From AOL.com:
… Former SSA senior advisor Kathleen Romig said, "You can't reorganize your way out of a staff crunch. If there aren't enough people to get the work done, reshuffling them won't ultimately help." Given the difficulties with automated and AI-based systems, she's got a point that improving efficiency will only do so much. …
From the Washington Examiner:
President Donald Trump hosted the 12th Cabinet meeting of his second term on Wednesday, where he claimed that the White House’s anti-fraud task force may balance the federal budget and save Social Security. …
The president claimed that the task force has already identified “billions and billions and billions” worth of fraud, adding that if the initiative “does really great, we’ll have a balanced budget without having to do anything.”
“Everybody was getting rich, and I think we have a chance to save Social Security without doing anything to it,” Trump said. Just the numbers of fraudulent people on Social Security — people that are 115 years old, 125 years old, getting payments. It’s funny.”
“The numbers that we’re finding out — we have great people in Social Security. We’re going to make our Social Security so strong, so good, that you’d never seen anything like it,” he continued. “We’re going to protect, I said right from the beginning, we’re going to protect our people in Social Security.” …
By the way, please note that I occasionally use irony. Comments to my post yesterday suggest that some of my readers can’t figure this out or they’re unable to spot obvious irony when they see it.
From KMTV:
Christopher Storm was 17 years old, working at Pizza Hut and going to high school in Texas when his father died. He received survivor benefits from Social Security — roughly $500 a month — until he turned 18.
After a final, lump sum payment of roughly $3,000, he says benefits stopped when he came of age. Thirty years later, the government wants that money back.
Storm and his wife, Amy, expected a tax refund this year. Instead, they were told the IRS was claiming it for a past debt. The Social Security Administration says Storm was overpaid in 1996 and now owes almost $8,000. …
From The American Prospect (emphasis added):
The Trump administration is building a surveillance network to spy on its own workforce across multiple agencies. It has already given Palantir an initial $3.9 million to do so at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), federal spending disclosures show.
The artificial intelligence war profiteer will “design, configure, deploy and manage a secure, user-friendly tool to track USDA employees’ return to the office,” according to a disclosure. The contract started May 1 and has the potential to grow to $13.3 million over the next fiscal year, which runs from October 1 to September 30.
The Lever first reported in March that the USDA had hired Palantir to help it enforce its return-to-office demand, a story based on an initial disclosure justifying the reasoning behind the department’s opting for a sole-source contract, commonly known as a no-bid contract, before a dollar amount had been published. Since then, union officials and additional spending disclosures show that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) are seeking to implement similar programs.
Union officials with AFGE Council 220, which represents SSA workers, said they expect the surveillance at that agency is a prelude to consolidating or outright shuttering of more offices nationwide, based on a determination that too few people work at certain sites to justify keeping them open. …
Palantir is a very sinister corporation owned by an even more sinister man.
From a press release prepared by the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee about a markup hearing for several pieces of legislation:
… We will also consider legislation from Representative Austin Scott that helps disability insurance beneficiaries return to work by reauthorizing the Social Security Administration’s authority to test new approaches that remove barriers for beneficiaries looking to work. …
I don’t know what this legislation is but I doubt it amounts to much. The Ranking Member of the Social Security Subcommittee thinks the legislation poses risks for claimants.
From the New York Times:
… Frank Bisignano, who is working in the newly created role of chief executive of the I.R.S., signed the agreement with the Justice Department to create the [$1.8 billion dollar slush] fund [controlled by Donald Trump which may be used to pay taxpayer dollars to those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers on the President’s behalf]. Mr. Bisignano was not confirmed by the Senate to that I.R.S. job, and he is splitting his duties there with his job as the commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
This is aiding and abetting embezzlement.
From NBC Chicago:
… [L]ast summer Jo and Holly Howard visited the Social Security office in Woodstock. The good news: Jo Howard was issued a check for almost $55,000 [under the Social Security Fairness Act] and The bad news - she never got it. …
It turns out, just five days after the check was issued in June, it was cashed. According to the police report, the ‘female suspect, employed by Amazon inc’ was using an ID with Jo Howard’s information.
“We thought the case would be solved, that she would be prosecuted,” she stated.
According to the police report,there was even video of the suspect cashing the check at the bank. But the officer "could not open the encrypted file." That lead was quickly abandoned, and then Old Dominion Bank stopped responding to the police department, police stated.
“So the police just closed the case,” Holly Howard said. …
“I made seven trips to the Social Security office. Every time you see a different person, you get a different story,” she said.
On the seventh visit, Jo Howard said she was told to file a theft report with the U.S. Treasury Department. Now almost a year from the theft, she said the investigation is just ramping up. …
Does the Secret Service still investigate these cases? The Secret Service isn’t even in the Department of the Treasury. It’s in Homeland Security now. Has she even contracted the right agency? Doesn’t Social Security have an obligation to pay this woman now, regardless of the investigation? Whether the crook gets caught is irrelevant. Where is Social Security’s Office of Inspector General? Old Dominion stopped responding? No kidding. If they accepted a forged endorsement they’re the ones on the hook for this fraud. I remember that much about the U.C.C.
