Info On Frank Bisignano

     From a longish piece in Fortune on Frank Bisignano:

... [Bisignano] rebuilt Citigroup’s decimated back-office operations from the ashes of 9/11, repaired Washington Mutual’s stricken subprime book after the 2007 housing meltdown as Jamie Dimon’s fixer at JPMorgan Chase, and transformed a lumbering warhorse that was one of the worst investments KKR ever made into a potent money spinner that he merged into Fiserv, then drove the combo to reign as America’s largest non-bank handler of credit card payments to retailers, restaurants and other merchants, ferrying $2.5 trillion in payments per day. ...

Bisignano built his career bulldozing forward to mend the most basic but unsexiest of businesses. The Brooklyn-born Bisignano’s father labored as a career customs agent. His mom was a 105-pound dynamo who began as a bookkeeper at a stevedoring outfit and rose to run the whole waterfront operation. Bisignano went to Baker College, a liberal arts school in Kansas, where he majored in business and won trophies as a nationally ranked bowler. [The bowling team at Baker College isn't exactly the same as the fencing team at Yale. How did an Italian-American kid from New York City end up at a small college in Kansas anyway? By the way, note that there is no mention of an M.B.A. which is surprising for someone with Bisignano's work history.] In 1994, Jamie Dimon hired Bisignano at Travelers to run operations at Smith Barney. Bisignano unwound leading a zany softball team of Italian Americans who dubbed themselves “the Paisanos” and sported floppy hats like pizza makers on the diamond. ...

Bisignano contracted throat cancer [sometime after 9/11], a condition he likely ascribes to the toxic soot of 9/11 [He was working in the area at the time]. Every morning, he’d undergo radiation in the New York area, and right afterward head to the airport to fly cross-country for a day of work on the West Coast. Then he’d jet back overnight and take radiation again in the morning. Bisignano survived surgery, and his trademark gravelly voice is a legacy of that illness. ...

Bisignano created probably the most sumptuous corporate hub in Manhattan by purchasing and totally renovating 1 Broadway, a Queen Anne–style architectural marvel dating from 1745 that overlooks Bowling Green and the New York Harbor. ...

    Read the whole thing. There's the inevitable assumption that someone with a successful business background will "turn around" Social Security, which causes my eyes to roll, but also a good deal of useful information about the man.

A Poll For Social Security Employees Only

 

online polls

Bisignano Nomination Resubmitted

     I suppose we should expect any sort of incompetence from the Trump White House but this is amazing. The Bisignano nomination has been resubmitted! It was definitely withdrawn and then quickly resubmitted.

Bisignano Nomination Withdrawn

      I had asked at least twice whether Frank Bisignano know what he was getting into with his nomination to become Commissioner of Social Security. I can’t say that the issues that concern me led to it but the Bisignano nomination has been withdrawn.

Early Out Questions

     The Trump Administration is offering early outs to federal employees. If they accept, they will be paid through September. This brings up some questions in my mind.

• Was this deal offered to all Social Security employees?
• Early outs have certainly been offered in the past. Is this deal different than what has been offered in the past?
• If this deal is being offered to payment center employees, does the Trump Administration have any idea of the problems that will be created at an agency already facing a massive challenge to implement the implementation of the WEP/GPO bill? And I don’t mean to suggest that other agency employees aren’t also essential.
• Does Frank Bisignano have any idea of the disaster he may inherit if he’s confirmed as Commissioner?

     I hate what may happen at Social Security but the antigovernment incompetents running things in the Trump Administration richly deserve what’s heading their way.

A Year To Implement WEP/GPO Repeal

 

    The Social Security Administration posted questions and answers on the implementation of the bill ending the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision on January 24 — after Inauguration Day. Here’s an excerpt:

… SSA's ability to implement the law in a timely manner and without negatively affecting day-to-day customer service relies on funding. The Act did not provide money to implement the law. The law requires SSA to adjust benefits for over 3 million people. Since the law's effective date is retroactive, SSA must adjust people's past benefits as well as future benefits. Though SSA is helping some affected beneficiaries now, under SSA's current budget, SSA expects that it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits.

Callers to SSA's National 800 Number hear a message about the Act. This message has helped tens of thousands of people avoid holding for a representative. However, more than 7,000 people each day still choose to wait to speak to a representative about the Act. These calls, as well as visitors and appointments in local offices, will continue to increase over the coming weeks and months.

