A tweet from yesterday by Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano:
It was a privilege to ring the @NYSE Opening Bell this morning to commemorate Columbus Day and celebrate Italian American heritage. 🔔 🇺🇸 🇮🇹
I was honored to do so alongside many friends including true legends of business Ken Langone, Dick Grasso, and Vinnie Viola.
From The Guardian:
Elderly Americans can expect to lose an average of $2,152 in annual social security benefits each, a projected 8.6% reduction in their retirement payments, by 2034 and every year after as a direct consequence of the economic fallout from the Trump administration’s anti-immigration campaign, if that carries on, according to a new report shared exclusively with the Guardian. …
The report, Economic Impacts of Trump Administration Immigration Policy, was commissioned by America’s Voice and conducted by researchers at Economic Insights and Research Consulting, a firm focused on economic analysis. …
The federal government risks losing a large segment of the $26bn in payroll taxes from unauthorized immigrants who help to support the US social security fund that pays out to American seniors – while not being able to access those benefits themselves. …
From a report by Social Security’s Office of Inspector General:
The Social Security Act (Act) requires that SSA reduce Social Security disability benefits when a beneficiary receives workers’ compensation (WC) or a Public Disability Benefit (PDB). However, WC/PDB does not reduce SSA retirement benefits. Thus, when disabled beneficiaries reach age 62, SSA employees must determine whether they are eligible for higher retirement benefits and notify beneficiaries as early as possible about their option to file. The application filing date sets the earliest month of entitlement, as SSA can only pay retirement benefits retroactively to that month. Delays may result in lost benefits. Starting February 13, 2026, SSA employees must present filing options without offering advice and document these discussions, as beneficiaries’ decisions can impact their benefits.
From a population of 35,185 disabled beneficiaries, we reviewed a sample of 125 beneficiaries from the Master Beneficiary Record who attained age 62 from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2022 and whose disability benefits were offset by WC/PDB.
Of the 125 beneficiaries we sampled, SSA employees were not required to notify 53 (42 percent) because their disability benefits after WC/PDB offset were higher than the retirement benefits. Employees were required to notify 72 (58 percent); however, they did not notify 31 beneficiaries (25 percent). Employees were required to notify the remaining 41 (33 percent) beneficiaries and did so, as required. …
This report concerns what claimants’ attorneys, at least, refer to as the RIB-DIB election. The usual assumption is that many workers comp off sets will be done incorrectly. I imagine that even most Social Security employees don’t understand the offset. That’s OK. The whole subject of workers compensation offsets is complicated. Most agency employees don’t have to deal with it. It’s one of those complications that can’t even be imagined by the current Commissioner who probably believes that Social Security is simple, its employees aren’t very bright (because if they were bright they wouldn’t be working in government) and that those employees are fungible. In truth, the agency’s business is often complicated and its employees undertrained and lacking in the time needed to get everything right.
From Newsweek:
… In a survey from the Cato Institute, 89 percent of Americans over age 65 said Social Security benefits should be protected even if it meant higher taxes for younger workers.
This sparked conservative backlash on social media.
“Just as it isn’t boomers’s fault that politicians stole their social security — or that leftists of all generations voted for the pols who did it — it’s not the responsibility of the generations that follow to make up for it by giving up more of our incomes,” conservative radio host Dana Loesch wrote on X.
Political commentator Matt Walsh wrote: “Stealing from young families to pay much higher net worth Boomers is immoral and ridiculous. Young families already have to deal with an economy where everything is exponentially more expensive than it was for Boomers at the same age. Older people clamoring to raise taxes on the young, on top of it all, is just perverse.” …
“Just as it isn’t boomers’s fault that politicians stole their social security — or that leftists of all generations voted for the pols who did it — it’s not the responsibility of the generations that follow to make up for it by giving up more of our incomes,” conservative radio host Dana Loesch wrote on X.
