s.

Some Republicans have in the past called for privatizing

social security. Advocates for retirees and the disabled say

privatizing the agency could result in reduced benefit payments

to millions of Americans who rely on them.

During his confirmation hearing, Bisignano also said he

had not spoken with anyone about the possibility of privatizing

the agency.