Ex-JPMorgan COO Matt Zames Starts as Unpaid Social Security Adviser on Technology Modernization
Zames joins the Social Security Administration as a temporary "special government employee" limited to 130 days of service, working under Commissioner Frank Bisignano, his former JPMorgan colleague.
A Name on a Door, a Clock Already Running
Someone in Baltimore had a placard made this week. It reads "Matt Zames," and it now sits outside an office at Social Security Administration headquarters[1]. Zames is the former chief operating officer of JPMorgan Chase, and he just started advising the agency on how to fix its computer systems[1][2].
He is not being paid[1]. He is capped at 130 days of work this year, spread out because the job is part-time[1][15]. And he is walking into a problem that has been building for decades: Social Security still runs on more than 60 million lines of COBOL, a programming language written in 1959[17].
Those two facts sit next to each other awkwardly. A man who once ran technology for one of the world's largest banks is donating his time to a 67-year-old code base, on a clock that runs out in a few months. Whether that combination is a smart, low-cost fix or a mismatch between the size of the job and the size of the commitment is the real argument underneath this story.
What "Unpaid Adviser" Actually Means
Zames is what the government calls a "special government employee." It's a legal category built for exactly this kind of arrangement: bringing in an outside expert temporarily, without going through Senate confirmation or putting them on the regular payroll[1][15]. The tradeoff is time. By law, a special government employee can work no more than 130 days in a 365-day period[1][15].
That status also comes with lighter disclosure rules than a permanent official faces, since Zames doesn't have to give up his outside business interests the way a confirmed appointee would[1]. Supporters see that as the whole point: it's a fast, cheap way to get proven expertise into government without a hiring process built for careers, not sprints[1][2]. Critics see the same feature as a gap, since it puts someone with real influence over a federal system inside the building with far less public scrutiny than the officials around him[9][18].
Zames reports to Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who worked with him at JPMorgan and now runs both the Social Security Administration and, since October 2025, the IRS[1][12]. Before this, Zames ran technology and cost-cutting at JPMorgan for about five years and helped clean up the bank's roughly $6 billion "London Whale" trading loss[1]. After leaving in 2017 he ran technology investments at the private equity firm Cerberus, then started his own advisory firm in 2021[1].
Why the Codebase Can't Just Be Left Alone
The scale of the technical problem is not in dispute. SSA's systems hold more than 60 million lines of COBOL, plus millions more lines in other legacy languages[17]. Few programming graduates learn COBOL anymore, and the people at SSA who do know it are retiring or leaving[17]. Agency staff have told outside reviewers that a full rewrite could take five to seven years and cost more than $2 billion[17].
That pressure would exist no matter who ran the White House or the agency. Somebody has to modernize this system, on some timeline, at some cost. The dispute is not over whether the code needs replacing. It's over who should be doing that work, with what staff, and under what oversight.
Here's where a second, unrelated number gets pulled into the same conversation. Social Security's trust funds have their own countdown, and it has nothing to do with the age of the software. The Board of Trustees reported on June 9, 2026, that the combined retirement and disability funds can pay full benefits until 2034; after that, incoming payroll taxes would only cover 83% of promised benefits[3]. The retirement-only fund runs out sooner, in the last quarter of 2032, at 78% payable[4].
That math is set by Congress, through payroll tax rates and benefit formulas, not by SSA's IT department[3][4]. A faster computer system cannot change how much money comes in or how much goes out. Coverage that links Zames's appointment to the solvency date is pairing two real numbers that don't actually talk to each other.
The Number Both Sides Point To, Read Two Ways
SSA has a service-metrics case to make, and it's making it loudly. The agency's own June 29, 2026 release says the average wait time on its national phone line fell from 34 minutes in 2024 to 8 minutes now, and that online transactions are up 37% from two years ago[6]. Bisignano has publicly argued that SSA and the IRS are being brought "into the future"[16].
But the workforce behind those numbers has shrunk. SSA lost more than 7,000 employees during 2025, and by January 2026 it had fewer workers than at any point since 1967[19][7]. Bisignano has said the agency has the "right amount of staff in the right places[10]." Advocacy groups counter that some of the improved phone numbers came from reassigning roughly 1,500 field-office staff to answer calls, which shortens the phone wait but lengthens the line at the office window[10][7].
