There are multiple reports on the ALJ Improvement board and the CONNECT board that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is making progress on sorting out the hundreds of applications to become Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). Some applicants have been told that they do not meet the minimum requirements.
Do not expect to see any ALJs hired off a new register holding Social Security hearings soon. OPM has indicated that it does not expect to have a new register ready until late October. There are strong signs of an impending budget showdown between Congress and the White House that will delay new funding for Social Security. Until it gets a new budget, Social Security is not likely to be hiring new ALJs. This is a problem that could drag on for a long time after the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1. A government shutdown is entirely possible. Even after the budget is finally approved, Social Security has to interview ALJ candidates and make decisions on hires. Those newly hired will then go to training for eight weeks, if I recall correctly, and most will then have to move themselves and their families to new cities. I do not expect new ALJs to be holding Social Security hearings until next summer. It takes time for new ALJs to become productive. In the meantime, current ALJs retire and die each month.
Do not expect to see any ALJs hired off a new register holding Social Security hearings soon. OPM has indicated that it does not expect to have a new register ready until late October. There are strong signs of an impending budget showdown between Congress and the White House that will delay new funding for Social Security. Until it gets a new budget, Social Security is not likely to be hiring new ALJs. This is a problem that could drag on for a long time after the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1. A government shutdown is entirely possible. Even after the budget is finally approved, Social Security has to interview ALJ candidates and make decisions on hires. Those newly hired will then go to training for eight weeks, if I recall correctly, and most will then have to move themselves and their families to new cities. I do not expect new ALJs to be holding Social Security hearings until next summer. It takes time for new ALJs to become productive. In the meantime, current ALJs retire and die each month.
1 comment:
ALJ formal training runs up to about 5 weeks, depending on whether they have new ALJs report to the training site as their first day (as used to be the case and resulted in longer sessions) or to their hearing office as was done in 2006 (shorter).
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