From the New York Times:
The Trump administration told Congress on Thursday that it believed President Trump had the constitutional power to summarily fire administrative law judges at will, despite a statute that protects such officials from being removed without a cause like misconduct. …
To insulate the officials from political interference, Congress enacted a statute that says disciplinary action, including firings, may be taken against such judges “only for good cause established and determined by the Merit Systems Protection Board on the record after opportunity for hearing before the board.”
Ms. Harris’s letter to Congress also brought to wider attention that the Justice Department had said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the law protecting administrative law judges in a little-noticed Feb. 11 filing in an appeals court case. …
The Social Security Administration employs the vast majority of federal ALJs.
21 comments:
Dont worry the union will save them.
If you thought current ALJs were bad and have been trained to deny cases, wait until they’re replaced by hearing examiners who are explicitly directed to do so.
Did anyone else feel a tremor in the Force as hundreds of robe wearers suddenly realized that they are as vulnerable as the rest of SSA staff? Bet it wont those with high denial rates that are dismissed. You can change the outcome without changing any laws, because we all know that law is open to interpretation. Will my next hearing be fair and impartial, or will there be a nagging in the back of the mind of my adjudicator that the paycheck and benefits they rely on are on the line. Do they have the intestinal fortitude to keep the needs of claimants higher than the needs of themselves? Sorry, i dont think they do.
Whoo boy - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If You are on benefits or are looking to file for benefits, you are well and truly f—ed. There is no way this doesn’t have a chilling effect. For the next 48 months, everything will be done to reduce allowance rates, up CDR‘s and otherwise make life for claimants more miserable than it already is.
Wonder if the AALJ Conference in Las Vegas next week will get cancelled
It appears that the ALJs took down their discussion board - they must be terrified at the likelihood that Musk's team now knows who they are. https://aljdiscussion.proboards.com
Weren't SSA ALJs already granted administrative leave to attend?
The administration can revoke approval. People want to work from home, but are able to travel to a union conference in Las Vegas? Come on
We know the law. We know that no Court says the law is unconstitutional. We refuse to follow the law. That's not Don Corleone or Al Capone's lawyers. That's your government's new lawyers. Maybe bar associations should weigh in on the propriety such advice and conduct.
All the reps who signed into Constitutional claims against ALJs (like the one guy on here years ago who compared hhimself to Bill Mazeroski), are done Fooling Around and are now surely gonna Find Out that actions have consequences.
I been saying for years $100,000+ ALJS must go. That's where the money is. And my belief is,an in person hearing does nothing to remove bias toward certain claimants.
Replaced with DDS analysts.
@2:26 Then why are ALJ approval rates so much higher than DDS? Not sure how you can make this argument if you reviewed the data or spoke to claimant reps. DDS is absolutely biased against mental health claims and claimants under age 50.
More evidence gets gathered at every level of review. A hearing examiner could handle the hearings and decisions at a GS-13, just as well as overpaid ALJs. Some ALJs are in their 70's and 80's and won't retire, because of the high pay.
2:26 PM, February 21, 2025 here
I speak from individual claimant experience. More credible supporting evidence increased the likely hood of approval at reconsideration or perhaps initial stage. Remove the six figure ALJ or personnel salaries and allow the facts to speak for the claim.
Laws only work for those that are interpreting them. Come on that is lawyer basic 101
replaced with the AI that Musk is going to make money selling to the govt most likely
Interesting. The majority of people on the blog rant about the uselessness of reconsideration, but a third bite at the apple by DDS doctors is now going to magically go the other way? Sounds reasonable.
They should just stop the process at the initial level, close the record, and let that be the final agency determination. Appeal directly to the courts. It would save a lot of time for everyone but the courts.
The vast majority of claims that are approved in the US are approved at the initial and reconsideration levels by the DDSes. Those will ultimately be the targets they will go after.
If you look at the waterfall charts, you see that while the ALJ approval levels appear high, it is based upon a highly reduced claimant base because the claimants have already been winnowed down twice before by DDS. The remaining cases are the most borderline.
We'll see what happens when they get rid of all the ALJs and the administration has to defend its decisions in Federal Courts. At some point, there will be a lot of federal judges who are going to start going absolutely postal on the Agency. Might actually start seeing a lot more actual Court ordered awards instead of just remands at some point.
They are going to go after the APA status of ALJs. I guarantee that it is going to happen. He (Trump) is going to declare them inferior officers and fire the ones he doesn't want to keep. Mark my words.
He should start with the list appended to this report https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2014-06-10-Systemic-Waste-and-Abuse-at-the-SSA.ALJs_.pdf
One of these judges had a yellow sticky with the word sinecure on his desk, in case he forgot where his paycheck came from
For all practical purposes, removal protection for ALJs (as well as career SES) isn't constitutional. This has been a long time coming. So, why pay $200,000+ annually for either one? ALJs are signing decisions written by GS writers without reading them now; and GS managers closer to the work are better able to manage employees and advise political appointees than the disasters now serving as career SES.
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