Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 3:20 PM
Subject: COMMISSIONER'S BROADCAST--01/28/13
A Message To All SSA And DDS
Employees
Subject: Massachusetts
I wanted you to hear from me that I will be
submitting my resignation to President Obama next month.
I will have more to say as we get closer to
my last day, but I consider it a great privilege to have led this remarkable
agency for six years. I am very proud of all that we have accomplished in that
time to reduce backlogs, improve service, adopt efficient cutting-edge
technology, replace fraying infrastructure, and prepare our next generation of
leaders for the challenges to come.
Laura, Maggie, and I started moving our
summer clothes and books back to Massachusetts over the holidays and we expect
to be back home soon. I will be starting jury duty in Middlesex County shortly
after I leave, but otherwise have not made plans. I am still passionate about
public service, teaching, literature, and curing diseases, and hope to find new
ways to continue pursuing those interests.
I feel truly blessed. I am more grateful
than I can convey for the skill and dedication of the hundreds of civil servants
and political appointees—Republican and Democratic—who have worked closely with
me over the past six years. I have witnessed the same expertise, compassion,
and commitment to excellence in my travels outside of our Woodlawn
headquarters.
I am confident that you will give Carolyn
Colvin and future Commissioners the enthusiastic support that you have always
given me. I will miss you and will always be rooting for you.
Thank you.
Michael J.
Astrue
Commissioner
And here's a link to a press release that talks about Astrue's impending departure from Social Security. This gives information about accomplishments that Commissioner Astrue takes pride in, such as:
- He has served longer than any Republican Commissioner and longer than any Commissioners except Arthur J. Altmeyer (1940-46) and Robert M. Ball (1962-73).
- Adopted fast-track procedures for the 6% of the disability claimants who are most obviously disabled;
- Reduced the time to a disability hearing from about 540 days to about 360 days in an era of rapidly rising claims and dwindling budgets;
- Replaced the fraying data center with a state-of-the-art facility due to open next year and built a second co-processing center that can continue operations in the event of a disaster;
- Developed a suite of electronic services that are rated the best in government;
- Developed the federal government’s first interactive suite of Spanish services;
- Updated most of the agency’s medical listings and entered into a partnership with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to replace the antiquated vocational tool used for disability determinations;
- Created the online Retirement Estimator, which allows Americans to better plan for retirement by obtaining personalized information about their projected retirement payments;
- Improved the quality of disability decision-making through better staffing, training, and software support; and
- Spearheaded “plain language” efforts for the annual reports on the financial status of the Medicare and Social Security programs.
13 comments:
Thanks for the article. I've been looking for a social security disability attorney in minnesota for quite some time now
He overstayed his term, and there does not appear to have been any authorization for him to do so.
He says he reduced the time to a disability hearing from about 540 days to about 360 days in an era of dwindling budgets. Dwindling budgets? What about the one billion dollar stimulus Congress gave him?
Anon @ 6:44 PM, the Social Security Act provides this authorization (§ 702(a)(3)). The Act provides, in relevant part, that "[i]n any case in which a successor does not take office at the end of a Commissioner’s term of office, such Commissioner may continue in office until the entry upon office of such a successor."
By stepping down and letting Colvin take over as Acting COSS, Astrue forces Obama to nominate someone relatively quickly, and forces the Senate to confirm the nominee relatively quickly. Amirite?
A true visionary, a talented leader, a good man: these impressions
barely begin to describe the
Commissioner, with whom I've interacted a time or two on agency management issues. He's been a once-in-a-generation transformational administrator of SSA. Can't imagine another leader producing such cost-effective and high-quality results. The public owes him a debt of gratitude for his world-class service to the country.
Anon @ 8:09. You did not quote the entire provision, which continues: A Commissioner appointed to a term of office after the commencement of such term may serve under such appointment only for the remainder of such term." Astrue was not appointed until 2/12/2007 for a 6 year term ending 1/19/13- thus, he was appointed to a term of office after the commencement of such term" and authorized only to serve the remainder of the term.
Anon @ 8:09. You did not quote the entire provision, which continues: "A Commissioner appointed to a term of office after the commencement of such term may serve under such appointment only for the remainder of such term." Astrue was not appointed until 2/12/2007 for a 6 year term ending 1/19/13- thus, he was appointed to a term of office after the commencement of such term" and authorized only to serve the remainder of the term.
A true visionary, yes. A legend in his own mind. A narcissist, a strutting banty rooster. Rude. Short-sighted. Passionate about self-promotion.
Nobody is perfect, but I am sad to see Astrue go. Whether or not it's true, I got the impression that Astrue really cared about the well being of SSA personnel and the importance of the agency mission. Colvin and whoever comes after her have big shoes to fill. You will be missed, Commissioner.
I've been doing this for almost 7 years. What I know is that I no longer have people being evicted or passing away waiting for a hearing like I did 5 years ago. Kudos on the backlog.
J
I agree that Astrue did an excellent job in a very difficult environment -- one of the best commissioners for SSA in the last 40 years.
Lets all hope we do not start the revolving door of Commisioners again, months, a year, no one staying nothing moving at all, that is far far worse than Astrue.
Sometimes I wonder if we would complain if we were handed 50lbs of gold that we had to carry that weight to bank.
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