WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of job cuts, leadership turnover and other turmoil at the Social Security Administration, the agency’s newly minted commissioner faced pointed questions from lawmakers about the future of the agency and its ability to pay Americans their benefits and protect their privacy.

Frank Bisignano, who was sworn in last month as President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, told lawmakers he intends to improve accuracy in payments and raise morale at the agency, which has already lost 7,000 workers since billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency embarked on a cost-cutting mission at the agency earlier this year.

“Increased staffing is not the long term solution,” Bisignano told lawmakers, vowing instead to invest in technology so that the agency could function with fewer workers. “We will do this by becoming a digital-first, technology-led organization that puts the public as our focal point.”

Bisignano testified that roughly 2,000 workers have been voluntary reassigned into direct-service positions at SSA, and nearly 3,700 employees have voluntarily left the agency. In 2026, he said, “we will focus our hiring efforts on highly skilled IT staff and field offices with staffing gaps that impact our ability to deliver.”

The SSA provides benefits to roughly 72.5 million people.