As is traditional, federal offices will be closed on Wednesday, the day of the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush.
I've been getting questions about whether Social Security will really be closed on Wednesday. The answer is definitely yes as to field offices and hearing offices. It's been so long since we've had a death of a past President that people had forgotten how this is treated.
I've been getting questions about whether Social Security will really be closed on Wednesday. The answer is definitely yes as to field offices and hearing offices. It's been so long since we've had a death of a past President that people had forgotten how this is treated.
Does anyone have a link to the actual Executive Order? Every source I've found, including the one linked in this post, plausibly says the president issued an Executive Order on 12/1 closing government agencies, but they all link to the Proclamation announcing the death of the former president. The Proclamation does not outline any of the specifics of closing agencies. I don't doubt that this is true, I'm just surprised to see so many references to the Executive Order with no links to it. I've never seen one with delayed publication.
ReplyDeleteAnd the only summary that I've read of the EO is that it instructs agency heads to consider office closure.
ReplyDeleteIt's really hard to imagine an employee-hating number cruncher like Terrie Gruber allowing OHO to have a day off, when there are dispositions to be issued. The next time she allows the ALJs to enjoy any sort of fringe benefit of government employment will be the first.
https://chcoc.gov/content/national-day-mourning-president-george-h-w-bush-federal-government-closure-wednesday
ReplyDeleteThey may not actually be closed. SSA management and OPM have yet to say a word about closures, and the way the EO is drafted, it would seem everyone is expected to work absent notification to the contrary, less they risk being cited for AWOL.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11582.html
ReplyDeleteI called my local OHO this morning and they did not know if the closings applied to them or not as of yet.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-providing-closing-executive-departments-agencies-federal-government-december-5-2018/
ReplyDeleteVery surprised to see this ... and I've gotten no notification so far from SSA. Are all employees really going to be off on Wed?
SSA field offices and hearing offices will be closed on Wednesday, per a notice posted on the SSA office closings web page.
ReplyDeleteAnd now my client who has been waiting for a hearing for 20 months has to wait another 4 months for a hearing. I think we can honor a deceased President without shutting down the government.
ReplyDelete@3:30 it IS bad for claimant's who have waited a long time but it is a tradition and this is only the 39th time since the first president was inaugurated in 1789 for a sitting or former president to die.
ReplyDeleteIt should be a significant day.
The local SSA/DDS and hearing offices are closed on Wednesday in my area anyway. 3 days a week open to claimants is all they get around here. Ridiculous, to say the least.
ReplyDeleteBe prepared for attempts to right this that include waivers of the 75 day notice and short notice hearings
ReplyDeleteHearing offices are closed as well as field offices. https://www.ssa.gov/agency/emergency/
ReplyDelete@5:37 everyone should have been ready to go for the 5th. Why would ANYONE object to a "short-notice" hearing unless there were a scheduling issue for the rep or the claimant?
ReplyDeleteAnd the silence is deafening!
ReplyDelete@12:17 Why would one object to a "short notice" hearing? There were 2 ALJs in the Greensboro, NC hearings office who would regularly schedule short notice hearings. I hoped to cooperate with any ALJ who would give my client a hearing more quickly, and I and my staff tried to move heaven and hell to get the most complete and latest medical records despite the sluggish response from some hospitals and clinics. Inevitably, these ALJs then had temper tantrums because the record was not complete! After being subjected several times to such verbal abuse, I NEVER again agreed to short notice hearings--but only with those 2 ALJs!
ReplyDelete