Michael Astrue was the keynote speaker at a TechAmerica meeting on March 3, 2009. TechAmerica is apparently a trade industry group. A video of the 50 minute presentation is available online.
The most interesting thing that I learned from watching this is that last fall Astrue won a longstanding battle with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Because of his victory he was finally able to tell Congress that his agency needed a new national computer center.
Some questions come to mind:
The most interesting thing that I learned from watching this is that last fall Astrue won a longstanding battle with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Because of his victory he was finally able to tell Congress that his agency needed a new national computer center.
Some questions come to mind:
- Why would Astrue need OMB permission to tell Congress that Social Security needs a new national computer center? The Commissioner of Social Security is not only allowed, but required, by statute to give Congress his or her own budget for the agency. The statute contemplates that the Commissioner of Social Security will have more independence than Astrue is able or willing to exercise.
- When he was interviewed by the White House before being nominated to become Social Security Commissioner did Astrue make a promise to the Bush Administration that he would not exercise any budgetary independence? Does he still feel bound by such promises?
- Is Astrue such a team player that he cannot imagine not getting the approval of the White House before telling Congress what Social Security needs?
- Does OMB have so much power that Astrue feels that it would be suicidal for him to exercise the budgetary independence given him by statute?
- Could it be that Michael Astrue would love to tell Congress and the American people how many employees his agency needs to properly do its work, but he is waiting for OMB permission?
- If Social Security Commissioners have as little independence as Astrue is saying, why are we pretending that Social Security is an independent agency?
I thought that OMB had to bless expenditures over a certain amount.
ReplyDeleteThe Union opposes moving the NCC to Westminster, Maryland. Astrue is attempting to bypass the Union. He refuses to bargain in good faith, as provided for in the parties Ratified contract.
ReplyDeleteTechnically, Astrue is neither required nor allowed to give Congress his own budget for the agency. Instead, the statute calls for the President to transmit the Commissioner's budget to Congress. Possibly a a meaningless difference, but I imagine it gives the President some meaningful influence over what is contained in that budget.
ReplyDeleteJust because Grandpa (Congress) says that I don't need Dad's (whitehouse) permission to come to him with my issues and concerns doesn't mean it's going to happen. The reality is that while independent, SSA is still a unit of the Executive Branch and as such ultimately answers to the Chief Executive and his agents (OMB) Sure, he could go to Congress directly but politics being what they are, the ways that you will pay for such an action is limitless.
ReplyDeleteThe way this item is stated actually demonstrates the authors naivety on how things work.
No agency is "independent" in the way that he seems to define it. No one can bypass Dad just because Grandpa says you can. Dad has powers too, and it's crazy to think you'd believe an Executive Branch organization could operate that way.
"Independent" just means that the COSS does not report to a cabinet secretary, but rather directly to the President.
ReplyDeleteThe union opposition statement is entirely off the point, but since you brought it up -- determining the location of an office remains a management right. There is no obligation to bargain here.
ReplyDeleteLeave well enough alone. The Commissioner is doing a good job. Can he do better? Yes. Can he do worse? Yes. Employees really come second to the public served. So all the union-ego-maniacs can keep crying to mamma.
ReplyDeleteYet again, you make huge assumptions that are factually in error, and you never bother to correct them. Where is your Corrections section?
ReplyDeleteIt is NOT true that the statute requires the Commissioner to present his budget directly to Congress. If you think this is so, please provide a citation to the relevant section of law--or admit that, like in some many other things, you just made this up because you ASSUME that's how it must work!
SSA is independent in two crucial ways:
ReplyDelete1) Commissioner reports directly to President (i.e., the White House) rather than through an intervening cabinet agency;
2) Commissioner has a fixed term of office and cannot be fired except for misconduct.
You seem to think that reporting to the President means literally reporting only to Obama. Rather, it means reporting to the presidency, that is, the Office of the President. OMB is part of the Office of the President. It will never be the case under the independent agency rules that SSA would by-pass OMB. That would be by-passing the one authority to which he must report--the Office of the President.