What Happened?

Above is a page from the budget request that Social Security submitted to Congress in February 2007 for fiscal year (FY) 2008, which began on October 1. No budget has yet been adopted for FY 2008. Social Security is operating on a continuing funding resolution. Click on the page shown above to see it full size. The $9.597 billion figure shown above is not the budget that Jo Anne Barnhart urged, but the President's much lower budget. Note that even though this budget contained a 5% budget increase in funding for Social Security, that the agency projected in February that this budget that its backlogs would get worse and that the service it offers would deteriorate, although not badly. The projections in February called for a tiny cut in Social Security's workforce, from 74,823 total Social Security and DDS workyears to 74,596 workyears. (see page 91 of the Budget Request.)

We are now eight months later. Commissioner Astrue is saying that this same budget will require a near total hiring freeze for FY 2008, which will mean a dramatic decline in Social Security's workforce and dramatically increased backlogs throughout the agency. What happened since February 2007 to cause such a dramatic change? Were the projections in February unrealistically optimistic? Is Michael Astrue lowballing with the current projections to make himself look better when things turn out a bit better or is he lowballing as a covert way of lobbying for a higher budget? Did something happen in the last eight months to affect Social Security's projections for staffing levels for this fiscal year?