If you thought that the actions that Social Security and other agencies have taken in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Lucia v. SEC have taken care of all constitutional problems that may be raised concerning Administrative Law Judges, you'd be wrong. The right wing has additional issues that will be brought to a Supreme Court that may be highly receptive to such arguments. Take a look at this piece by an attorney involved in the litigation. It's going to be one attack after another. Social Security isn't the target. They're getting caught in the crossfire aimed at the SEC, EPA and other regulatory agencies by zealots with extreme libertarian, almost anarchic, views.
The author of the article proposes disbanding the ALJ system, due to the consequences of an ALJ finding in that agency, and moving disputes to the court system where rules of evidence, etc., apply. I don't know the work load of other agencies, but my impression is that some ALJs in other agencies may not hear as many cases in a year that I have in a week. (granted, they are much more complex, but still, something has to be said about the numbers.)
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. Federal Court system is not ready to absorb SSAs work load.
While, it almost certainly would put claimants under additional time delays, worsening health concerns and financial pressure; imagine if you will, a system in which attorneys earn EAJA fees for ordering medical records, completing "hearing level" forms, etc. Likely would blow that $6K cap right out of the water.
ReplyDeleteThe long game, if it comes to that, is for Trump to expand the federal judiciary with those who pass his (read:right-wing think tanks)litmus tests. It's already been tried, but the courts have pushed back on the pretense of insufficient numbers of judges. Abolishing the ALJ position would certainly create the need.
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