Senators Ron Wyden and Patty Murray have gone further, calling the broader restructuring a "prelude to privatization[18]." Senators Elizabeth Warren and Wyden sent Bisignano a formal letter demanding details on the IT modernization plan[9]. Their underlying argument isn't that technology is bad. It's about sequencing: the employees who understood SSA's old code are largely the ones who were pushed out, so the agency may be trying to rebuild institutional knowledge it just lost[17][7].
Zames himself sits outside that fight, at least on paper. He's not deciding policy or running the agency; he's advising, unpaid, for a capped number of days[1]. People who've worked with him point to a specific data point in his favor: after he became JPMorgan's COO, he required legal sign-off before any employee's email could be reviewed, tightening the very kind of internal surveillance that later became a controversy for his successor[13].
A Boss With Two Jobs and an Unresolved Question
That successor is Bisignano, and his own record adds a layer that's hard to leave out. He holds two federal jobs at once, running SSA and the IRS simultaneously, and reports to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the IRS side[12]. In July 2026, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bisignano had directed security staff at JPMorgan to access colleagues' emails. He denied it flatly, calling the report "really bad journalism for political reasons" and saying, "None of it's true, ever in my whole career[13][14]."
None of that touches Zames's own record directly. But it shapes the environment he's stepping into, and it's part of why some coverage treats his appointment as a personnel note while other coverage treats it as one more data point in a larger fight over how SSA is being run[1][9].
Outside the United States, this story has barely registered. What coverage exists overseas is almost entirely reprinted wire copy from the original CNBC report, without independent reporting layered on top[1]. Inside the US, the same appointment reads as either a savvy, no-cost fix for an aging system or the visible face of an agency that's already lost a third of its recent workforce, depending on which set of numbers a reader trusts.
Zames's 130 days will run out well before anyone knows whether the code got fixed. What happens to the project after he leaves, and who's left at SSA to carry it forward, is the part nobody has answered yet.
Summary
Matt Zames, the former chief operating officer of JPMorgan Chase, started this week as an unpaid adviser to the Social Security Administration in Baltimore[1][2]. He is helping Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who worked with him at JPMorgan, update the agency's aging computer systems[1]. Zames is a "special government employee." That is a legal category for outside experts brought in temporarily. It caps service at 130 days in a year, though those days can be spread out because the work is part-time[1][15].
The job is large. SSA still runs on software written decades ago — more than 60 million lines of COBOL, a programming language from 1959, plus millions of lines in other old languages[17]. Few new programmers learn them, and the people who know SSA's code are retiring or leaving[17]. Agency staff have told reporters a full rewrite could take five to seven years and cost more than $2 billion[17].
The money pressure is real but often described loosely. In its June 9, 2026 report, the Social Security Board of Trustees projected that the combined retirement and disability trust funds can pay every scheduled benefit until 2034[3]. After that, incoming payroll taxes would cover about 83% of promised benefits[3]. The retirement-only fund is projected to run out sooner — the fourth quarter of 2032, with 78% payable then[4]. Nothing about Zames's role touches those numbers. Trust fund math is set by Congress, not by an agency's IT department.
The dispute is not really about Zames's skills. Supporters say a top private-sector operator working for free is a bargain for taxpayers[1][2]. Critics — including Senate Democrats and federal employee unions — say technology is being used as a substitute for staff the agency no longer has, after SSA shed more than 7,000 workers during 2025 and fell to its lowest headcount since 1967[19][7][10]. Both sides agree the systems are old. They disagree about whether bringing in Wall Street operators to fix them is repair or the first step toward shrinking the agency permanently.
The Event
Matt Zames, JPMorgan Chase's chief operating officer from roughly 2012 to 2017, began work this week at Social Security Administration headquarters in Baltimore as an unpaid adviser on technology modernization[1][2]. He was appointed a special government employee, a status that limits service to 130 days, spread over a longer stretch because the role is part-time[1]. He reports to Commissioner Frank Bisignano, a former JPMorgan colleague who became SSA commissioner in 2025 and who has also served as CEO of the IRS since October 2025[1][12]. An office placard with Zames's name was already installed when reporters described the arrangement on August 21, 2026[1].
Undisputed Facts
- Zames is serving without pay, as a special government employee capped at 130 days of service[1][15].
- Zames was JPMorgan Chase's chief operating officer for about five years and led technology and cost-cutting work there; earlier he helped resolve the bank's roughly $6 billion "London Whale" trading loss[1].
