New Social Security Commissioner faces pointed questions about staffing, privacy
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of job cuts, leadership turnover and other turmoil at the Social Security Administration, the agency's newly minted commissioner faced pointed questions from lawmakers about the future of the agency and its ability to pay Americans their benefits and protect their privacy.
Frank Bisignano, who was sworn in last month as President Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency, told lawmakers he intends to improve accuracy in payments and raise morale at the agency, which has already lost 7,000 workers since billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency embarked on a cost-cutting mission at the agency earlier this year.
'Increased staffing is not the long term solution,' Bisignano told lawmakers, vowing instead to invest in technology so that the agency could function with fewer workers. 'We will do this by becoming a digital-first, technology-led organization that puts the public as our focal point.'
He called it his 'personal goal' to have a 'highly motivated workforce' and raise the agency's standing after three straight years of ranking last among government agencies in employee satisfaction.
Bisignano testified that roughly 2,000 workers have been voluntary reassigned into direct-service positions at SSA, and nearly 3,700 employees have voluntarily left the agency. In 2026, he said, 'we will focus our hiring efforts on highly skilled IT staff and field offices with staffing gaps that impact our ability to deliver.'
Bisignano took over an agency after a series of chaotic customer service changes, leadership exits, and false allegations made by the president and Musk that millions of dead people were receiving benefits.
The chaos at the agency began shortly after acting commissioner Michelle King stepped down in February, a move that came after DOGE sought access to Social Security recipient information. That prompted a lawsuit by labor unions and retirees, who asked a federal court to issue an emergency order limiting DOGE's access to Social Security data.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided not to lift restrictions on the access that DOGE has to Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans.
In February, the agency announced plans to cut 7,000 people from the agency payroll through layoffs, employee reassignments and an offer of voluntary separation agreements, as part of an intensified effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce.
During the Wednesday hearing, Bisignano was called to answer for several statements by Musk, including the billionaire's claim on a podcast earlier this year that Social Security was 'the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.'
The SSA provides benefits to roughly 72.5 million people, including retirees and children.
In disagreeing with Musk, Bisignano repeated the phrase: 'I agree it's a promise to pay.'
The Social Security Administration could have to cut benefit to recipients if Congress does not act to adequately fund the program.
The go-broke date — or the date at which the programs will no longer have enough funds to pay full benefits — was recently pushed up to beginning in 2034, instead of last year's estimate of 2035, because of new legislation approved by Congress. Social Security 's trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — would then only be able to pay 81% of benefits, according to an annual report released last week.
The potential deficit has not been addressed in the tax cut and spending bill currently making its way through Congress.
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San Francisco Chronicle
23 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Majority of US adults support religious chaplains in public schools, a new AP-NORC poll shows
WASHINGTON (AP) — Few U.S. adults support allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools, but a majority favors allowing religious chaplains to provide support services for public school students, a new poll finds. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows the complexity of Americans' attitudes toward religious expression in schools, which varies depending on the kind of expression and sometimes crosses partisan lines. The findings also highlight tension points in the country's long-standing debate over the role of religion in public schools, which continues to drive legislation and legal action. Recent examples include a lawsuit against a new Arkansas measure that requires the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, a push by lawmakers in multiple states to allow religious chaplains to serve in student support roles in public schools, and the U.S. Supreme Court's 4-4 decision that blocked plans for a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. On some issues like teacher-led prayer, white evangelical Protestants and Black Protestants — who traditionally find themselves on opposite sides of the political aisle — are both largely supportive, dividing them from other religious groups. White evangelical Protestants are more likely than many other religious groups to say religion has 'too little' influence on what children are taught in public schools. Chaplains in schools are popular, but not teacher prayer About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say that religious chaplains should be allowed to provide support services for students in public schools, but most do not think teacher-led prayer or a mandatory period during school hours for private prayer should be allowed in public schools. Texas became the first state to allow chaplains, in 2023. After that, lawmakers in several states considered similar bills. It's illustrative of an ongoing conservative push to bring more religion into the classroom, which advocates of church-state separation are countering. Sally Hacker, 61, a Republican and nondenominational Christian from Michigan, supports having chaplains in schools. They could help students use the Bible as a moral guide, she said. 