And Finally The Discussions Of Practicalities Begin

      From The Hill:

 On Jan. 5, President Biden signed into law the Social Security Fairness Act, which will provide new or additional Social Security benefits for about 3 million individuals who receive government pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security. …

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will now need to quickly scramble and begin issuing large back payments to millions of individuals. 

Complicating the issue, SSA received its administrative budget via a continuing resolution with no provision for the potentially large start-up costs to implement the legislation. SSA’s administrative budget has been in sharp decline over several years, and the agency recently testified before Congress that it now has “one of the lowest staffing levels in 50 years.” 

It is unlikely SSA has the bandwidth to implement the new benefit structure seamlessly, quickly and correctly.

Watch Out

 

   Despite specific language in the 14th Amendment making anyone born in the United States a U.S. citizen, the incoming Trump Administration seems determined to try to deny citizenship to those born in the U.S. to parents who were not in the U.S. legally. One crucial way of doing this would be to refuse to issue Social Security numbers to children whose parents aren't in the U.S. legally.

    I think it would be a big job to investigate the immigration/citizenship status of the parents of every baby born in the U.S. The Social Security Administration isn't ready for such a task. The public isn't ready for the delays that would be associated with this. Still, watch out. This could be coming as early as January 21, 2025.

Why Have Republicans Not Liked Stephen Goss?

     Until George W. Bush was President, I don't think any Republicans had noticed Social Security's Chief Actuary, Stephen Goss, who has just retired. He was holding a technical, non-political job. He started work for Social Security in 1973 and had been the Chief Actuary since 2001. Actuaries can argue among themselves about issues around the edge of their profession but the numbers are the numbers. It should matter little which competent person holds the position.

    You may remember that W. wanted to privatize Social Security. W. would have preferred it if Goss had supported that effort. The problem was that W. never really had a plan to privatize Social Security. He inherited a lot including an ancestral Republican hatred of Social Security but hating it doesn't mean you have a plan to replace it with something better. Instead of a plan, all W. had was a certainty that Social Security was terrible and that there had to be some way to privatize it that would be much better and that they'd figure out a plan later. It was impossible for Goss to do what W. wanted -- score W.'s plan to privatize Social Security in a way that helped advance the plan. In fact, it was impossible for him to score it at all since there never was a plan. In any case, Goss never regarded making recommendations on significant policy proposals to be part of his job duties, much less shading the numbers to help or hurt a President's preferred policy proposals.

    Do we really want to replace a widely respected non-partisan actuary with someone who fudges the numbers to help the current Administration?

Biden To Sign WEP/GPO Bill Today

     The Associated Press is reporting that President Biden will sign into law today the bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.

WEP/GPO Bill To Be Signed On Monday?

     The rumor is that the President will sign the bill ending the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset on Monday.

Republicans Want To Be Able To Appoint Chief Actuary

     From a press release:

With the Biden Administration blitzing the federal government with lame duck appointments and rulemakings that inject politics into a presidential transition, Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) is urging Social Security Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin to postpone making an appointment of the Social Security Chief Actuary following the current one’s retirement. ...

As Smith writes: 

“Even the appearance of politics can erode the public’s trust in the Social Security Administration and its programs, and attempts to use the Office of the Chief Actuary for partisan purposes highlight the dangers of perceived bias. Acting during a transitional period amplifies these concerns. Ideally, this decision should be made by the next Senate-confirmed Commissioner, who is uniquely positioned to make this decision in an accountable manner due to the rigorous vetting and confirmation process, which engenders increased public confidence. Deferring this decision would signal a commitment to impartiality and transparency, which the American people expect and deserve.” ...

     The message I hear is "Don't make a routine appointment now. That would be political. Instead, hold off so we can make a political appointment later." 

    Last time I checked, Joe Biden is still President.

It's Over

 

2025