- After leaving JPMorgan in 2017, Zames was president of the private equity firm Cerberus, overseeing technology investments, and left in 2021 to start an advisory and restructuring firm[1].
- Frank Bisignano is both SSA Commissioner and, since October 2025, CEO of the IRS, reporting to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent[12].
- SSA's systems include more than 60 million lines of COBOL code plus millions of lines of Assembler and other legacy languages[17].
- In its June 9, 2026 report, the Social Security Board of Trustees projected the combined OASI and DI trust funds can pay full scheduled benefits until 2034, with 83% payable after that[3].
- The same report projects the retirement-only OASI fund depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032 — one quarter earlier than the prior year's estimate — with 78% payable at that point[4].
- SSA's June 29, 2026 press release states the national 800-number average answer time fell from 34 minutes in 2024 to 8 minutes, and that 385 million online transactions were completed in fiscal 2026 to date, up 37% from 2024[6].
- SSA lost more than 7,000 employees during 2025, and by January 2026 had fewer employees than at any time since 1967[19][7].
- In July 2026 the Wall Street Journal reported that Bisignano had directed security staff at JPMorgan to access colleagues' emails; Bisignano publicly denied it, saying "None of it's true, ever in my whole career"[13][14].
The Pressure
Strip away the moralizing and blame. What structural realities persist regardless of which narrative wins?
- The code has to be replaced by someone
- SSA's core systems hold more than 60 million lines of COBOL plus other legacy code[17]. The programmers who know it are retiring, and few new graduates learn it[17]. This pressure exists under any administration, and no election changes it.
- Automation is the stated substitute for staff
- SSA shed more than 7,000 workers in 2025 and proposed cutting 17,000 full-time-equivalent positions over six years[19][8]. Leadership has said new technology fills the gap[12]. If the technology arrives late, the gap becomes service failure, not savings.
- Special government employee status is a low-friction door
- The 130-day cap lets agencies bring in outside expertise without Senate confirmation, salary, or the full disclosure regime that applies to permanent officials[1][15]. That is the feature its defenders want and the vulnerability its critics point at — the same rule, read two ways.
- The trust fund clock is a congressional problem, not an agency one
- The 2032 and 2034 dates come from payroll tax revenue versus scheduled benefits[3][4]. Better software cannot change either side of that equation. Linking modernization to solvency is rhetorically convenient for everyone and analytically wrong.
Material realityAbout 70 million people depend on payments that flow through software written decades ago, on systems that cannot be switched off during a rebuild. SSA's workforce is at its smallest since 1967 while serving vastly more beneficiaries than it did then[19][7]. Some service numbers have genuinely improved — the 800-number answer time fell from 34 minutes in 2024 to 8 minutes[6] — while backlogs and in-person waits are reported as high, and the agency stopped publishing regular monthly service metrics in June 2025, which makes independent checking harder[7]. Separately, the Trustees project full scheduled benefits payable until 2034 for the combined funds and until the fourth quarter of 2032 for the retirement fund alone, after which payroll taxes cover 83% and 78% respectively unless Congress acts[3][4]. One unpaid adviser, capped at 130 days, changes none of that arithmetic.
Narrative as a weaponSSA leadership is the most active narrative shaper here. Its press releases lead with superlatives and select the metrics that improved, and the commissioner has published a signed op-ed making his own case[6][16]. It wants you to believe modernization is working and staffing is beside the point. Congressional Democrats, unions, and progressive policy groups are shaping the other side, and they want you to read Zames as the visible face of an agency being hollowed out and prepared for private hands[18][7]. Business and fintech press mostly want a clean executive-move story and drop the political context. The word doing the most quiet work in all of it is "unpaid" — it is factually correct, and it also invites the reader to conclude there is nothing to examine. The word doing the most work on the other side is "privatization," a forecast rather than a description of anything that has happened.
How Each Side Sees It
Each major actor’s view — how it frames things, its underlying incentive, and how it’s materially affected. Tap a side to read it.
Frames it asTheir case is an operations case, not an ideological one. Social Security runs on software older than most of its beneficiaries, and the government cannot hire that expertise at government pay. So bring in someone who has already done it at scale — for free. Bisignano points to results already on the board: an 800-number answer time cut from 34 minutes to 8, and a 37% jump in online transactions[6]. He has argued publicly that SSA and the IRS are being brought "into the future"[16]. On staffing, the administration's position is that the right measure is service delivered, not bodies employed — Bisignano has said he has the "right amount of staff in the right places"[10]. The analogy his side uses is a turnaround: you do not fix a broken back office by adding clerks to a broken process.