Please, no snarky remarks about the Social Security Fairness Act. If she’s owed the money, she’s owed the money.
I had posted a link to the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) Caseload Analysis report but it only went through March. They’ve now posted a new report going through most of April.
What sticks out to me is the huge amount of overtime OHO is getting. Of course, this is at the expense of other agency components. I think that SSA management is quite concerned by the prospect of a huge and rapidly growing backload at OHO so they’re borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, which is the story at Social Security for many years,
MarketWatch has a piece that’s more remarkable for its headline than its content: Dead people claiming Social Security? Here’s one — but we’re still looking for the other 19,999,999.
You wouldn’t believe all the stupid articles I see online on a daily basis. Maybe you would since you probably see of them. I’m talking about pieces with headlines saying something like “Millions To Receive New Social Security Payments This Week.” Those articles concern only regularly scheduled payments. Here’s a new one titled “Social Security Confirms All 1,300 Branches Shut Down In Weeks For Temporary Closure.” Sounds like it could be a big deal but the piece is about the Memorial Day holiday! I’ll bet most of these brain dead items are written by AI.
From Parade:
The Social Security Administration just released its list of the most popular baby names of 2025, and one thing is perfectly clear: vintage names and classic monikers are in. Last year’s list of popular baby names shows a movement toward old-style names, soft vowel-heavy names, and a strong multicultural and global influence. Thanks to social media — TikTok in particular — a new baby name trend is also rising, which means throwing proper spelling out the window in favor of carving one’s own path, spelled with a “K,” naturally. …
Unique spellings of classic names are also on the rise thanks to social media influences from the likes of Khloé Kardashian and company, who have helped popularize personalized spellings of traditional names.
What does it all mean? The current trend of personalizing classic and vintage names suggests new parents want their kids to stand out — just not too much. Names like Eliana, Theodore, Eloise, and Charlotte fit that sweet spot perfectly.
This fresh take on old-timey names also suggests new parents are thinking ahead. While it may seem cute to name your baby something trendy and offbeat like Jicama, many parents want to give their children a name that ages well over time.
Simply put, parents want to give their children names that will stand the test of time while still allowing them to stand out during roll call at school. …
The Social Security Administration has finally released its Caseload Analysis Report for its Office of Hearing Operations. It’s only through March but it’s still good to have it again. I’d like to reproduce it here but there’s a practical problem I won’t bore you with. You can just go to the link.
There’s a couple of new things I notice. First, the total receipts at OHO are far higher than the dispositions. Perhaps related is the fact that OHO is getting a ton of overtime. Second, there’s a new line showing “Agency Video Objections.” It’s only a handful of cases. The only explanation that comes to my mind is that they’re forcing a few people who want phone or video hearings to show up in person so ICE can arrest them but maybe it’s something different altogether. I’d be interested to know.
Social Security’s Office of Inspector General has issued a report on an investigation into the cost effectiveness of the agency’s efforts to collect small overpayments. Here’s an excerpt.
… Of the 250 low-dollar OASDI [Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance] overpayments we reviewed, SSA took actions on 50 (20 percent) that we did not consider cost-beneficial because it sent more notices to the overpaid individuals than required. Since SSA could not provide its average cost to send an overpayment notice, we applied the average cost to collect overpayments as reported in CAS during our audit period, and we did not consider it to have been cost-beneficial to recover these 50 overpayments. Specifically, we estimate SSA spent $14,492 to attempt to recover the 50 overpayments, which totaled $8,129.
Projected to our population, we estimated SSA spent $4.6 million to recover almost 16,000 low-dollar OASDI overpayments totaling almost $2.6 million. Therefore, we estimate SSA spent about $2 million more than it would recover. …
From Federal News Network:
Decades before the current boom in videoconference platforms, the Social Security Administration launched a similar concept to address workload backlogs.
In 2007, SSA opened National Hearing Centers to have administrative law judges hear more appeals from individuals whose initial retirement or disability claim was rejected. Individuals would show up at their local hearing office to have their appeals heard, but the case would be heard on video by an administrative law judge located in one of these National Hearing Centers.
But with the vast majority of these appeals hearings now taking place fully virtually through modern-day videoconference platforms, the agency is now planning to shutter these National Hearing Centers next week, on May 18. …
SSA is also launching a Policy Assistant Tool (PAT), an AI-powered chatbot designed to give employees access to information more quickly when assisting the public. …
From Orange Slices:
CGI beats out 3 to win $198M Social Security Administration APM, RPMT, SITES and SOHE IT Support Services task
This leading technology and professional services company, major partner to SSA, and 2026 Elev8 GovCon honoree, secured a 2-year task order to provide Application Performance Management (APM), Representative Payee Monitoring Tool (RPMT), Shared IT and Enterprise Services (SITES), and Systems Operations and Hardware Engineering (SOHE) support for the Social Security Administration.
