In an unusual move, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, has been named to the extra role of CEO of the Internal Revenue Service, a newly created position.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has also been filling two roles as acting IRS commissioner since
Since January, the IRS has had seven commissioners and acting commissioners, but Bisignano will be taking over a new role. Before being tapped to run the Social Security Administration earlier this year, he was chairman and CEO of Fiserv, one of the largest financial services and payment technology companies. Like the IRS, the Social Security Administration has also faced extensive staffing cuts that have made it difficult for many senior citizens to resolve their issues.
Now, Bisignano will also be managing the IRS and overseeing all of its day-to-day operations while also continuing to serve in his role as commissioner of the SAA.
"Frank is a businessman with an exceptional track record of driving growth and efficiency in the private and now public sector," Bessent said in a statement Monday. "The IRS and SSA — two of the most public-facing and broadly impactful federal agencies — also share many of the same technological and customer service goals. This makes Mr. Bisignano a natural choice for this role. Under his leadership at the SSA, he has already made important and substantial progress, and we are pleased that he will bring this expertise to the IRS as we sharpen our focus on collections, privacy, and customer service in order to deliver better outcomes for hardworking Americans."
In 2019, Bisignano led the merger of Fiserv and First Data while serving as CEO of First Data. While at J.P. Morgan Chase in the 2000s, Bisignano was the co-chief operating officer and served as the CEO of its mortgage banking unit. He also previously held several roles at Citigroup, including chief administrative officer and CEO of the company's global transaction services unit.