Helping people with this new and unfunded workload is made more difficult by SSA's ongoing staffing shortages, including operating under a hiring freeze since November 2024. This hiring freeze is likely to continue. All SSA customers, including those not affected by the Act, will face delays and increased wait times as SSA prioritizes this new workload. …

IG Fired

      Donald Trump has fired Social Security’s Inspector General along with at least 14 other IGs. It’s odd that the IG for Social Security was fired. She was only in an acting role anyway.

No, You’re The Dummy

      Read this piece in Forbes if you want to either laugh or become enraged. It is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read about Social Security and I’ve read a lot of dumb things about Social Security. The author thinks we can painlessly cut $10 trillion from Social Security but almost all of what he recommends is already in use!  He thinks we can totally eliminate overpayments at SSA. He doesn’t begin to understand the equation. You can go from 99% accuracy to 99.9% accuracy but you’ll spend more than you save getting there. He thinks Social Security engages in no data sharing but it actually engages in extensive data sharing.

     This piece is an example of what many people, especially on the right, think about government agencies, that they’re run by morons and that their performance could be dramatically improved in simple ways. While the people running Social Security may make a few mistakes, they’re not idiots. There are no simple low cost solutions. The idea that there’s $10 trillion out there to be saved is nuts.

Federal Student Loans And Social Security

     On January 8, 2025 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an "Issue Spotlight" on Social Security Offsets and Defaulted Student Loans. Here are some excerpts:

... Between2001 and 2019, the number of Social Security beneficiaries experiencing reduced benefits due to forced collection increased from approximately6,200 to 192,300. This exponential growth is likely driven by older borrowers who make up an increasingly large share of the federal student loan portfolio. The number of student loan borrowers ages 62 and older increased by 59 percent from 1.7 million in 2017 to 2.7 million in 2023,compared to a 1 percent decline among borrowers under the age of 62. ...

Despite the exponential increase in collections from Social Security, the majority of money the Department of Education has collected has been applied to interest and fees and has not affected borrowers’ principal amount owed. ...

Large shares of Social Security beneficiaries affected by forced collections may be eligible for relief or outright loan cancellation, yet they are unable to access these benefits, possibly due to insufficient automation or borrowers’ cognitive and physical decline. ...

 

     Does this seem like a partisan issue? Should it?

Trump Administration Plan Enjoined

     A federal District Court Judge has enjoined the Trump Administration plan to end citizenship to those born in the United States to those who are not in the country legally. The Judge said Trump's action was "blatantly unconstitutional" and he had "difficulty understanding how a member of the bar would state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order. It just boggles my mind.”

How Many Remember This?

 

    After Donald Trump’s first inauguration, things were a bit disorganized at the White House, so disorganized that it took nine months before Social Security offices displayed his portrait. MAGA types were quick to blame the dastardly Deep State for this indignity but the explanation was far simpler. The White House hadn’t given the General Services Administration an approved portrait for reproduction. The Trump White House may have had little idea what the GSA does. In case you don’t know, the GSA takes care of a lot of housekeeping for federal agencies such as leasing office space, buying office supplies and printing and distributing official Presidential portraits to hang in federal offices.

     Let’s keep an eye on how quickly Social Security offices display Trump’s portrait. It will be something of an indicator of how efficiently or inefficiently the Trump II White House is functioning.

For The Frustrated Social Security Disability Claimant

     My partner and I continue posting on our firm's separate blog directed at a different audience -- For The Frustrated Social Security Disability Claimant. Take a look at these recent posts on that blog:

• Non-Disability Social Security Appeals -- Overpayments

• Non-Disability Appeals -- Presumption Of Death

• Foot Problems And Social Security Disability

• Do I Have To Hire A Lawyer To Get Social Security Disability? And What Does This Have To Do With Marshmallows?

• Can I Be Found Disabled Because Of A Bad Knee?

• Why You Probably Can't Get Temporary Disability Benefits From Social Security

• Social Security Disability For Ankle Injuries

• Hip Pain And Social Security Disability

• Pain

• Tinnitus

• Neck Pain

  Social Security Disability And Child Support

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disability Examiners Getting Authority To Issue Allowances Without Medical Consultant Input

      From Emergency Message EM-25009 issued last Friday:

This emergency message (EM) provides the Disability Determination Services (DDS) and federal disability adjudicating components with disability case processing guidance for Disability Examiner Decisional Authority (DEDA). DEDA will temporarily allow qualifying disability examiners to make fully favorable disability determinations in adult cases based on physical impairments alone without medical review by medical consultants (MC), but with the flexibility to consult with an MC at the disability examiner’s discretion. 