Political commentator Matt Walsh wrote: “Stealing from young families to pay much higher net worth Boomers is immoral and ridiculous. Young families already have to deal with an economy where everything is exponentially more expensive than it was for Boomers at the same age. Older people clamoring to raise taxes on the young, on top of it all, is just perverse.” …
It’s poorly advertised but clergy can opt out of Social Security. Here’s how it works:
… To opt out of Social Security, ordained ministers must sign Form 4361 “Application for Exemption from Self-Employment Tax for Use by Ministers, Members of Religious Orders and Christian Science Practitioners.” The form does not say, “If you are a minister and prefer not to pay these taxes, sign here.” If you read the form carefully, it says that you are conscientiously opposed or opposed because of your religious principles to “the acceptance…of any public insurance that makes payments in the event of death, disability, old age, or retirement; or that makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services for, medicare” in exchange for services you perform as a minister. In other words, signing Form 4361 means that, as a minister, you oppose receiving Social Security or Medicare benefits for your ministerial work
Some of those who exercised this option want to get out of the deal they made. As World reports:
… Members of the clergy would have a chance to join Social Security under a bill passed by the Senate this week. The bill, which is headed to President Trump’s desk for signing, creates a two-year window for clergy members to opt in to Social Security and Medicare benefits. Currently, clergy members can opt out of those programs to avoid associated taxes on ministerial earnings. Their decision to re-enroll is irrevocable. If signed into law, the window for re-enrollment would begin in 2029.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, or ERLC, on Thursday said its members were thrilled that the Senate passed the Clergy Act this week. …
You may notice I have little sympathy for the clergy members wanting to remove the irrevocability. I imagine that some, like monks under a vow of poverty, are sincere (but they’re probably not trying to revoke their choice.) The rest, I strongly doubt that many are or were sincere. You knew the deal going in and now you start realizing that opting out of Social Security may not be have been such a great idea so you want to renegotiate the deal. Besides
Doesn’t this come under the “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” provision that is part of the faith, at least for Christians? I guess that’s why most clergy don’t exercise this option.
By the way, have you run into the “Love Offering” dodge, as in “I never received wages for being a minister, I received “Love Offerings” and those are gifts so they’re not taxable”? Yeah, that’s just as sincere.
From the National Law Review:
MySSAgent's free Google Chrome extension is the first browser extension for one-click Social Security earnings-statement retrieval, as of October 1, 2026, based on public product documentation. It has been available since July 2026.
The client signs in to their own my Social Security account at ssa.gov. The extension adds a "Send to MySSAgent" button to the statement page. One click sends the official earnings record into MySSAgent, and a full claiming analysis is ready in minutes. There's no file to download, nothing to upload, and nothing to re-type. MySSAgent never asks for a Social Security number. …
From the client's official record, the analysis covers every claiming month from age 62 to 70, including spousal and survivor benefits. With the household's income entered, it also shows the Medicare IRMAA bracket at each claiming age. Every benefit figure comes from a deterministic engine built on the Social Security Administration's published formulas. …
This looks like it could be something from the Social Security Administration but it’s not. I have a couple of questions: Does this look too much like an official government site? Did this setup require cooperation from Social Security? It looks like it might be a security issue.
If you do much Googling on Social Security subjects you find many, many articles and websites dealing with that eternal question, “What is the right age to file a claim for Social Security retirement benefits?” It seems to be a subject that fascinates those with an MBA or related training. In the real world, however, claimants mostly make the decision based upon their need for the money. They don’t have the luxury of delaying claiming benefits. Besides, they can have the money now while they’re still able to use it. I’m sure there’s a subset of claimants who worry about this question but it’s small. Just look at the low percentage of claimants who wait until age 70.
From WIS-TV:
A new state audit is raising questions about South Carolina’s ability to address delays in the disability benefits process, highlighting the complicated relationship between state and federal agencies that share responsibility for reviewing disability claims. …
According to a report released by the Legislative Audit Council, the agency responsible for reviewing disability claims has lost more than a third of its disability examiners since 2021. Auditors found a 35% reduction in examiner staffing between January 2021 and June 2026, with workforce shortages likely contributing to processing delays. The report also cites employee turnover, pay concerns and the loss of telework opportunities as factors making recruitment and retention more difficult. …
The audit was commissioned after state lawmakers sought answers about lengthy disability claim delays and growing backlogs. However, auditors say they were unable to fully determine how long applicants are waiting or identify the primary causes of delays because the Social Security Administration denied access to key claims-processing data requested during the review. …
From the Baker Orange:
On Sept. 23, Baker [College] gave an honorary degree to alumnus and commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Frank Bisignano. A graduate from the class of 1979, the first recipient of a Baker bowling scholarship and raised in a multigenerational immigrant household, Bisignano’s Baker story goes far beyond Baldwin City. …
“If you work really hard, you get lucky,” Bisignano said. “I’m sorry it’s a short one, but it’s true!” …
Few Baker graduates can call themselves a former All-American bowler as well as the chief executive officer of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but Bisignano described how they’re not so unrelated.
