Luján, Warren, Wyden, Baldwin, Whitehouse Press Social Security Commissioner Bisignano on Misleading, Partisan Email Sent to Social Security Beneficiaries

Unsolicited email from Social Security Administration misused government resources to praise President Trump, spread misleading information to Social Security recipients

"(F)ew presidents have done more than President Trump to damage Social Security - yet in an Orwellian twist, you are misusing official resources to heap praise on him."

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) pressed 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.

On July 2, 2026, the SSA sent an unsolicited, highly politicized email to many Social Security recipients. The email referenced President Trump six times, wrongly credited him with "protecting and strengthening Social Security," and presented misleading information about President Trump "providing meaningful and immediate relief to older Americans." In July 2025, following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), SSA similarly used official resources and channels to send a politically charged email.

"This was an unusual communication that served no legitimate purpose: rather than receiving necessary information about benefits or a critical communication from the SSA, recipients received a partisan, politicized message - containing multiple misleading statements - that heaped praise on President Trump," wrote the senators.

The July 2 email, which celebrated the one-year anniversary of the OBBBA, included highly misleading information about the effects of the bill on seniors and claimed that it included a tax cut that "allows Americans 65 and older to keep more of their hard-earned Social Security benefits." But the email's claims were an overestimate of the impacts of the law. In reality, over half of households with seniors were projected to receive no benefit at all from the OBBBA's Enhanced Deduction for Seniors.

"(N)ow you are abusing the millions of email addresses that may have been obtained through [enrollment in 'my Social Security' accounts] or other methods, bombarding Americans with blatantly partisan emails from SSA - misusing Americans' personal information and jeopardizing the mission and integrity of SSA," wrote the senators.

The senators ended the letter with a series of questions, including asking about how many Americans the email was sent to, the source of recipients' email addresses and how they were compiled, the total cost to send the partisan message, and an explanation of how sending the July 2 email was consistent with Commissioner Bisignano's promise to lead the SSA "in an independent and nonpartisan manner." The senators demanded answers by August 11, 2026.

"(F)ew presidents have done more than President Trump to damage Social Security - yet in an Orwellian twist, you are misusing official resources to heap praise on him," concluded the senators. "The decision to send this email raises fresh questions about your judgement and your ability to prioritize SSA beneficiaries."

Full text of the letter can be found HERE.

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