IRS chief Frank Bisignano on upcoming cost-of-living adjustment

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Now is Social Security Commissioner, CEO of the IRS and head of the growth phase of the Trump accounts for the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the President, Frank Bissignano. He also rang the opening bell here at the NYSE to celebrate Columbus Day. Welcome back, Commissioner. [00:00:13] Speaker 2: Happy Columbus Day. Thanks for having me. [00:00:15] Speaker 1: Happy Columbus Day. So just on the Social Security, this is a big deal because a lot of folks are going to find out what they get if they get a big increase for 2027. I guess the question is, will it be enough to match the rising prices of groceries and health care and oil? [00:00:31] Speaker 2: Well, you know, first of all, I saw it off with the President once again keeping promises. And the promise was to protect and preserve. And we've been running that platform since I've been here with the President. And we're going to do it Wednesday. There'll be a cost of living adjustment. [00:00:51] Speaker 1: Protect and preserve Social Security benefits. [00:00:53] Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. And this is all part of it. So I think it's I think it's a good day. You know, I get lots of notes. People thanking me. I was here last year because of living adjustment. You know, people are very, very grateful for it and they look forward to it. So I think it's a good [00:01:09] Speaker 1: day. It'll be a good day Wednesday. Yeah. I mean, also more than 20 million Americans in Medicare will get 90 dollars from Social Security Administration and their bank accounts this month. Yes. Yes. Some folks will say that's political. You're just doing that ahead of [00:01:21] Speaker 2: the midterms. Well, we've been taking care of Americans. This administration has done a great job specifically for elders and vulnerable. You know, we keep people out of poverty. So I don't think there's anything political about doing something like protecting and preserving something like Social Security that's 91 years old. And we do do a lot of the administration for Medicare. People may not know that. And we've digitized that. We're processing claims faster, much faster because we're doing it in a manner that we did it in the private sector where humans don't touch it. Yeah, no, this was your [00:02:10] Speaker 1: this was the big hope. You would come in and operate it like a private company. Does that mean that it's [00:02:14] Speaker 2: less dire in terms of? Well, it means it's way more accurate. You know, we cleaned off. We cleaned up 30 million erroneous records on the Social Security file. That's 10 percent. You know, in a brokerage firm, that'd be the name and address file. You'd have, you know, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero. And now we're driving that. So all of that contributes to accuracy and accuracy. I always say the best way to save money is with high quality. And we're delivering it under President Trump. Well, is it still I mean, I was I was sort of going for the economic forecast. Well, all of it, all of it will ultimately show up. You know, these are things that happened during the course of this year. You know, obviously, once a year, we put out the report on solvency. And, you know, what you see going on is you will always fix the operations of business to actually understand what the financial outcome for the business is. And we were still in the midst of fixing it. But you think it's getting better? I think the work we're doing is is making a huge difference now. That may not show up right now. And remember, you know, this is a long journey. It's 90 years old. They'll be around for another 90 years. The president has, you know, promised protect and preserve. And [00:03:43] Speaker 3: that's what we're doing. If we all if we all have, you know, get advances in health care, we all may be living a lot longer, which, of course, then raises the question as to whether we should raise the retirement age and put this on firmer financial footing overall. Well, they'll always be that quite, [00:03:58] Speaker 2: they'll always be questions. But so far, we've done a great job for America on it. And I think we'll continue to do a great job for America on it. It's interesting because your job is to make the [00:04:09] Speaker 4: trains run on time, right? But how much like what percentage of your workday is spent thinking about out year projections, sustainability, retirement age, entitlement reform, things like that? [00:04:23] Speaker 2: Well, we have, you know, we have a trust fund. So they have trustees, which I'm one of. We have a president who is committed to this and lived by protect and preserve and made it a mandate to me. And then ultimately, you know, it will be the White House and Congress and the trustees. But the job when you have 30 million records that are wrong is fix the place. [00:04:53] Speaker 3: Right. Right. But we also have a two trillion dollar deficit and entitlements are only one reason for it. Interest costs continue to go up, any number of other areas. But the rising cost of medical care is certainly a part of that underlying Medicare. I'm just curious from your experience, particularly in the private sector and what you're seeing. Do you think we can start to bend the cost curve overall on medical as a result of AI, for example? I think, I think AI will bend the cost curve on everything. [00:05:21] Speaker 2: And I think AI, you know, it will be used responsibly. And, you know, I think we're going to change the inside of federal government, lots of it, at least what I'm running, you know, which would mean great advances. And I think it's going to happen everywhere. Are you using it now? [00:05:41] Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. At the IRS and Social Security Administration? Yes. Yes. [00:05:44] Speaker 2: You are. And we'll use more. Yeah. We used it. I was on this show once and was asked about AI. And I said I was using AI before we called it AI. You know, that's the God's honest truth in the private sector. So that would have been a go to move on my first days. Yeah. All right. I do want to get to [00:06:03] Speaker 1: some new exclusive data that we that we got from the Treasury on Trump accounts, which you're also working on. Twenty six million now Trump accounts have funding in them. Over eight billion dollars have been deposited in the accounts from family, friends, U.S. government and donors, which is up from four and a half billion that the White House reported just last week. Yeah. So that so people [00:06:23] Speaker 2: are people are doing this. It will, you know, I mean, look at it. I keep talking about 70 million. You know, when I talk about a number, it may seem really tough to get to, but we always get to the numbers who will have Trump accounts. There are 70 million. We've already enrolled. We have 26 million already funded with money, 26 million. We're communicating. I will be communicating that every American who is not completely locked in on it, that means that they've claimed it until until. And we'll have great partners. I met with all the tax preparers. They think it's the greatest thing. They're going to be this tax season and starting now communicating with their clients. You're seeing donors, 70, 70 plus companies have agreed to do an employee match. Yeah. Wonderful name companies with great CEOs. We have, you know, obviously Michael Dell, you know, was, as I like to say, I'm running America's largest startup here, Trump accounts. And he was the seed funder with 6.25 billion. I love the notes that he posts from all the kids. The thank you notes that he's been getting, thanking him. Well, great leadership by the administration led by President Trump.