“I learned how to deliver under pressure all the time,” he said. “If you need three strikes to win by a pin and you’re the team’s anchor, that’ll teach you how to deal with things.” …
“Great athletes make hard plays look easy; great leaders make complicated problems look simple,” Bisignano said. …
From The Economic Times:
US Vice President JD Vance delivered a fiery message during a discussion about illegal immigration and Social Security benefits. Vance argued that encouraging people who are in the country illegally to claim Social Security benefits would undermine the program rather than protect it. “If you are encouraging illegal aliens to sign up for Social Security and steal Social Security benefits, you're not protecting Social Security, you're destroying it,” Vance said.
Of course, illegal aliens are already ineligible for U.S. Social Security benefits so there would be almost none of them receiving benefits. Maybe Trump needs to issue an executive order slamming immigrants and forbidding them from receiving Social Security benefits. An imaginary solution to an imaginary problem.
From a report by Social Security’s Office of Inspector General:
… The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program provides benefits to wage earners and eligible family members in the event a wage earner retires, becomes disabled, or dies. Child benefits under this program include benefits for minor children, students, and disabled adult children.
SSA initially processes most disability claims through local SSA field offices and state disability determination services that make disability determinations for SSA.
We reviewed a random sample of 100 claims from a population of 5,237 child’s insurance benefits claims that were filed from January 2023 through November 2025 that SSA initially denied because it determined the claimants were not disabled.
Of the 100 initial claims we reviewed, SSA correctly denied 49 for child’s insurance benefits based on medical eligibility requirements. When SSA subsequently approved the 49 claims, it correctly paid the claimants. However, SSA did not correctly deny, pay, and/or document decisions for the remaining 51 claims.
SSA employees incorrectly denied 11 claims. Based on our sample, we estimate the Agency incorrectly denied about 600 claims.
SSA employees did not document whether they completed all required actions when they requested required forms orevidence from the claimants before they denied eight claims. Based on our sample, we estimate this occurred in about 450 claims.
SSA employees did not correctly pay benefits to 32 claimants after they subsequently found the claimants were disabled and approved their claims. Based on our sample, after SSA approved the claims, we estimate employees did not correctly pay about 1,100 claimants, resulting in underpayments of approximately $1.2 million. Additionally, based on our sample, we estimate SSA employees properly paid about 340 claimants; however, the Agency did not establish the correct dates they were entitled to Medicare benefits.
We could not determine why employees made these errors.
From MSN:
The Trump administration has built a tool powered by artificial intelligence that its developers promise will serve as a “concierge” to the federal government, as it attempts to modernize the relationship between citizens and the state.
“Instead of forcing citizens to search through the endless maze of tens of thousands of terrible government websites,” President Trump said at a Tuesday event launching the website, “you’ll now have one front door for every single question.”
Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb and head of the White House’s National Design Studio, said the online portal will function as a new digital front door to the federal government. He said the technology—in time—will serve as the final destination for all federal constituent services, setting a standard “you’d expect of a superpower.”
Renew a passport or start Medicare enrollment. Reserve a federal campsite or check on the status of federal student loans. Eventually, all of those tasks, and more, Gebbia said, can be started and completed, on America.gov. ...
Version 1.0 of the product will launch Tuesday, said General Services Administrator Edward Forst, whose agency will provide what he described as “the ongoing backbone” of the technology as more advanced iterations are released. ...
The hubris of people like Gebbia knows no bounds. They just can’t comprehend that government operations are vastly more complex than anything they’ve ever dealt with in the private sector. Other than as a collection of links this project will have essentially zero ability to help the public interact with Social Security in the foreseeable future.
