That Word “Reputation” Concerns Me

      From a contracting notice posted by Social Security:

RFI [Request For Information] to gather vendor information for User Activity Monitoring (UAM) with capabilities to enhance agency Insider Threat Program to deter, detect, mitigate, and negate insider threats to the agency workforce, assets, and reputation. The RFI also seeks to find case management solutions tailored for controlled unclassified and classified environments to implement in compliance to multiple Executive Orders. …

     “Reputation” could cover things like expressing negative opinions about agency policies and leaders even in social media. This may fit in with the reports about Palantir providing spyware.

Trump Administration Wanted To Declare 2.7 Million Living People As Dead

      From the Washington Post:

The Trump administration had plans to classify 2.7 million living people — including some U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents — as dead as part of its immigration enforcement efforts, according to a former senior Social Security executive. 

The previously unreported plan, which the Social Security Administration said was not carried out, would have used one of the government’s most consequential identity databases to effectively erase people from the financial system, potentially cutting them off from wages, banking, government benefits and other services.

Jeremiah Schofield, who worked at Social Security for 25 years and helped lead the agency’s IT modernization efforts before leaving in October, said he refused to help implement the plan after agency lawyers warned that falsely marking living people as dead could violate federal law. …

Schofield has provided details on the plan in a 49-page whistleblower disclosure to the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which was reviewed by The Washington Post. The disclosure offers the most detailed account yet of how officials from Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service sought to use Social Security data in service of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. …

Bisignano To Testify

      The House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a hearing for June 10 with Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano. This will come a day after the Trustees Report is released.

Eliminate The Retirement Earnings Test?

      Tom Margenau is a retired Social Security manager who writes a syndicated column on Social Security matters. He has a column out recommending a simple change in the laws that would end most overpayments — eliminating the retirement earnings test. If you go on Social Security retirement benefits before full retirement age you can only earn so much money each year, currently $24,480,  before you lose at least part of your Social Security retirement benefits. That’s the retirement earnings test. This provision is difficult to administer. Retirees end up earning more money than they expected, sometimes late in the year. Think Christmas associated overtime and end of year bonuses, for instance. Retirees get confused because they think of their take home pay rather than their gross income. Eliminate the retirement earnings test and the many overpayments associated with it disappear. However, the number of people retiring at age 62 would soar.

     What do you think?

Worrisome Future Fertility Rates

       From Market Watch:

Social Security’s finances may be in worse shape than thought. 

The Social Security Trustees — who release a report each year on the health of the program that supports about 70 million retirees and people with disabilities — have been relying on overly optimistic forecasts for future fertility rates, according to a blog report from the Cato Institute. 

Those forecasts are at odds with projections from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — the nonpartisan federal agency that provides Congress with independent analysis of budgetary and economic issues — which both have much more sober forecasts for fertility rates. … 

The Trustees assume that the current fertility rate of about 1.6 children per woman will increase to 1.9 by the early 2040s, the Cato Institute said. By 2100, the SSA projects a total fertility rate roughly 30% higher than both the Census Bureau and the CBO, which expect fertility to continue to decline.  …

Bisignano Accused Of Sycophancy

     From the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) concerning Commissioner Bisignano’s IRS role in facilitating the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund:

… Bisignano’s chief talent is sycophancy and raising no questions about anything,” a former veteran Social Security Administration (SSA) employee told us. The same former SSA employee added that no career professional “would remain silent” in the face of an outrage like the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” …

The veteran SSA employee who spoke to us described the Social Security Administration as “not even recognizable” under Bisignano’s reign, pointing to what he sees as a breakdown in long-standing norms, internal safeguards, and respect for career expertise. Others warn that the same leadership style could enable or obscure future controversies, including ongoing concerns surrounding DOGE data breaches. …

     Ordinarily a group like NCPSSM wants to maintain cordial relations with Commissioners. This NCPSSM post is a sign of just how badly the well has been poisoned. 

     Bisignano may think that talk of him being prosecuted over the “anti-weaponization” fund is over the top. It isn’t. Unless the fund is quashed or Bisignano is pardoned, it will happen. Even in these times, this is far into the criminal realm.

Getting The Work Done

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. …

Isn’t It Great That Trump Has Discovered How To Save Social Security!

      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. 

No Sympathy For Fraudsters Like This

      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. …

Memorial Day

Legislation Being Considered

      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.

Bisignano Really Needs A Pardon Before Trump Leaves Office

      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. 

This Sounds Messed Up

      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.

New OHO Report Posted

      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,

Can Anyone Find Them?

      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.

“All 1,300 Branches Shut Down In Weeks”

      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.

The Name Game

      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. …

New Caseload Analysis Report

      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.

Some Overpayments Aren’t Worth Trying To Collect

      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.  …

National Hearing Centers To Close — Also A New Chatbot At SSA

      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. …