- Awardee Name: CGI FEDERAL INC.
- Unique Entity ID: TRKEP1HEBNS5
- Total Contract Value: $197,711,904.05
- Action Obligation: $54,389,466.75
- Department Name: SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
- Number of Bidders: 4
- Award ID: 28321326FDS030046
- Referenced IDV ID: SS001760018
- Contract Vehicle: SSA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SERVICES IDIQ – Multiple
- Major Program Supported: DX APM (FORMERLY CA APM AND INTROSCOPE) PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
I guess this is a major contract. The amount of money sure sounds like a lot to me.
From the notice of a forthcoming book:
The Color of Social Security
Race, Retirement, Disability, and DisparityAuthor:Jon C. Dubin, Rutgers University, New JerseyPublished:September 2026Availability:Not yet published - available from September 2026Format:HardbackISBN:9781009858991 …The Color of Social Security traces the myriad ways and interconnected social systems in which racism has been embedded into American social security programs. Drawing on American history, Jon Dubin exposes institutionalized processes undermining racially equitable receipt of retirement and disability benefits. Examples include the 1935 Social Security Act, which excluded Black agricultural and domestic workers in order to protect the postbellum Southern racial economic and political order; the 1972 Supplemental Security Income program's exclusion of persons of color in the U.S. territories, with genesis in 125 years of racialized colonial domination; 1980s criminal justice system restrictions; systemic racial bias in disability decisions in the 1990s; disability eligibility obstacles from “race-norming” in the 2000s; and the misevaluation of Black claimants with sickle cell disease under Social Security Administration regulations since 2015. While exploring these histories, Dubin offers concrete solutions to address racial inequity and create a more equitable future.
- Traces racism through multiple social systems such as in employment, criminal justice and health care, and through the SSA's own adjudicative biases
- Provides historical contextualization, policy examination, and constitutional analysis, of racial inequity in both the social security retirement/old age and disability programs
- Outlines concrete policy and legal remedies, mitigations and recommendations for inequities identified in each chapter.
To MAGA types who feel that the only discrimination in America is against white people, I don’t care what you think. I doubt Professor Dubin does, either. Keep your hate filled opinions to yourself or to safe MAGA spaces.
From Social Security:
| Boys | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1. Liam | 1. Olivia |
| 2. Noah | 2. Charlotte |
| 3. Oliver | 3. Emma |
| 4. Theodore | 4. Amelia |
| 5. Henry | 5. Sophia |
| 6. James | 6. Mia |
| 7. Elijah | 7. Isabella |
| 8. Mateo | 8. Evelyn |
| 9. William | 9. Sofia |
| 10. Lucas | 10. Eliana |
The New Yorker magazine has posted a long article on the sorry state of affairs at Social Security. Here’s one paragraph from the piece:
… Every previous Administration had launched pilot projects and fiddled with the system, but they had given managers like Jean sufficient notice and resources to train their people. Bisignano’s S.S.A. appeared to lurch from one initiative to another. Last February, it had discussed, then denied discussing, the possibility of cutting the workforce in half. It had eliminated, then partly reinstated, the option of making direct-deposit changes by phone. It had said that it would stop issuing public-policy updates, except via X, then continued to send e-mails and publish news on its website. It discouraged walk-in service, then told field offices to make the option available. It instituted a strict clawback policy for accidental overpayments, then reverted to a gradual one that gave beneficiaries a financial buffer. Changes made in response to doge’s accusations of fraud, waste, and abuse were abandoned: there was no good reason to block employees’ access to news sites, no need for redundant “I.D. proofing.” The Administration listed field offices for closure, then delisted them, though some rural outposts, in Iowa, Montana, and West Virginia, offer only phone service owing to the loss of staff. The agency is on a “slow march to implosion,” Jean said. “We’re living in a world of nobody knows anything, and nobody has any details about anything.” …
There is this coda tacked on at the end of the piece:
The New Yorker is committed to coverage of the federal workforce. Are you a current or former federal employee with information to share? Please use your personal device to contact us via e-mail (tammy_kim@newyorker.com) or Signal (ID: etammykim.54).
Sean Brune, Steven Evangelista, Florence Felix-Lawson, Karen Glenn, Jay Ortis and Chad Poist, who are career Social Security federal employees, have penned an op ed for the Baltimore Sun touting Frank Busignano’s term as Social Security Commissioner. The piece is quite a fluff job. I wonder who actually wrote it and how these execs came to sign on to it. It’s really quite an extraordinary politization of career employees. I don’t think any of these signatories have a future in a Democratic Administration.
A hundred pieces like this cannot change the circumstances on the ground. A day of reckoning approaches.