I am hearing reports that Social Security’s ERE system that allows attorneys representing claimants access to their clients’ files and the ability to upload medical and other records is down this morning. I don’t know whether it’s working for agency employees.
From NextGov/FCW:
… The Social Security Administration hit its target of reaching 105 million 'my Social Security' accounts — an online portal Americans use to access services — by the end of the month, an agency spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW on Friday. The agency now aims to reach 110 million by the end of next September, per a strategic plan released in August.
But that 110 million goal is far less lofty than the target SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano told Congress about last year: 200 million online accounts by the end of 2026.
The SSA spokesperson said the agency continues to strive for 200 million my Social Security account holders, but they did not offer a target date. …
Adults generally interact with SSA in very specific moments of their lives, which explains much of the tepid adoption in the younger age bracket, Arabella Crawford, a civic tech consultant and Tech Viaduct contributor, told Nextgov/FCW. Those moments include turning 65, being diagnosed with a disability or changing their legal name, she explained. …
Many [potential claimants] are also not technologically savvy, lack internet access or have disabilities that make it difficult to use technology …
Clients ran into issues using my Social Security accounts’ digital identity verification services, she explained. For example, some clients found it difficult to use video proofing on ID.me — a digital identity validation service used across several agencies — while others had to wait for the government’s in-house option, Login.gov, to send codes through the mail, she said. …
Social Security has posted data showing how much is being paid to each individual or entity providing testimony for the agency as Vocational Experts (VEs) or Medical Experts (MEs) at hearings on disability claims.
Let me note a couple of things. First, the entities probably include more than one VE or ME. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong but I think some of the VEs and MEs let an entity handle the paperwork for them in exchange for a cut of the fees. Second, don’t take these numbers as gospel. Social Security also posts numbers on payments of fees to attorneys and law firms representing claimants before the agency. I deliberately don’t post links to these numbers since they have always contained inaccuracies that were obvious to me. I know the rough size of some firms and the numbers given for those firms align poorly with what I know. I don’t know about the VE or ME numbers.
From a report by Social Security’s Office of Inspector General:
… The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program provides monthly benefits to retired and disabled workers and their dependents as well as the survivors of deceased workers. The minor child of an insured worker may receive Social Securitybenefits until they reach age 18. A child beneficiary may continue receiving benefits after they reach age 18 if they qualify as a student beneficiary. …
We identified 521,393 beneficiaries who were entitled to student benefits for 1 or more months from January 2022 through December 2024. We randomly selected 100 of these beneficiaries to determine whether SSA accurately paid student benefits to eligible beneficiaries. Of the 100 beneficiaries we reviewed, SSA correctly paid benefits to 71 in accordance with policy. However, SSA did not correctly pay benefits to 17 beneficiaries. In addition, SSA did not retain documentation to support benefit payments to 12 beneficiaries. SSA did not correctly pay benefits to 17 beneficiaries as follows.
For nine, beneficiaries and school officials did not provide SSA accurate or current school attendance information that affected eligibility for student benefits, and SSA was unaware the information contained errors.
For eight, SSA employees did not correctly use available school attendance and graduation information to determine the duration of student benefit eligibility.
In addition, SSA employees did not retain completed Forms SSA-1372 for 12 of the 100 beneficiaries, as required. Without evidence, we could not determine whether the individual were entitled to the student benefits SSA paid them. As a result, SSA improperly paid beneficiaries $49,447 and could not support an additional $93,466 in benefit payments. Based on our sample results, we estimate SSA improperly paid approximately $211 million to about 89,000 beneficiaries. In addition, we estimate SSA made approximately $342 million in unsupported payments to about 63,000 student beneficiaries. …
From Clickon Detroit:
A Detroit-area mother allegedly kept nearly $30,000 in Social Security benefits intended for her son -- even bringing an imposter to a medical appointment to keep the money coming in, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Keshaune Pace, a.k.a. Keshaune Jenkins of Eastpointe, is accused of theft of government funds and Social Security representative payee fraud. The complaint filed Sept. 18 covered the period from July 2021 through October 2024.
Pace began receiving Social Security benefits on behalf of her son after applying for benefits when he was four years old, according to the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General.
