From Yahoo News:
... According to two inspector general complaints filed in January of this year and reviewed by Yahoo News, an administrative law judge claimed that Saul, Black and their deputies put “illegitimate political pressure on Administrative Law Judges to reduce the rate of Social Security disability case approval.”
The whistleblower said the complaints were initially acknowledged by the inspector general, but they have yet to receive any further communication.
The SSA Office of the Inspector General did not immediately return a request for comment. ...
The complaints detail an example of Saul and Black's behavior by recalling a meeting in February 2020. Brian Blase, then special assistant for health to the Trump White House’s National Economic Council, met with management in the SSA’s Office of Hearings Operations to demand that the agency fire administrative law judges with high rates of disability claim approval. ...
According to [Alex] Lawson [of Social Security Works] and other sources familiar with conversations within the SSA, Biden’s four-person transition advisory committee attempted to put backstops within the agency to limit Saul and Black by installing union-friendly Democratic staffers. Scott Frey of the AFL-CIO joined as Saul’s chief of staff, and Kilolo Kijakazi of the Urban Institute replaced Trump administration-era deputy Mark Warshawsky as the deputy commissioner of the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy. ...
[Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Sherrod] Brown said he has not yet personally asked Biden to fire Saul and Black, but his subcommittee staff is in regular communication with White House staff on the situation. Brown suggested that both he and Biden would prefer it if the two officials stepped down rather than having to be fired. He noted the lengthy legal fight either could take against the White House. ..
Brian Blase certainly has a history of hostility to Social Security disability claimants.
By the way, while Saul might be able to fight being ousted, Black’s position has no such protection. I have no idea why he’s still there.
8 comments:
Cases are supposed to be decided based upon the evidence in a given case. Anyone who does otherwise or tries to make others do otherwise is flat out wrong. One should never use preconceived notions about anyone's case to decide the case. The evidence should dictate the outcome, not any personal predilections.
History lesson from the blog:
Astrue is is the worst he has to go.
Colvin is the worst she has to go.
No commissioner is bad we need a commissioner!
Saul is the worst he needs to go.
Trust me folks - this is just the tip of the iceberg. As hinted in the article, more and more evidence of malfeasance will come to light, and I have no idea why the powers that be want to stick around for what's coming their way.
@ 9:49 Not true on my end. Astrue had his flaws but I never asked for his ouster. In fact, I talked to him numerous times at NOSCCR conferences. He at least tried to fake like he cared.
Colvin was only there a short while so not sure how well she did.
Saul is a different animal. He has been a disaster from the beginning. It all started with his ban on telework. He simply is not equipped to run a big organization in the modern world.
@10:54 You mean like perhaps intentionally giving less than stellar job reviews to employees to avoid giving well deserved pay raises and bonuses?
Saul destroyed employee morale and trust, when he came in and arbitrary ended telework shortly after he took office. He issued right wing edicts and draconian measures which were totally unnecessary. Such as ordering the FO to stay open on Wednesday which they had been using to catch up on other work.
The man was in way over his head from day one.
He partially redeemed himself by allowing 100% telework after the pandemic hit, but it was really too little too late. The trust was already broken.
@552 PM. SSA used to be open 5 days a week for the full day, 9-4 or 430. He didn't take anything away. He just returned the hours to normal business hours.
Let's not get this twisted. SSA was open during those hours when field offices were adequately staffed. The previous leadership made the decision to reduce hours because the agency has not received an adequate appropriation for a decade. Saul decided to reinstate those hours without fixing the staffing and funding issues, employee morale be damned.
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