Bisignano In Dispute Over Muhammad Ali Trunks

      From Newser:

The trunks that Muhammad Ali wore to his last Madison Square Garden fight in 1977 are now at the center of a long-running feud between a top federal official and a sports memorabilia collector. The Wall Street Journal reports that IRS and Social Security Administration chief Frank Bisignano is battling entrepreneur Eric Inselberg, who says he put the white shorts with black stripes up as partial collateral for a $500,000 loan in 2010, then fully repaid the debt. Inselberg claims the shorts—now pegged by him to be worth about $800,000—never made their way back to him. Bisignano flatly denies ever receiving the trunks and dismisses their supposed value, painting Inselberg as a chronic litigant exploiting a onetime favor.

Bisignano also says he and Inselberg were never friends, as Inselberg has claimed. Inselberg, for his part, who was once indicted (and later cleared) in a fake-memorabilia case involving Giants items, calls Bisignano an "apex predator" and "closeted collector" hanging on to the gear just to drive the screw into Inselberg. "He's vindictive. He thinks he can do whatever he wants," Inselberg notes. The dispute, delayed for a trial in New Jersey until September, may hinge on a mutual friend who says he saw the Ali shorts displayed in Bisignano's "man cave." Bisignano's legal team dismisses that possible testimony, with one attorney noting, "We try cases in the courtroom, not the pressroom. We look forward to prevailing at trial." 

Bisignano To Testify At Congressional Hearing

      The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing for April 15 at which Social Security’s Commissioner will testify. Bisignano will be testifying in his capacity as CEO of the IRS, a position that doesn’t really exist, but he may get some questions about his official job at Social Security.

“A Maniacal Focus”

      From The Signal of Santa Clarita Valley:

According to Social Security Administration Commissioner and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano, the agency under President Donald Trump is taking major steps to modernize its systems and root out waste and fraud. 

“I would say I’m bringing an operational focus to it that I … honed in all my years of being at the top of the largest financial institutions of the world,” Bisignano told EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” host Jan Jekeliek.  …

“Getting payments right is the most important thing, being able to — given the amount of money that we’re flowing — and that’s what we’ve had a maniacal focus on while delivering customer service at a level that they’ve never seen before,” Bisignano said.  …

2% Growth In SSA Workforce Projected But There Are So Many Questions

      From a Government Executive article on what is mostly intended to be staffing cuts at federal agencies:

… The Social Security Administration is looking to grow its workforce by 2% after shedding thousands of employees over the last 15 months. The agency said it will “hire strategically across our organization,” with a particular focus on front-line staff.  …

     How can they increase staffing even modestly with what will amount to a cut in the appropriation when inflation is considered? Are they playing games, assuming Congress will give the agency more than what has been requested? Maybe they just assume theyll have money because they’ll get rid of largely mythical “waste, fraud and abuse.” Maybe it’s a complete fudge. Of course, there’s always the question — why did you force so many experienced productive employees out of their jobs only to hire others who won’t really be productive for months, if not years?

Warning Issued

      From WAVY:

The Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General is warning people of a scam targeting retirees.

The OIS reports a sharp increase in scam activity, where bad actors are contacting people via email, claiming to have a social security statement ready to download.

Officials warns that clicking any link from a scam could lead to monetary loss, identity theft, or having your data compromised.

“We are seeing a sharp increase in fraudulent emails designed to look like official Social Security Administration communications,” said Michelle L. Anderson, Assistant Inspector General for Audit as First Assistant. “These messages are not from Social Security. Anyone who receives one should delete it immediately and report it.” …

Even More Sought For GPO-WEP People

      From FEDweek:

As many as several million people have not received full back payments related to the repeal of the government pension offset and windfall elimination provision due to how the SSA interpreted the retroactive payment eligibility under the GPO-WEP repeal law, a bipartisan group of senators has said. …

The GPO had reduced, and in many cases eliminated, spousal or survivor Social Security benefits of such persons. The WEP has reduced the personally earned Social Security benefits of such persons based on other earnings—such as employment before, after or on the side during, a federal career—for which they did pay into Social Security (unless those earnings exceeded an annual threshold for at least 30 years). …

The ongoing issue relates to those who had not applied for Social Security benefits while the GPO was in effect because it would have eliminated them. Organizations such as the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association last year encouraged such persons to file for benefits. However, citing a general provision limiting retroactive payments for new Social Security applicants, the SSA said they would be eligible for only six months of retroactive payments at most. …

They urged the SSA to “follow the plain text of the SSFA and provide one-year of retroactivity (beginning in January 2024) to all applicants regardless of application date.”

President’s Budget Calls For Flat Appropriation For SSA

      The President’s budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1st of this year is out. It calls for a flat appropriation for the Social Security Administration, neither increased nor decreased from the current fiscal year. However, considering inflation, which is heading up significantly over the next year this would amount to a significant cut in the agency’s effective operating budget.

     Don’t get too excited about the President’s budget proposal for it's merely a proposal. It’s up to Congress to pass appropriations acts. The problem with Congress is that Republican Congressional leaders aren’t all that much more interested in adequately funding the Social Security Administration than the President. The silver lining is that there probably won’t be an appropriation act covering Social Security until after the first of next year when a new Congress will be seated. That Congress may be more sympathetic to SSA than the current one.

The Start Of Enlightenment: Go Slowly Until You Know All The Consequences Of Your Plan

      From NEXTGOV/FCW:

The Social Security Administration is delaying its rollout of new systems to centralize claims processing and appointment scheduling and pivoting to a pilot approach, according to internal emails obtained by Nextgov/FCW. 

SSA had intended to debut these new systems early this month. They were expected to be a major shift in how the agency operates, moving from processing claims locally to a national system.

The optics of such a change factored into SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano’s decision to delay the rollout of the new systems — “particularly where customers may expect access to their local office,” read an internal email sent Monday. 

It also outlined the importance of the agency moving slowly to make sure the effects on customer experience are fully understood before the National Appointment Scheduling Calendar and National Workload Management system are implemented broadly. Bisignano had touted the plans as coming improvements to staff just last week in an internal email. …

The decision to pilot the changes will allow the agency to test if the expected efficiencies are realized and “ensure we maintain customer confidence” before a wider launch, the email announcing the change said. Details on the pilot are forthcoming, it said, after the agency has spent months preparing for the national rollout. …