Maybe A Sign

     Senators Bernie Moreno and Elizabeth Warren have penned an op ed in the New York Times recommending that the wage cap on the FICA tax that feeds into the Social Security trust funds be removed. This would prevent the trust funds from running out of money for many years into the future.

     It’s no surprise that Senator Warren would express this opinion. What’s remarkable is that Senator Moreno would feel the same. He’s a Republican from Ohio. I wouldn’t say the dam is breaking but there’s a tiny crack in it.

     The Washington Post has already run an editorial about the Moreno-Warren op ed. They’re aghast. It’s what I would expect from a newspaper owned by Jeff Bezos, one of the wealthiest people on Earth.

Caseload Analysis Report

      The Social Security Administration has posted the Caseload Analysis Report for its Office of Hearings Operations (or whatever they’re calling it these days) run on June 17. It reflects trends already apparent — falling numbers of ALJs, increased backlogs, increased use of overtime and a small use of “Agency Video Objections” which make me fear that the hearing process may be used for immigration enforcement.

Job Openings For Attorneys

      The Social Security Administration is seeking attorneys to work in Employment Law and Program Litigation positions. They don’t say how many they expect to hire but they’re only accepting the first 200 applications for each type of job. 

    There are employees needed across the agency. Why are they hiring for these positions?

Court Blocks Use Of Social Security Databases To Block Voters

      From the New York Times: 

A federal judge on Monday barred the Trump administration from letting states query a centralized national database of citizens built for checking immigration status to screen their voter rolls, finding that the repurposing of the federal data to monitor voting violated at least three laws. 

In a sharply worded ruling, Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan ordered the Homeland Security Department to stop permitting states to search the data, which also incorporates Social Security records. …

Judge Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, wrote that the executive order had resulted in a rush by agencies to “haphazardly” adopt a system that they knew was flawed and that would flag eligible voters along with those who might have registered illegally. She warned that states were already “actively” using it to potentially purge eligible voters ahead of an election. …

James Percival, the general counsel for the Homeland Security Department, responded to the ruling on social media, calling it the “latest example” of “how hard the Left will fight to stop us from solving problems they insist do not exist.” …

Keep An Eye On The Disability Trust Fund

      There’s one part of the Trustees report that hasn’t gotten much attention. While the Old-Age and Survivors Trust Fund is projected to run dry by 2032, the separate Disability Trust Fund is projected to be in balance through at least 2099.

     I don’t think it at all likely that disability benefits will be paid in full while retirement benefits are cut to 78% of current benefits. Actually, I think it’s almost inconceivable that there will be any cuts in benefits but we’ll probably have some brinksmanship as we approach the deadline. One way of putting off doing anything for a bit is to combine the two Trust funds or allow inter fund borrowing, which is what was done in the past when the Disability Trust Fund ran short. That approach would extend the deadline to act by a couple of years.

Got The Bases Covered From The Middle To The Far Right

      The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing for June 24 on The Future of Social Security. There are two scheduled witnesses, Shai Akabas, who has testified at a prior Congressional hearing recommending large benefit cuts as well as tax increases, and Elizabeth Milito, who is active in the right wing Federalist Society.

Senator Hawley On Social Security “Reform”

      From an article in The Hill on the Speaker of the House making a commitment to “address” entitlements next year:

… “That sounds like wealthy people who want to have all of their tax breaks and loopholes and their carried interest deductions and so forth but they want working people who paid into all of those programs for years to take less,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said when asked about the Speaker’s statements about the need to tackle big mandatory spending programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Hawley says he gets nervous when policymakers talk about the need to “address” or “reform” Social Security.

“Addressed? Reformed? That’s usually code for ‘cut.’ I’m not in favor of that,” he said. …

Bats Out

      The Greensboro, NC field office that was closed due to a bat infestation, has reopened. Apparently, there were only two bats involved.