'If they have problems, these students could go and talk to these preachers and these chaplains, and maybe they could help them figure out a way to get out of those problems,' Hacker said. School chaplains are only somewhat divisive among religious Americans, although they're still opposed by a majority of nones, the term for atheists, agnostics and those with no religion in particular. But white evangelical Protestants and Black Protestants stand apart from Catholics, white mainline Protestants and nones in their support for teacher prayer and mandatory prayer periods in public schools. For public schoolteacher Cameron Thompson, 47, of Ohio, teacher-led prayer is not OK if it's part of classroom instruction, but he doesn't see an issue if teachers choose to lead students in prayer as part of an extracurricular activity, like a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event. 'As an optional activity, I feel like it is something that, yeah, it should be allowed for sure,' said Thompson, a Republican and a Lutheran. The questions exposed fault lines among partisans on both sides of the political spectrum. Democrats are firmly opposed to teacher-led prayer and mandatory school prayer periods but divided on chaplain support services in public schools, while Republicans are firmly in favor of chaplain support services and teacher-led prayer but divided on a mandatory school prayer period. Public school psychologist Gary Leu, 64, of Utah, believes adding chaplains is misguided. Leu, a Democrat, questions the motives behind it, wondering if chaplain programs are more about giving religious watchdogs access to schools or have some other agenda. He also is concerned about what, if any, professional standards and ethics the chaplains would be held to. 'I don't know what you're trying to accomplish that isn't already being accomplished,' said Leu, who is not affiliated with a particular religion but has a background in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Opposition to tax-funded religious charter schools, but more openness to vouchers Americans are more likely to oppose allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools than to favor this. About 4 in 10 are opposed, while roughly one-quarter are in favor and about one-third are neither in favor nor opposed. In general, U.S. adults are more divided on tax-funded vouchers that help parents pay for tuition for their children to attend private or religious schools of their choice instead of public schools. Similar shares oppose and favor this; about one-quarter are neutral. In May, the Supreme Court's tie decision effectively ended what would have been the nation's first religious charter school, but it left the issue unresolved nationally. There isn't majority support for allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools among any of the major religious groups analyzed, although about 4 in 10 white evangelical Protestants are in favor, compared with about 3 in 10 Catholics and Black Protestants and about 2 in 10 white mainline Protestants. Substantial shares of all of these groups neither favor nor oppose this idea. Most nones oppose allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools. Jess Tichenor, 39, of Oregon, is among the nones who strongly oppose tax-funded religious charter schools as she is wary of favoritism for Christianity. 'In an ideal situation, the publicly funded schools would be a safe place for any religion to be recognized or even practiced,' said Tichenor, who practices Buddhism. She feels similarly about school vouchers. Against the backdrop of favorable decisions by the conservative-majority Supreme Court, several states have expanded school voucher programs in recent years. Supporters say these programs help families make the best choice for their children's education. At the Republican National Convention, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called it the 'civil rights issue of our time.' Tennessee expanded its school voucher program in February. Besides discrimination concerns and church-state issues, opponents worry that school vouchers take money from public schools, which serve most U.S. students, and benefit higher-income families that already use private schools. 'If they're going to end up sending their kids to a special private school, they need to fund that out of their own pocket,' said Hacker, the nondenominational Christian from Michigan. Other views on religion and public schools __ About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say religion has 'too much' influence on what children are taught in public school. About two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants say religion has 'too little' influence. __ About half of Americans favor requiring public schools to provide parents with lists of books that are available to students, while about one-third neither favor nor oppose this and 14% are opposed. __ Nearly half, 45%, of U.S. adults oppose religious exemptions for childhood vaccines that are required for students attending public schools, while roughly one-quarter are in favor and about 3 in 10 are neutral. __ Most adults say freedom of religion and church-state separation are 'extremely' or 'very' important to the United States' identity as a nation, but 81% say religious freedom is important, compared with 64% who say this about separation of church and state. ___ Meyer reported from Nashville, Tenn. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. The AP-NORC poll of 1,158 adults was conducted June 5-9, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The Hill
33 minutes ago
- The Hill
10 years after Obergefell, a discredited study lingers on same-sex marriage