The benefits were based on alleged mental disabilities, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. As her son’s representative payee, Pace was required to use the money for his care and report changes that could affect his eligibility, including changes in his living arrangements and income.
Investigators say her son moved out of Pace’s home in or around July 2021, a few months before his 18th birthday. School records later indicated he was living outside his mother’s custody and was considered an unaccompanied homeless youth.
But Pace continued receiving the benefits, the feds said. …
In January 2023, Pace allegedly took someone other than her son to a psychiatric consultative examination required as part of a review of his continuing eligibility for benefits.
The person who appeared at the examination was listed as 6 feet tall, while her son is 5 feet 7 inches, according to the feds. The person claimed to hear voices and said, “I need help for the voices in my head,” court records said. …
When the examiner allegedly asked Pace why there had not been any treatment since her son was 14 years old, Pace said, “It’s hard to get him out. Transportation is hard.”
The examiner questioned the person’s performance and described him as a “very poor historian” who “seemed to be greatly exaggerating.” The examiner also found that the person’s full-scale IQ score of 48 was invalid because it was inconsistent with records showing her son had been in regular education and had not received special education services.
Investigators said Pace eventually admitted the person she brought to the examination was not her son, saying she did it “to keep the benefits from being stopped.” …
Senate Democrats are warning that new limits on annual leave and sick time at the IRS and the Social Security Administration will push more employees out the door, making it harder for Americans to get assistance from these agencies. …
In a letter to Frank Bisignano, the IRS chief executive officer and Senate-confirmed commissioner of SSA, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. led colleagues in denouncing this new policy as a “cruel and unjustified plan that is likely to drive additional employees out the door, doubling down on the administration’s already disastrous efforts to push out federal employees.” …
“Your actions give the appearance that this policy is less about improving service delivery, and more about punishing federal employees — and by extension, the American people,” the senators wrote. …
An IRS watchdog is taking a closer look at the agency’s temporary reassignment of mid-career employees to frontline entry-level jobs many of them had no prior experience doing. …
The IRS cut tens of thousands of jobs last year — more than a quarter of its workforce — and fell short of its hiring goals for this year’s filing season.
IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano said the IRS carried out a successful filing season this year, despite losing more than 25,000 employees. He told the House Ways and Means Committee in March that “I feel good about the number of employees I have right now.” …
Employees placed on these involuntary details are doing jobs several pay grades below the work they were hired to perform, but continue to receive their regular paychecks. In practice, the IRS is paying them double or triple what a normal customer service representative or tax examiner would make. …
Several impacted IRS employees told Government Executive that the initial details were involuntary, they have received insufficient training and support for this work, and they have no clear idea what work is available to them at the IRS if they leave these details.
According to two IRS employees currently on details, the agency is looking for volunteers to remain in taxpayer services for a third 120-day tour of duty. Employees who complete a third stint would be away from their day jobs for nearly a year. But these employees say the agency is giving them few alternatives. Both previously worked in IT roles at the agency, and have been told they cannot return to their former jobs. …
In May, IRS Chief Human Capital Officer Alex Kweskin acknowledged that some employees on temporary details were unhappy with their current arrangements, and encouraged them to apply for other roles within the agency. Employees, however, said they have applied for other 2210-classified IT positions at the IRS, only for those job announcements to be cancelled days later. …
From Govly:
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is implementing significant changes to workforce scheduling and holiday staffing policies to address operational backlogs and staffing shortages. These changes include offering overtime work on federal holidays with telework options, testing office openings on holidays with holiday pay incentives, and reportedly eliminating credit hours in favor of fixed shifts. These adjustments reflect SSA's efforts to improve operational efficiency amid ongoing workforce challenges and reduced staffing levels.SSA's holiday overtime offerings and potential holiday office openings signal increased demand for flexible staffing solutions and may affect contract labor planning and telework arrangements. …
- The elimination of credit hours and move to fixed shifts at SSA could impact contractor workforce management, requiring adjustments to labor scheduling and compliance with new agency policies.
- Procurement professionals should monitor these evolving workforce policies as they may influence contract performance metrics, labor cost structures, and staffing requirements for SSA and related federal agencies.
- The CECOM pilot program suggests potential future shifts in federal workforce scheduling practices that contractors supporting DoD components should consider in operational planning. …
