Social Security Works Urges Biden To Fire Saul

      From Government Executive:

A liberal advocacy group focused on preserving and expanding social safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare have urged President-elect Biden to replace the leadership of the Social Security Administration and reverse a number of the Trump administration’s policies in favor of an ethos that supports federal workers.

Social Security Works recently released its “transition report,” dated November 2020, for the incoming Biden administration. Chief among the group’s recommendations is that the next president should “clean house,” forcing Commissioner Andrew Saul to resign or be fired and replacing all political appointees at the agency.

“In only eight of the last 40 years has SSA had Senate-confirmed Democratic leadership,” the organization wrote. “Republican control at the top has brought a number of lower-level appointees whom the Social Security community views as hostile to Social Security. It has also brought harmful regulations, the closing of field offices, reductions in staffing, the termination of annual mailing of earnings statements ... anti-union animus, and other actions and attitudes that have degraded access, diminished service, and reduced confidence in the future of Social Security specifically and government more generally.”

The law states that Saul may only be terminated from his post for “neglect of duty or malfeasance,” but Social Security Works said the recent Supreme Court decision Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which limited the independence of the fledgling agency, could grant the president the authority to remove Saul anyway. ...

     Two thoughts: First, does Social Security Works know that Saul wants to stay on? Second, regardless of the position of the new Administration, the issue of the constitutionality of a Social Security Commissioner who can only be fired for cause is headed for the Supreme Court. Attorneys who represent Social Security claimants will take care of litigating that issue but it will take us a couple of years or more. If the new Administration wants to litigate the matter directly with Saul, they could probably get it moved along much faster, perhaps even with asking the Supreme Court to hear the matter directly after a District Court decision. Watch out for the confirmation hearing for Biden's nominee for Solicitor General, whoever that may be. That nominee may be asked about this issue since he or she would be the one responsible for litigating it.