A New Position For Dudek

       Leland Dudek, who served briefly as Acting Commissioner of Social Security, is now Advisory Council Chair for Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD), a group founded not too long ago. ACRD is a rival to the much older National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR). 

     I am quite surprised to see Dudek linked in such a way to any Social Security organization that wishes to help claimants. I expect that Dudek sees himself as a friend to claimants and a supporter of Social Security but his tenure as Acting Commissioner was notable for his cooperation with DOGE and that permanently tarnished his reputation in the minds of most people who support the mission of the Social Security Administration.

Winning!

      A recent message from a colleague:

Does anybody answer the phone at the **** OHO anymore? 

We could not reach a person this afternoon, and apparently no one received the message I left. 

Some gentleman called this morning saying he had a telephone hearing today, but he was late and when he tried to call the OHO no one answered or returned his call.

What’s Going On With CDRs?

      The ranking (Democratic) members of the House Ways and Means Committee subcommittees having jurisdiction over Social Security and SSI have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the agency’s decision to assume the role of continuing disability reviews (CDRs).

     I’m not sure that I see anything sinister in what Social Security is doing but I don’t see how it makes sense either. It’s not like there have been problems with CDRs that I’ve been aware of, so why are they doing it..

Agency Performance Stats

      The Social Security Administration has released a highly massaged set of statistics on agency performance. There are many aspects of agency performance not included. I wish things were getting better. They’re not.

One Problem With Those “Trump” Accounts

      From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

Starting this month, families can open Trump Accounts for their children. Those welcoming new babies between 2025 and 2028 will qualify for a $1,000 federal contribution to seed the account. But for some families caring for disabled children — who will need savings the most as they come of age — the accounts could create big problems. That’s because once account holders reach adulthood, the money saved in their Trump Accounts will likely run afoul of the extraordinarily strict asset limits in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for low-income disabled people. If those savings exceed the cap — just $2,000 — it will lead not only to the loss of needed monthly income support from SSI, but could also jeopardize their eligibility for health care and community-based services through Medicaid. …

Yesterday’s Senate Hearing

      Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the looming depletion of Social Security’s Retirement and Survivors Trust Fund. Of course, you’d expect a serious nonpartisan discussion of the options. Right. The reality is that there were sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats favor a plan to remove the cap on wages subject to the FICA tax. Republicans thought that idea was terrible but had no plan of their own or at least not one they’ll release.

     Actually, it’s fairly easy to figure out the Republicans plan. They will demand a plan that includes both benefits cuts and tax increases. However, the overwhelming majority of Republican legislators will vote against the plan. They will only supply the bare minimum number of votes needed for passage. Then, they’ll campaign against Democrats for cutting benefits and raising taxes. Jujitsu! I don’t think Democrats will fall for this but maybe they’ll never have control of both houses of Congress and the White House as well as the will to get past the Senate filibuster so they can do what they think needs to be done.

Bisignano Meets With Holy Father

      Apparently, Commissioner Bisignano had his photo taken with Pope Leo yesterday. I’d like to post the photo here but there are technical problems. You can see it at the link.

Differential Routing Of Calls

      An e-mail I received from Social Security:

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving how we serve the American public, we recently announced an enhanced call-routing process for people applying for survivor benefits. To better support Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, we now route calls from people who need to change their address to specially trained representatives.