Today marks ten years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Although this landmark decision now feels like a natural step forward, it came after decades of legal battles and shifting public opinion about same-sex marriage. As six federal cases were making their way through the courts, the momentum behind legalizing same-sex marriage was building. Thirty-six states already allowed same-sex marriage and gay rights were expanding globally. Shifting public opinion in the U.S. reflected this change, with a clear majority of Americans supporting same-sex marriage by 2016. Opponents of same-sex marriage knew momentum was not on their side, so they mounted a defense based on the claim that same-sex marriage is bad for children. To defend this claim, they went in search of data. Two conservative organizations and W. Bradford Wilcox — a sociology professor with ties to one of the organizations — designed and funded a study that was to be completed in time to present to U.S. courts. Wilcox and his team recruited a researcher named Mark Regnerus to conduct the study at the University of Texas at Austin, a program with a strong reputation. They also hired several respected academic consultants (named in the write-up) who strategized about how to publish their findings in Social Science Research, a widely respected sociology journal. With data collection underway, a problem with the timeline emerged. As sociologist and demographer Phil Cohen has described, data collection ended on February 21, 2012, but Social Science Research had received the article 20 days earlier, on February 1, 2012. This means that the manuscript was written and submitted before data collection was complete. To be clear: the use of an incomplete dataset without disclosure violates scientific reporting standards. Correspondence among Wilcox's team revealed the likely reason for submitting early: they wanted the article to be published in time to be used in upcoming legal battles over same-sex marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court. A closer look at the study's design reveals more problems. The central question was: 'Do the children of gay and lesbian parents look comparable to those of their heterosexual counterparts?' To answer it, Regnerus compared survey responses of adult children from three types of families. The first group was raised by both biological parents with intact marriages. The second and third groups had either a father or a mother who, at some point, was involved in a same-sex relationship. There is a glaring problem here: having a parent who once had a same-sex relationship or romantic encounter is very different from being raised by same-sex parents. In fact, most people from these groups said they only lived with their parent while they had a same-sex partner for a few years or less. Some even reported never living with their parent while they were in that relationship. Furthermore, almost half of the study participants reported that their biological parents had been through a divorce. It is already well-known that having parents with intact marriages confers benefits upon children. So Regnerus's finding of group differences could have been chalked up to his comparing of people raised by divorced parents versus those raised by two biological parents who remained together. Despite all these problems, how did the study get published in a well-respected peer-reviewed journal? It turns out, two of the reviewers also happened to be two of the study's paid consultants, with one of them being Wilcox himself. Despite Regnerus's failure to answer (or even ask) his research question, he still testified against overturning Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage in a 2014 court case, citing his study as evidence. After reviewing the research and hearing the testimony, the judge, a Reagan appointee, wrote of Regnerus: 'The court finds Regnerus's testimony entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration.' Social scientists agreed with the judge and decried the ethical and scientific lapses in this study. Although Wilcox, Regnerus, and their allies lost the legal battle over same-sex marriage, they have not given up. Yet as of today, we know of no data showing differences between children raised by same-sex and opposite-sex couples in terms of social development, mental health, sexual behavior, substance abuse, or academic achievement. Matthew D. Johnson is a professor of psychology and Alana L. Riso a graduate student, both at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Hamilton Spectator
36 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Majority of US adults support religious chaplains in public schools, a new AP-NORC poll shows
WASHINGTON (AP) — Few U.S. adults support allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools, but a majority favors allowing religious chaplains to provide support services for public school students, a new poll finds. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows the complexity of Americans' attitudes toward religious expression in schools, which varies depending on the kind of expression and sometimes crosses partisan lines. The findings also highlight tension points in the country's long-standing debate over the role of religion in public schools, which continues to drive legislation and legal action . Recent examples include a lawsuit against a new Arkansas measure that requires the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, a push by lawmakers in multiple states to allow religious chaplains to serve in student support roles in public schools, and the U.S. Supreme Court's 4-4 decision that blocked plans for a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. On some issues like teacher-led prayer, white evangelical Protestants and Black Protestants — who traditionally find themselves on opposite sides of the political aisle — are both largely supportive, dividing them from other religious groups. White evangelical Protestants are more likely than many other religious groups to say religion has 'too little' influence on what children are taught in public schools. Chaplains in schools are popular, but not teacher prayer About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say that religious chaplains should be allowed to provide support services for students in public schools, but most do not think teacher-led prayer or a mandatory period during school hours for private prayer should be allowed in public schools. Texas became the first state to allow chaplains, in 2023. After that, lawmakers in several states considered similar bills. It's illustrative of an ongoing conservative push to bring more religion into the classroom, which advocates of church-state separation are countering. Sally Hacker, 61, a Republican and nondenominational Christian from Michigan, supports having chaplains in schools. They could help students use the Bible as a moral guide, she said. 