In an unusual move, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, has been named to a dual role as CEO of the Internal Revenue Service, a newly created position.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has also been filling a dual role as acting IRS commissioner since forcing out Billy Long in August after only two months on the job, made the announcement Monday morning. Bessent will continue as acting commissioner of the IRS, and Bisignano will report to him directly. 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 seniors to resolve their issues.
Now, Bisignano will also be managing the IRS and overseeing all day-to-day IRS operations while also continuing to serve in his role as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
“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 2000’s, 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.
