From a press release:
Amy Shuart, of Alexandria, Virginia, has been appointed by the House to the Social Security Advisory Board for a six-year term effective October 9, 2022.
Shuart has over 15 years of experience in Social Security and identity policy. She is currently the Head of North America Government Affairs and Policy Director for Onfido, a technology company that specializes in automated global digital identity verification and authentication solutions. For over a decade, she worked for the Committee on Ways and Means, most recently as the Social Security Subcommittee Staff Director. She started her career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Social Security Administration in the Office of Retirement Policy and has also worked at the Office of Management and Budget in the Medicare Branch and the White House National Economic Council. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelors of Arts in Public and Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. ...
Thankfully seems like a professional appointment instead of a political one. Even her stint working at the Capitol was as a professional on subcommittee affairs and not someone's chief of staff getting a sinecure.
ReplyDeleteSo, she never was a service rep or claims rep.
ReplyDeleteHard one to assess - from a professional basis, seems qualified. At least she is someone who knows social security. No doubt better than many who work there. I've worked with that subcommittee a few times (OLCA always has a minder when anyone has to meet with them) and the professional staff always seemed pretty competent. But they are "political" in the sense that you'd not find a GOP hired staffer supporting FICA tax increases.
ReplyDeleteStaff Director/Chief of Staff: The Staff Director/Chief of Staff manages the committee and serves as the top policy and political advisor to the Committee Chair and majority party members. The Minority Staff Director performs the same duties for the Ranking Minority Member of a Committee.
So she ran the SSA subcommittee for the GOP during her tenure there as staff director.
So the bottom line is she is going to lean to the right. But she has a solid grounding in the program.
Who cares? The SSAB offers insightful opinions and provocative thought leadership. They study and recommend; an impotent body lacking administrative authority, largely ignored by the Administration, Congress, and SSA executives. Board members are either has-beens or wannabes. The role is primarily to listen and ask guiding questions periodically. A position on the SSAB looks good on a resume, sounds good at a dinner party, and provides a modicum of legitimacy for think-tank or advocate work. Big title, little effort - Who Cares?
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