Proof Of What You Already Knew

      From HuffPost:

A week after Maine Gov. Janet Mills clashed publicly with President Donald Trump at the White House over transgender athletes in girls’ sports, Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, asked his staff about what contracts Maine had with the Social Security Administration. 

The agency has vital records contracts with every state, allowing parents to request Social Security numbers for their newborns at the hospital and to verify deaths through an electronic system.

According to emails obtained by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Social Security staff informed Dudek that canceling the contracts “would result in improper payments and potential for identity theft.” 

Dudek told his staff to go for it.

“Please cancel the contracts. While our improper payments will go up, and fraudsters may compromise identities, no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child,” Dudek wrote, referring to Mills. …

     The real question is whether Dudek acted on his own initiative or whether he acted upon directions form the White House. My strong suspicion is that this came from the White House. 

Trump Orders End To Treasury Issued Paper Checks

     I missed this one. Last week Trump ordered an end to Treasury issued paper checks as of September 30 of this year. 

    I think it's better than 95% of Social Security claimants who receive their benefits by direct deposit now but there are those who still need paper checks. One important group who still need paper checks are claimants who have lacked the funds to keep a bank account open while they wait months and years for their Social Security disability claims to be approved. They're only too happy to receive their payments by direct deposits once they have money to put in an account but not for that first check or two.

    Yes, I know there are benefit cards but the fees on those are ridiculous. More important, most folks still have a bank account when they file their Social Security disability claim but later have to close the bank account because they're broke so they won't be set up for a benefit card. 

    We'll see how this plays out. In theory, they aren't supposed to be paper checks even now but circumstances on the ground don't match up with what armchair theorists think possible. A little leeway is needed.

Did You Really Expect That Trump Would Tell The Truth About Social Security?

      In his State of the Union address Donald Trump said that "1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159, and over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are age over 160 years old.” You could call that true but only in the most narrow, misleading way possible. By any reasonable standard, it’s a flat out lie but, as we know, Donald Trump lies the way some people chew gum.

     I don’t know why Trump doesn’t sign an executive order that Social Security must immediately cut off benefits to anyone 115 or more years old. Easily ordered. Easily implemented. Get on with it!

Telework Ending For Non-Union Employees On March 5 But The Notice Was Sent To All Employees

 Subject:  Non-bargaining Unit Employees - Return to In-Person Work and Cancellation of Expanded Flexible Bands

On Monday, January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum (PM) requiring all employees to return to work in-person full time.  This message serves as your official notice that your telework agreement will be terminated effective March 4, 2025 with all employees expected to return to work in-person full time on March 5, 2025.  Additionally, all expanded flexbands for non-bargaining unit employees are cancelled.  Non-bargaining unit employees must follow the flexbands in agency policy (see Personnel Policy Manual S610_3).  Employees must return any agency equipment taken to their telework location to their SSA office location. 

The return to work in-person does not currently apply to employees under approved reasonable accommodations (RA) authorizing telework, temporary work at home by exception (WAHBE) agreements for medical reasons, or temporary compassionate assignments (TCA).  In addition, employees in the Office of Hearings Operations and Office of Financial Policy and Program Integrity may remain in their current telework posture.

Any outstationed employees with an assigned SSA office location must also begin working at their assigned agency location full time as of March 5, 2025.  Their telework agreements are terminated as indicated above.

The Office of Human Resources will send more on placement of employees with homestationing agreements into onsite official duty stations in the near future. 

Employees may reapply for an episodic telework agreement or a TCA for temporary, short-term needs.  Additionally, if your location has a space limitation issue, your supervisor will notify you to provide the next steps.  As a reminder, any episodic telework is granted on a case-by-case basis and only in situations where the requested telework will benefit the agency.

We understand that this transition will require an adjustment to employee work/life arrangements.  Supervisors should be liberal with the approval of leave over the next 4 weeks to accommodate the changes.  We encourage employees to review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) the agency has prepared on return to office topics.  The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is also available to you using Access Code: ssaeap or 1-877-549-9528.

Supervisors will upload a copy of this telework termination notice to employees’ e7B files.

Performative Cruelty

 

    One thing that has helped me understand Donald Trump, both in his first term in office and now, is Josh Marshall’s theory of performative cruelty. The extraordinary cruelty of Trump’s time in office isn’t the lamentable excesses of an ideological zealot. Trump believes in nothing. The cruelty itself is the point. In Marshall’s words, “the heart of Trumpism is not any policy but performative cruelty, inflicting maximum harm on those outside the tribal fold, and extending the benefits of power and the powers of state for those inside the fold.” That gains extraordinary loyalty from those who regard themselves as being inside the tribe and the fear of those outside the fold. The end result is power for Trump.

     The lesson I take from this is to be unafraid or at least to not betray fear. Fear feeds Trump. Fight back as best you can. Of course it’s not hard for me to affect fearlessness. I’m in the process of retiring. (I plan to continue the blog.) I know it’s terribly difficult for those with legitimate fears of harm and that’s many, perhaps most, Social Security employees. 

     I will say that while the performative cruelty was ugly during the first Trump Administration and is much uglier this time around, it necessarily inspires great revulsion among many. Republican lawmakers are already facing hostile receptions when they hold town halls. Those matter. Remember the Tea Party? The Trump Administration is faring extremely poorly in court. Maybe the Supreme Court will bail out Trump every time but I strongly doubt it. The legal bad faith from this Administration is just stunning. I’ve been practicing law for almost 50 years. Bad faith is the kiss of death in anything other than the very short term. It may help you win one battle but it will definitely lose you the war. Any attorney who  represents clients in the way that the Trump Administration’s attorneys are doing will be extraordinarily unsuccessful. See Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. It’s no accident that attorneys who went down this road were completely unsuccessful and some lost their law licenses and a few are facing criminal prosecution.