These temporary instructions apply to initial level claims, including initial-level claims pending at the DDS and federal disability case processing sites (DPB, DPU, etc.).

The Social Security Administration (SSA) faces unprecedented initial disability claims backlogs surpassing the 1.12 million case mark, resulting in high average processing times and claimant wait times. A contributing factor to the increase in average processing time is the general requirement that qualified physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists (referred to in our policy as medical consultants (MC) and psychological consultants (PC)) complete the medical review of all initial level disability determinations combined with an insufficient number of MCs and PCs. See Section 221(h).…. 

     If this issue comes up in your confirmation hearing, Frank Bisignano, what say you?

New Acting Commissioner

     Social Security’s organization chart now shows Michelle King as Acting Commissioner.

Inauguration Day

 

Good Luck Implementing This

      From the New York Times:

The U.S. government will no longer recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States to immigrants who lack legal status, one of 10 immigration-related executive orders President-elect Donald Trump plans to sign Monday, an incoming administration official told reporters. 

     I can think of no immediate way to implement this other than by refusing to issue Social Security numbers to the children of those who lack legal status. Of course, Trump and his aides may not have thought that far ahead.

     This is blatantly unconstitutional. 

Republicans Have Big Plans To Cut SSI

    Punchbowl News has obtained a list of options prepared by Republicans for a major budget reconciliation bill this year. There's nothing in it for Title II of the Social Security Act but plenty for Title XVI -- SSI. Here they are:

• ... Under current law, SSA is not required to verify financial accounts of SSI applicants and recipients who allege ownership of resources valued at less than $400. A recent SSA-OIG report concluded that this practice led to incorrect resource determinations, resulting in 198,960 recipients receiving $718 million in SSI payments for which they were not eligible. This policy option would lower the $400 resource-level tolerance to $0 and require SSA to validate the financial accounts of all SSI applicants and recipients, strengthening program integrity and reducing improper payments. ...
• Children under 18 may qualify for SSI if they are disabled and their household has limited income and resources. This policy option would condition SSI benefits for qualified children under the age of 18 on school attendance. ...
• SSI, unlike other welfare programs, does not pay benefits on a sliding scale. Recognizing household economies of scale, this reform (based on a CBO budget option) converts SSI payments to a sliding scale. The sliding scale formula would be (as per the CBO budget option and proposed by the 1995 National Commission on Childhood Disability): SSI federal payment rate multiplied by the number of child recipients in the family and raised to the power of 0. ...
• Deny SSI to Those with Felony Arrest Warrants -- In addition to being an important program integrity measure, this policy option would help restore the original intent of PRWORA to discontinue SSI benefits for individuals who are ‘‘the subject of an arrest warrant’’ compared to the previous language of ‘‘fleeing to avoid’’ arrest. It would also have the added benefit of helping law enforcement find criminals who have been evading the law. ...
  

Waiting In Virginia

      From WTVR in Richmond, VA:

For the past year, Lowrine Ford's pain has only gotten worse.

"It's hard. I'm in pain all the time," she said. "I sleep about three hours a night because I'm hurting all the time. My feet, my legs stay swollen. I can't hardly walk at times. I'm in so much pain."

Rheumatoid arthritis causes her joints to swell, burn, and ache, making her job as a home health aide — where she is constantly on her feet — nearly impossible.

And for the better part of a year, she has been waiting to hear from the Social Security Administration (SSA) whether she qualifies for disability benefits.

She is near despair. ..

“It's very hectic. I had been calling them for months and months. But every time I call, they tell me — this computer comes on and says, 'We're not accepting calls today. Call back another day,'" she said.

On top of the difficulty in finding someone to help her, the SSA has sent her conflicting signals.

"Then finally, when I do call back, and actually get somebody, they tell me that, on August the 23rd of last year, I was denied," Ford said. "And so they say I was denied, but I didn't get any kind of paperwork or anything saying that I was denied."

But while Ford never got documentation from the SSA about her denial, her online account continued to show a different story.

