Senate Confirms Janet Dhillon as PBGC Director

Janet Dhillon

One week into the U.S. federal government shutdown, the Senate confirmed Janet Dhillon as director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on Tuesday night. Dhillon is appointed to a five-year term, succeeding Alice Maroni, who became acting director of the PBGC in March.

Earlier this week, the Department of the Treasury announced that Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano will also serve as CEO of the IRS, overseeing operations in both agencies. According to the Treasury statement, Bisignano will report directly to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who was named acting IRS commissioner in August, the first treasury secretary to directly manage the IRS.

In the package approved by the Senate along a 51 to 47 party-line vote, Dhillon was part of a block of 108 nominees whose confirmations were approved for positions in a variety of federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Labor and employment agency offices. She was formally nominated to the post by President Donald Trump on March 10. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted on May 15 to advance Dhillon’s nomination to the full Senate.

According to the Department of Labor’s organization chart, Dhillon served as principal deputy assistant secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration. She served as acting assistant secretary of labor for EBSA from June 24 until Daniel Aronowitz was confirmed on September 18.

Dhillon joined the Department of Labor in March as a senior counselor in the office of the DOL solicitor, having previously served as chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the first Trump administration. She was nominated as chair in May 2019 and served until January 20, 2021, then as commissioner until she resigned in November 2022.

The package also included the reappointment of Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins to a five-year term from 2026 through June 5, 2031.

Tuesday’s vote was made possible on October 3, when the Senate voted 51 to 46 in favor of an executive resolution authorizing the process of en bloc consideration in executive session of certain nominations on the executive calendar. In September, Senate leadership changed procedural rules after initiating a process known as “going nuclear”—a seldom-used maneuver that allows the majority party to change rules with a simple majority vote, rather than allowing debate, during which two-thirds approval would typically be required to overcome a filibuster. The Senate last invoked the mechanism in 2019.