Warren, Van Hollen, Gillibrand, Wyden Press Bisignano On Mismanagement, Mistreatment of Workers at Social Security Administration, IRS

Decision will affect over 120,000 IRS and SSA workers “We are concerned that this policy will further weaken the already stressed resources of these agencies, leaving the American people with degraded access to their rightful Social Security benefits and needed IRS services” Text of Letter (PDF) Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led a letter to Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Chief Executive Officer of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), on their concerns about his mistreatment of agency employees after obtaining a circulated internal memo that indicates that he will strip SSA and IRS of advanced annual leave and sick leave. The letter was joined by Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). “We are concerned that this policy will further weaken the already stressed resources of these agencies, leaving the American people with degraded access to their rightful Social Security benefits and needed IRS services,” wrote the senators. Workers at the Social Security Administration and the IRS receive advance paid leave policies that allow them to take time off before it is officially accrued, a common practice across the federal workforce. Advanced leave grants employees the ability to respond to health and family emergencies and has long been a part of the federal government’s efforts to provide the workplace conditions needed to attract and retain the most qualified individuals to serve the American people. But an internal memorandum indicated that Bisignano, the head of SSA and IRS, would strip agency employees of these benefits. “[Y]ou have imposed a cruel and unjustified plan that is likely to drive additional employees out the door, doubling down on the Administration’s already disastrous efforts to push out federal employees,” wrote the senators. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year cut over 32,000 employees from the IRS and the SSA in 2025, diminishing customer service at these agencies. Suspending advanced leave and sick leave will make matters worse, pushing out federal employees and directly hurting Americans who need assistance from the SSA and IRS. These fresh cuts could delay access to benefits and critical tax refunds. “[T]his latest action to eliminate a workplace benefit could contribute to increasingly dire conditions for agency staff, negatively impacting morale and employee retention and — if the agencies lose additional workers — hurting taxpayers and Social Security recipients,” continued the senators . The senators urged Bisignano to reverse this decision and immediately restore advanced leave at the SSA and IRS and requested the SSA and IRS provide answers to their questions, including more details on the suspension of advanced paid leave policies at both agencies by no later than October 6, 2026. Senator Warren has led the Social Security War Room to coordinate Democrats’ fight to defend Social Security services and benefits and has repeatedly warned that the Trump administration’s cuts to IRS staff are shortsighted and will affect Americans’ access to important services: In August 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Republican plans to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In July 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano for answers on reports that SSA field offices in over a dozen states and territories are or have temporarily been “closed to the public” due to staffing and operational issues — in direct contrast with his clear commitment to “keep every field office open.” In July 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, led 13 senators in investigating whether Frank Bisignano, Chief Executive Officer of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), misled Congress and the public about his agency’s staffing problems after the Trump administration gutted the IRS workforce. In July 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) led Democratic Senators in pressing Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano for answers on why the SSA earlier this month sent a misleading, partisan email to Social Security recipients. In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) published a joint op-ed in the New York Times calling on Congress to act to save Social Security for generations of Americans to come. In June 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote to President Trump expressing their renewed concerns that this administration is considering raising the retirement age and demanding answers. In June 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), pressed Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano and three former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers on an alarming new whistleblower account detailing Trump administration plans to mark 2.7 million people as dead in a Social Security database as part of its immigration enforcement agenda. In April 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Ranking Member on the Senate Special Committee on Aging Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) led a coalition of over 100 Congressional Democrats in writing to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), Leland Dudek , to demand that he keep Social Security field offices open. In April 2026, Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, led by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), published a new report highlighting how, in its first year, it has fought to protect Americans’ Social Security benefits. In March 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Dan Adcock of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare about Republicans’ plans to raise the retirement age. In March 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) launched a new investigation into the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) ongoing customer service crisis reaching new extremes, the latest from Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room. In March 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and James Moylan (R-GU) led over 30 lawmakers in introducing the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Restoration Act , a bipartisan bill to strengthen critical SSI benefits that support nearly 8 million seniors and Americans with disabilities. In December 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and King (I-Maine) led 15 senators in pressing Treasury Secretary and Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent and IRS Chief of Taxpayer Services Ken Corbin, warning that the IRS was not be prepared for the 2025 tax filing season — and that failure could saddle American taxpayers with filing problems and refund delays. In December 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and U.S. Representative Gabe Amo (D-RI-01) introduced the Social Security Survivor Benefits Equity Act, bicameral legislation to increase the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) lump-sum death benefit, which covers costs associated with cremation or burials for surviving family members, to account for inflation. In December 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee; Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP); and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, wrote to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano , pressing him on reports that the agency has a new goal of slashing field office visits by nearly 15 million annually. In November 2025, Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), both leading members of the Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, launched a probe into Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano’s tenure as chief executive officer at Fiserv. In October 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) in introducing the Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act . In September 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, and Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room leaders today introduced the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act . In July 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a leader of the Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, secured key commitments and admissions from Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano during a private meeting. In June 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, pressed top Trump administration officials on how President Trump’s chaotic tariffs — paired with his efforts to dismantle the Social Security Administration — are harming America’s seniors. In May 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member on the Senate Aging Committee, pressed new Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Frank Bisignano on reported plans to recategorize thousands of workers as Schedule F “policy-making” employees. In May 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) welcomed newly-confirmed Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Frank Bisignano to the agency with copies of 17 letters — containing nearly 200 unanswered questions — the lawmakers had previously sent to the SSA under Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek. In March 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Wyden (D-Ore.) led their colleagues in urging the Acting Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to launch an investigation into the Trump Administration’s decision to fire nearly 7,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees and close over 100 Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs). The letter followed reports revealing that the IRS was preparing to gut half of its workforce, threatening to undermine the agency’s ability to crack down on wealthy tax cheats and provide quality service for American taxpayers. ###