"They had I was in 'Phase Three,'" Ford said. "They were reviewing my medical history. And then after all of this, it goes to 'Phase Four.' Now it's back on 'Phase Three' again. So I really don't know what to do. I'm very confused, to be honest with you.” …

Estes Named Chairman Of House Social Security Subcommittee

     Ron Estes (R-KS) has been named Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee. Here's his statement on his new position:

Too many Americans have had difficulties with the Social Security Administration, including improper payments, missed payments, filing issues and other customer service failings,” said Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Estes (KS-04). “As our subcommittee convenes, I look forward to providing greater oversight of the SSA and addressing process improvements while working to ensure frontline employees are back in the office. I’m honored to lead the Social Security Subcommittee for the 119th Congress and to foster meaningful, robust discussion to preserve and protect the benefits of current, near and future retirees.

Maybe The Original Change In The Listing Was A Bad Idea

     From a notice published in the Federal Register today:

We are extending the flexibility in the “close proximity of time” standard, as defined in two prior temporary final rules (TFR), through May 11, 2029. We issued a TFR providing the “close proximity of time” flexibility on July 23, 2021, because the COVID-19 national public health emergency (PHE) caused many individuals to experience barriers that prevented them from timely accessing in-person healthcare. On September 29, 2023, we extended the flexibility to evaluate evolving healthcare practices and consumption in a post-PHE environment. We determined that we need additional time to fully evaluate still-evolving healthcare practices after the PHE. We are therefore issuing this TFR to extend the “close proximity of time” flexibility until May 11, 2029, so we can continue to evaluate changes in healthcare practices and determine the proper “close proximity of time” standard for the musculoskeletal disorders listings.

    Let me check. I don't think Trump will still be President on May 11, 2029, assuming we follow the Constitution, which may be an uncertain thing.

Nasty Congressional Hearing With O’Malley

      From The Hill:

Martin O’Malley, the former Social Security commissioner who is now seeking to chair the Democratic National Committee, took the brunt of House GOP anger over federal telework policies – and a number of other topics – in a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Thursday [actually Wednesday].

Republicans primarily took aim at O’Malley’s role in overseeing a late 2024 deal between the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its workers’ union, the American Federation of Government Employees, that will lock in the current levels of telework for union employees until October 2029 – beyond the end of the Trump administration.  …

O’Malley’s bid to be chair of the Democratic National Committee was also brought up multiple times by Republicans, with some bringing up topics far removed from the issue of federal telework. 

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who has become a leading anti-transgender voice in Congress,  asked O’Malley to define what a woman is.

“You’re going to ask me to define what a woman is?” O’Malley asked. “I’m talking to a woman right now, a distinguished woman … I think you’re kind of denigrating the purpose of this hearing.”

I'm Glad There's A Serious Discussion Of This Issue

     From Twitter or officially "X."

Good Tax Planning

    From Urban Milwaukee:

2020 was a profitable year for Fiserv, the financial services company located in Brookfield. The company earned $1.1 billion in pre-tax earnings on revenue of $14.85 billion.

Even better, it paid not a dollar in federal taxes on those earnings.

Still better, it actually got a tax rebate from the IRS, of $25 million, increasing its net income for the year.

    As you will recall, Frank Bisignano, who has been nominated to become Commissioner of Social Security, is CEO of Fiserv.

Explain To Me How There Could Possibly Be Money In This

     From a press release:

... United States Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd has found Joshua Joseph Gray (45, New Smyrna Beach) and George Douglas Metz (51, Belleview) guilty of unlawfully video recording and failing to comply with official signs and directives inside multiple Social Security field offices. ...

According to evidence presented at trial, on various dates between November 2022 and January 2023, Gray and Metz each entered three different Social Security field offices in Central Florida while video recording. Gray and Metz continued to video record despite being informed by official signage and Social Security representatives that video recording is prohibited in Social Security offices without prior permission. ... Gray and Metz subsequently posted their video recordings, which depicted members of the public and Social Security representatives conducting business, on their public YouTube channels, where Gray and Metz were paid for their videos and solicited donations. ...

GOP Asking Questions

      Ways and Means Republicans are asking questions about implementation of the WEP/GPO bill, including whether the agency needs more money to implement it. About time they start asking questions.

     By the way, I don’t see why this letter is only signed by Republicans other than the fact that almost all civility has broken down in the House of Representatives. 

Implementation Of WEP/GPO Elimination

     I've sorta asked the question before but never received what I thought was a definitive answer. To what extent will the elimination of WEP/GPO require manual recomputations? How much of this can be done through IT? These are important questions.