WhyShow fast, visible service wins that justify a smaller federal workforce, and keep the modernization story ahead of the backlog story[6][10].
Impact on themSuccess would validate the administration's whole shrink-and-automate approach across agencies. Failure lands on beneficiaries and on Bisignano personally, who is already fielding congressional criticism over holding two jobs and over the WSJ surveillance report[12][13][21].
Frames it asTheir strongest argument is sequencing, not hostility to technology. The people who understand SSA's COBOL code are the same people who were pushed out — so the agency is trying to replace institutional knowledge it just deleted[17][7]. Senators Warren and Wyden have formally pressed Bisignano for details on the IT modernization plan[9]. Unions are pushing Congress for more funding and staff, arguing service numbers look good partly because 1,500 field-office staff were reassigned to answer phones — which shortens call waits while lengthening in-person waits[10][7]. The deeper worry, in Wyden's words, is that hollowing out the agency creates the argument for handing pieces of it to the private sector — "a prelude to privatization"[18]. On Zames specifically, their crux is oversight: a special government employee sits inside the agency while keeping outside business interests, with far less public disclosure than a Senate-confirmed official.
WhyProtect a program that is politically popular and defend a unionized federal workforce; also deny the administration a clean win going into the midterms[18][10].
Impact on themMembers hear directly from constituents about delayed disability decisions and long office waits. Advocacy groups report record processing backlogs and phone waits longer than advertised[7].
Frames it asHis implicit argument is that public service by experienced operators is normal and useful. He is taking no salary, no title of authority, and a hard 130-day cap[1]. He is advising, not deciding. Supporters note that at JPMorgan he was the one who tightened internal surveillance controls after Bisignano left, requiring legal sign-off before any employee's email could be reviewed[13] — evidence, they argue, that he is a controls person, not a corner-cutter.
WhyReputation, relationships, and the professional standing that comes from fixing a nationally visible system; there is no disclosed contract or fee[1].
Impact on themLittle material exposure. His 130-day clock and unpaid status mean he can leave at any time, which critics say is exactly the problem with pinning a multi-year rebuild on him[1][17].
Frames it asAbout 70 million people receive benefits, and for many it is most of their income. Their interest is not in who advises whom. It is whether a disability claim gets decided this year, whether the phone gets answered, and whether the check clears. Both camps claim to be defending exactly this group, using different numbers: SSA cites shorter call waits[6], advocates cite record backlogs and harm in every state[7].
WhyUninterrupted, correct, on-time payments[3].
Impact on themDirectly exposed at both ends. A failed modernization risks payment errors on systems that cannot be taken offline. And if Congress does not act before the projected 2032 or 2034 dates, benefits would be paid at 78% or 83% of what is scheduled[3][4].
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The Bias Ledger average rating 5.3
The same story, as framed by outlets across the spectrum, ordered least to most biased. The bias score (1 = straight, 10 = heavily spun) is an AI assessment of that framing — click an outlet to see its track record. The tell is the word choice or omission that reveals the angle.