'If they have problems, these students could go and talk to these preachers and these chaplains, and maybe they could help them figure out a way to get out of those problems,' Hacker said. School chaplains are only somewhat divisive among religious Americans, although they're still opposed by a majority of nones, the term for atheists, agnostics and those with no religion in particular. But white evangelical Protestants and Black Protestants stand apart from Catholics, white mainline Protestants and nones in their support for teacher prayer and mandatory prayer periods in public schools. For public schoolteacher Cameron Thompson, 47, of Ohio, teacher-led prayer is not OK if it's part of classroom instruction, but he doesn't see an issue if teachers choose to lead students in prayer as part of an extracurricular activity, like a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event. 'As an optional activity, I feel like it is something that, yeah, it should be allowed for sure,' said Thompson, a Republican and a Lutheran. The questions exposed fault lines among partisans on both sides of the political spectrum. Democrats are firmly opposed to teacher-led prayer and mandatory school prayer periods but divided on chaplain support services in public schools, while Republicans are firmly in favor of chaplain support services and teacher-led prayer but divided on a mandatory school prayer period. Public school psychologist Gary Leu, 64, of Utah, believes adding chaplains is misguided. Leu, a Democrat, questions the motives behind it, wondering if chaplain programs are more about giving religious watchdogs access to schools or have some other agenda. He also is concerned about what, if any, professional standards and ethics the chaplains would be held to. 'I don't know what you're trying to accomplish that isn't already being accomplished,' said Leu, who is not affiliated with a particular religion but has a background in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Opposition to tax-funded religious charter schools, but more openness to vouchers Americans are more likely to oppose allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools than to favor this. About 4 in 10 are opposed, while roughly one-quarter are in favor and about one-third are neither in favor nor opposed. In general, U.S. adults are more divided on tax-funded vouchers that help parents pay for tuition for their children to attend private or religious schools of their choice instead of public schools. Similar shares oppose and favor this; about one-quarter are neutral. In May, the Supreme Court's tie decision effectively ended what would have been the nation's first religious charter school , but it left the issue unresolved nationally. There isn't majority support for allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools among any of the major religious groups analyzed, although about 4 in 10 white evangelical Protestants are in favor, compared with about 3 in 10 Catholics and Black Protestants and about 2 in 10 white mainline Protestants. Substantial shares of all of these groups neither favor nor oppose this idea. Most nones oppose allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools. Jess Tichenor, 39, of Oregon, is among the nones who strongly oppose tax-funded religious charter schools as she is wary of favoritism for Christianity. 'In an ideal situation, the publicly funded schools would be a safe place for any religion to be recognized or even practiced,' said Tichenor, who practices Buddhism. She feels similarly about school vouchers. Against the backdrop of favorable decisions by the conservative-majority Supreme Court, several states have expanded school voucher programs in recent years. Supporters say these programs help families make the best choice for their children's education. At the Republican National Convention, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called it the 'civil rights issue of our time.' Tennessee expanded its school voucher program in February. Besides discrimination concerns and church-state issues, opponents worry that school vouchers take money from public schools, which serve most U.S. students, and benefit higher-income families that already use private schools. 'If they're going to end up sending their kids to a special private school, they need to fund that out of their own pocket,' said Hacker, the nondenominational Christian from Michigan. Other views on religion and public schools __ About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say religion has 'too much' influence on what children are taught in public school. About two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants say religion has 'too little' influence. __ About half of Americans favor requiring public schools to provide parents with lists of books that are available to students, while about one-third neither favor nor oppose this and 14% are opposed. __ Nearly half, 45%, of U.S. adults oppose religious exemptions for childhood vaccines that are required for students attending public schools, while roughly one-quarter are in favor and about 3 in 10 are neutral. __ Most adults say freedom of religion and church-state separation are 'extremely' or 'very' important to the United States' identity as a nation, but 81% say religious freedom is important, compared with 64% who say this about separation of church and state. ___ Meyer reported from Nashville, Tenn. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. The AP-NORC poll of 1,158 adults was conducted June 5-9, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