    If there will be manual recomputations, I'm going to be upset if they take priority over Social Security straightening out my clients' windfall offsets and workers compensation offsets and other such routine issues. The WEP/GPO people can take their turn in line like everybody else. If it takes six months or longer, and it will if these folks aren't granted priority, welcome to the reality of what the Social Security Administration is today.

Dwindling Number Of ALJs

     Notice that unless more Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are hired we will be below 1,000 ALJs in a few months. At one point, there were almost 2,000 ALJs at Social Security.

From Social Security. Click on image to view full size.

And Finally The Discussions Of Practicalities Begin

      From The Hill:

 On Jan. 5, President Biden signed into law the Social Security Fairness Act, which will provide new or additional Social Security benefits for about 3 million individuals who receive government pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security. …

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will now need to quickly scramble and begin issuing large back payments to millions of individuals. 

Complicating the issue, SSA received its administrative budget via a continuing resolution with no provision for the potentially large start-up costs to implement the legislation. SSA’s administrative budget has been in sharp decline over several years, and the agency recently testified before Congress that it now has “one of the lowest staffing levels in 50 years.” 

It is unlikely SSA has the bandwidth to implement the new benefit structure seamlessly, quickly and correctly.

Watch Out

 

   Despite specific language in the 14th Amendment making anyone born in the United States a U.S. citizen, the incoming Trump Administration seems determined to try to deny citizenship to those born in the U.S. to parents who were not in the U.S. legally. One crucial way of doing this would be to refuse to issue Social Security numbers to children whose parents aren't in the U.S. legally.

    I think it would be a big job to investigate the immigration/citizenship status of the parents of every baby born in the U.S. The Social Security Administration isn't ready for such a task. The public isn't ready for the delays that would be associated with this. Still, watch out. This could be coming as early as January 21, 2025.

Why Have Republicans Not Liked Stephen Goss?

     Until George W. Bush was President, I don't think any Republicans had noticed Social Security's Chief Actuary, Stephen Goss, who has just retired. He was holding a technical, non-political job. He started work for Social Security in 1973 and had been the Chief Actuary since 2001. Actuaries can argue among themselves about issues around the edge of their profession but the numbers are the numbers. It should matter little which competent person holds the position.

    You may remember that W. wanted to privatize Social Security. W. would have preferred it if Goss had supported that effort. The problem was that W. never really had a plan to privatize Social Security. He inherited a lot including an ancestral Republican hatred of Social Security but hating it doesn't mean you have a plan to replace it with something better. Instead of a plan, all W. had was a certainty that Social Security was terrible and that there had to be some way to privatize it that would be much better and that they'd figure out a plan later. It was impossible for Goss to do what W. wanted -- score W.'s plan to privatize Social Security in a way that helped advance the plan. In fact, it was impossible for him to score it at all since there never was a plan. In any case, Goss never regarded making recommendations on significant policy proposals to be part of his job duties, much less shading the numbers to help or hurt a President's preferred policy proposals.

    Do we really want to replace a widely respected non-partisan actuary with someone who fudges the numbers to help the current Administration?

Biden To Sign WEP/GPO Bill Today

     The Associated Press is reporting that President Biden will sign into law today the bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.

WEP/GPO Bill To Be Signed On Monday?

     The rumor is that the President will sign the bill ending the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset on Monday.

Republicans Want To Be Able To Appoint Chief Actuary

     From a press release:

With the Biden Administration blitzing the federal government with lame duck appointments and rulemakings that inject politics into a presidential transition, Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) is urging Social Security Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin to postpone making an appointment of the Social Security Chief Actuary following the current one’s retirement. ...

As Smith writes: 

“Even the appearance of politics can erode the public’s trust in the Social Security Administration and its programs, and attempts to use the Office of the Chief Actuary for partisan purposes highlight the dangers of perceived bias. Acting during a transitional period amplifies these concerns. Ideally, this decision should be made by the next Senate-confirmed Commissioner, who is uniquely positioned to make this decision in an accountable manner due to the rigorous vetting and confirmation process, which engenders increased public confidence. Deferring this decision would signal a commitment to impartiality and transparency, which the American people expect and deserve.” ...

     The message I hear is "Don't make a routine appointment now. That would be political. Instead, hold off so we can make a political appointment later." 

    Last time I checked, Joe Biden is still President.

It's Over

 

2025