John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, was among those who successfully pushed to give the Social Security commissioner a six-year term. The thinking, when Congress approved the tenure in 1994, was that it would keep the position beyond the reach of bureaucratic politics.
But now, with a president in office he likes and a commissioner he doesn't, Gage is suffering from a case of Be Careful What You Wish For.
He and other union leaders are leading an effort to push Commissioner Michael J. Astrue out of office.
The union planned to run an advertisement in today's Baltimore Sun saying that under Astrue's watch "budget cuts and critical personnel shortages have made it impossible for your staff to service the public."
Leaders of union committees, councils and locals representing Social Security employees recently voted unanimously for a 23-point resolution expressing no confidence in Astrue, a Bush administration appointee. And Gage's office is asking executive committee members of the AFL-CIO to sign a letter urging President Obama to seek Astrue's resignation.
"If Mr. Astrue refuses to resign, we request that you use your authority . . . and remove Mr. Astrue from office for malfeasance and neglect," the letter says.
Such a finding would be the only way Obama could give Astrue the boot. His term doesn't expire until 2013. Astrue has no plans to quit before then, according to spokesman Mark Lassiter, who also said the commissioner was traveling and unavailable for comment.
The White House also had no comment on the effort to oust Astrue. But with all the problems the president has had with appointees lately, he probably isn't eager to look for more trouble.
The 23 points charge Astrue with shortchanging public service by closing SSA offices, allowing the disability claims backlog to grow and wasting resources by "substantially increasing non-productive managerial staff."
One of the main complaints the union has with Astrue concerns the decision to move Employee Activity Association functions, such as day-care and fitness centers, to other vendors. That was "the straw that broke our backs," reads the advertisement.
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) urged Astrue to stop all "plans to undermine" the activity association. "I am troubled by allegations that your administration has made unsupported claims of financial impropriety," her Jan. 9 letter to him said.
Clearly no fan of Astrue, Mikulski expressed concern "that an audit authorized by your office was undertaken for the sole purpose of trying to find a reason to shut down the EAA." She asked for assurances that any future actions would "not serve an ideological agenda."
Astrue responded by saying the activity association had become "a large and complex commercial enterprise that abuses its exclusive access to our employees for the benefit of for-profit subsidiaries." He acknowledged, however, that an investigation "could not prove or disprove most of the serious allegations." Nonetheless, he added, "it was clear that significant deficiencies existed and that employees were being denied the affordable, professional care that their children deserve."
13 comments:
Ah yes, terms. This was debated rigorously by the commission that drafted the report that became the model for the 1994 legislation. Term supporters, Elmer Staats and Art Hess, prevailed, 2-1. The hope (and it was only a hope) was that a term appointment would decrease, if not eliminate, "partisan political pressure" on the Commissioner.
But Elmer was thinking of his experience in GAO as Comptroller. While there may be some political pressure on GAO over some issue or another, SSA is a horse of an entirely different color. The two parties have very different views of how Social Security should be funded--how it should be structured, in fact. The Commissioner, no matter how much a "manager or technocrat" she may be, can't avoid that partisan divide. And thus every President must have his or her person in the job.
If President Obama has no confidence in Mr. Astrue--and Mr. Astrue ignores that when it is conveyed to him and decides to remain through his term, then the White House and OMB will do a "work-around." A trusted Deputy will be appointed and that person will receive all the calls from the White House, not Mr. Astrue. So the real question isn't whether Mr. Astrue wants to remain or not, it's whether he wants to remain as a figurehead if the President does not have confidence in him. That will become clear in due time.
"I don't know what services you will miss at SSA HQ."
Jimmy the Junk Man is what I'll miss.
As far as the child care center, I don't think there should be one.
If you have a child, stay home and take care it.
All I know is if I have to trust Gage or Astrue, my money is on Astrue. 32 years with SSA and I have never seen AFGE do anything strictly for the good of the employees.....It is usually for the good of the reps!
Well I'm sure part of the Union's reason for yelling about the EAA is because the Commissioner isn't kissing their ring, but I think if you put it to a vote employees wouldn't want things to change with the EAA.
I have taken down an anonymous comment that made an allegation of what amounts to criminality and a response to that comment.
If anyone is aware of criminality, report it to the appropriate authorities. Do not make anonymous allegations here.
Charles T. Hall
How many actions has this Commissioner taken against supposed wrong doing that has not been supported by fact? How can so many Commissioners be accused of overlookin this alleged wrong doing?
At the insistence of employees, the day care center was organized. And it operated well at first. It ran into trouble when employees expected it to be free and yet many people mandated changes that only increased costs. My child was cared for in an excellent manner the years she was there and my wife and I were part of the original board that set up oversight to protect those children. What a shame that a few complainers can runi it for everyone. In my opinion, the correct thing to do now is to totally close that child care center and let the complainers find their own providers.
And now the Commissioner seeks to vindicate himself by closing all of EAA. How will he do this? He has the unique ability of not looking in the mirror and admitting he is WRONG.
The day care center ran into trouble when the EAA and the management they selected to run the center..repeatedly ignored complaints from parents, complaints that were very serious, that were reported to authorities. I don't see how the COSS is closing the EAA. The EAA can still do what it has always done, except sell shoes on Federal property to make money for itself. None of the services like the child care center or fitness center are going away. This is obviously all politics in action, largely created by the Union, not the COSS. Oh Well....
What the hell is the EAA and what does it have to do with social security issues? So what if the employees in headquarters have activities. I don't see how this is connected with AFGE or why it is of national importance.
If Gage wants Astrue to go, Astrue should get up and get outta there. My observation since retirement is that SSA is barely holding on. Astrue is a Republican holdover in an agency that is key to the new administration's plans. He has no chance of sitting out his term because he hasn't done squat yet and he's not gonna do anything ever. SSA deserves a good Commissioner if for no other reason than simple justice for its hard-pressed employees. Mr. Gage could direct his attention elsewhere, true enough. But, you bet Astrue has to go.
Some AFGE Locals actually do represent their members and not just their reps. See: www.afgelocal2505.org
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