| Outlet | Vantage | Bias | How they frame it | The tell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNBC | U.S. center, business audience | 3 | "Trump admin taps former JPMorgan Chase exec Matt Zames to advise Social Security agency" — the originating report, with the personnel facts, the 130-day cap, and the trust fund context. | Leads with "Trump admin taps," which foregrounds the political actor over the agency, and pairs the appointment with trust fund exhaustion — two things not causally linked — in the same framing. |
| PYMNTS | U.S. fintech trade press | 3 | "Former JPMorgan COO Matt Zames to Advise Social Security Administration on Modernization" — treats it as a straightforward executive move into government tech. | Emphasizes Zames's turnaround credentials and omits the staffing-cut context entirely, so modernization reads as a purely technical project. |
| Federal News Network | U.S. federal-workforce trade press | 4 | "Union heightens calls to boost funding, staffing at Social Security" and "Social Security chief touts customer service metrics after getting 'right amount of staff in the right places'" — runs both sides, but the scare-quoted commissioner line signals doubt. | The word "touts" and the quotation marks around the staffing claim do editorial work a neutral verb would not. |
| Government Executive | U.S. federal-management trade press, workforce-sympathetic | 6 | "'Prelude to privatization:' Social Security confirms workforce reduction targets, continues to shutter offices" — puts a senator's characterization in the headline. | A contested political label leads, before the verifiable facts about targets and closures that follow it. |
| Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | U.S. progressive policy institute, foundation-funded; advocates for safety-net spending | 6 | "New Data Show Social Security Staff Cuts Harm Service Delivery in Every State" — states the causal conclusion in the headline. | Asserts cause and effect between staffing and service, where the agency's own data show some service measures improving during the same period; the state-by-state framing is designed for constituent pressure. |
| Social Security Administration | U.S. federal agency; the subject of the story speaking about itself | 7 | "Social Security Administration Delivers Best Performance in History" — a superlative in the headline of an official release. | Every metric chosen is one that improved. Staffing losses, backlogs, and the June 2025 decision to stop publishing regular monthly service metrics do not appear. |
| The Baltimore Sun (Opinion) | U.S. center-left paper carrying a signed op-ed by the official himself | 8 | "Frank Bisignano: We're bringing Social Security and IRS into the future" — the commissioner's own case, in his own words. | It is advocacy by the subject of the story, published under a newspaper masthead; readers who skim can mistake it for the paper's reporting. |
References
- Trump admin taps former JPMorgan Chase exec Matt Zames to advise Social Security agency — CNBC · U.S. center, business-focused; owned by Comcast/NBCUniversal
- Former JPMorgan COO Matt Zames to Advise Social Security Administration on Modernization — PYMNTS · U.S. payments-industry trade publication, funded by fintech advertising and sponsorships
- Social Security Board of Trustees: Projection for Combined Trust Funds Remains Consistent with Prior Year — Social Security Administration · U.S. federal agency; primary source and interested party
- Social Security retirement trust fund may be depleted in 2032, new trustees report finds — CNBC · U.S. center, business-focused
- 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, Explained — Bipartisan Policy Center · U.S. centrist think tank founded by former senators of both parties; foundation- and corporate-funded, generally deficit-reduction oriented
- Social Security Administration Delivers Best Performance in History — Social Security Administration · U.S. federal agency press release; self-reporting
- New Data Show Social Security Staff Cuts Harm Service Delivery in Every State — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities · U.S. progressive policy institute, foundation-funded; advocates for safety-net programs
- Planned Staffing Cuts and Potential Office Closings for the Social Security Administration — U.S. Government Accountability Office · U.S. congressional audit agency; nonpartisan by statute, reports to Congress
- Warren and Wyden letter to Commissioner Bisignano on SSA IT modernization — Office of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren · U.S. Democratic senators; explicitly partisan oversight document
- Social Security chief touts customer service metrics after getting 'right amount of staff in the right places' — Federal News Network · U.S. trade outlet covering the federal workforce; advertiser-supported by government contractors
- Social Security plans 'limited' rollout of systems to manage its workload — Federal News Network · U.S. federal-workforce trade outlet
- New IRS CEO is also head of the Social Security Administration. Here's why that dual role worries some experts — CNBC · U.S. center, business-focused
- IRS chief Frank Bisignano dismisses JPMorgan spying allegations — CNBC · U.S. center, business-focused
- IRS Chief Denies Report He Spied on Colleagues While at JPMorgan — Bloomberg · U.S. center, financial wire owned by Bloomberg L.P.
- Special government employee — Wikipedia · Crowd-edited reference; used here only for the statutory definition of the 130-day category
- Frank Bisignano: We're bringing Social Security and IRS into the future — The Baltimore Sun · Signed op-ed by the SSA Commissioner himself, published in a U.S. metro daily owned by Alden Global Capital
- Rapid conversion of SSA's COBOL and other Legacy Systems (letter to SSA) — Empire Justice Center · U.S. legal-services nonprofit representing low-income and disability claimants; advocacy orientation
- 'Prelude to privatization:' Social Security confirms workforce reduction targets, continues to shutter offices — Government Executive · U.S. federal-management trade outlet; audience is federal managers and unions
- Social Security Staffing Falls to Lowest Level Since 1967 — 401(k) Specialist · U.S. retirement-industry trade publication
- Social Security Administration adds Matt Zames in advisory role as modernization pressures mount — Traders Union · Retail-trading affiliate site; aggregates wire reporting
- IRS chief Frank Bisignano may have misled Congress, Democrats say — CNBC · U.S. center, business-focused