No RSI For Don

      Just a reminder: Donald Trump has never bothered to file a claim for his own Social Security retirement benefits. Of course it’s possible that he never had earnings from employment or self employment during ten years. That would make him ineligible. Either way, he’s not exactly your average senior citizen.

How Many Remember This?

 

    After Donald Trump’s first inauguration, things were a bit disorganized at the White House, so disorganized that it took nine months before Social Security offices displayed his portrait. MAGA types were quick to blame the dastardly Deep State for this indignity but the explanation was far simpler. The White House hadn’t given the General Services Administration an approved portrait for reproduction. The Trump White House may have had little idea what the GSA does. In case you don’t know, the GSA takes care of a lot of housekeeping for federal agencies such as leasing office space, buying office supplies and printing and distributing official Presidential portraits to hang in federal offices.

     Let’s keep an eye on how quickly Social Security offices display Trump’s portrait. It will be something of an indicator of how efficiently or inefficiently the Trump II White House is functioning.

Biden To Sign WEP/GPO Bill Today

     The Associated Press is reporting that President Biden will sign into law today the bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.

WEP/GPO Bill To Be Signed On Monday?

     The rumor is that the President will sign the bill ending the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset on Monday.

Jimmy Carter 1924-2024

 

     It is a long-standing tradition that federal offices are closed on the day of the funeral of a former President. At Social Security, this has meant the cancelling of all appointments and hearings on that day as employees have the day off.

WEP/GPO Bill Passes

      The bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset has passed its final Congressional step and will become law once President Biden signs it.

     I have a few questions about this:

• What’s the effective date?
• Can Social Security implement this without manual recalculations?
• Were there any other provisions in the bill apart from WEP/GPO?

There Was A Celebration Of Social Security's 89th Birthday At The White House

 Click on each image to view full size.

It's Been Over 57 Years

LBJ at SSA Headquarters

     The recent visit to Social Security headquarters by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reminds me that the last time that a President visited Social Security was October 12, 1966. Lyndon Johnson was the President. Given Social Security's importance to the American people, it seems extraordinary to me that no President has visited Social Security headquarters in such a long time.

Biden Proposes 9% Increase In Social Security Operating Funds

     From President Biden's budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins on October 1, 2024:

... The Budget provides an increase of $1.3 billion, nine percent over the 2023 enacted level, to improve customer service at SSA’s field offices, State disability determination services, and teleservice centers for retirees, individuals with disabilities, and their families. The Budget also improves access to SSA’s services by reducing wait times. ...

    Nothing like this can be passed until after the election and only then if Democrats control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives -- and Senate Democrats are willing to scrap the filibuster, at least in part.

    In the lengthy supplement to the budget, the detailed explanation shows that program integrity would not increase. One complaint about recent appropriations is that there has been lavish funding of program integrity while basic operations have suffered greatly.

    The Commissioner of Social Security gets to include his own proposed budget for the agency in the supplement to the budget. Commissioner O'Malley's proposal is for the agency to be funded at $16.45 billion, about three quarters of a billion dollars higher than the President's budget but O'Malley has issued a statement praising the President's budget.

    The proposals of the President and the Commissioner are nice but restoring acceptable service at the Social Security Administration will have to be a multi-year effort.

    By the way, the Biden budget also calls for extending SSI to U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico.

A Poll

online polls

It's Been Slow Lately

     You may have noticed that I'm not posting much recently. That doesn't have to do with me. There is little to report. Things aren't changing for good or ill. Some of this is Congress. They're doing little with Social Security. Oversight hearings seem to be nearly a thing of the past. There's no hope of passing Social Security legislation. Some of it may be due to lingering effects of the pandemic. Until recently, there was little time to develop new policies for anything other than coping with Covid. Policy development was and is difficult anyway with people working from home most of the time. However, I think a lot of the torpor at Social Security has to do with the fact that there's no confirmed Commissioner of Social Security. An Acting Commissioner can't lead in the same way that a confirmed Commissioner can. Yes, there's a real potential for bad new policies as well as good with a confirmed Commissioner but sitting dead in the water for years on end isn't good for the agency or the people it serves. The lack of action on an occupational information system is one prominent example of the lack of leadership at Social Security.

    So, why hasn't the President nominated a new Commissioner?

Video CEs To Continue On Limited Basis

     Prior to the Covid pandemic, the Social Security Administration used video technology to perform consultative medical examinations (CEs) -- to help evaluate disability claims -- on a very limited basis. For understandable reasons, the agency has made much more extensive use of video technology for CEs during the pandemic but the pandemic is waning. The President has declared that the Public Health Emergency will end on May 11, 2023. Social Security has just issued an Emergency Message detailing how it will use video technology for CEs after May 11. They will use video technology only for psychiatric CEs, psychological CEs without standardized testing and speech and language CEs. The claimant must agree to the video CE.

Sound And Fury, Signifying Nothing

     From Reuters:

A Republican U.S. senator's accusation on Thursday that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had lied during a tussle over the future of the Social Security program obscured behind-the-scenes talks between the White House and lawmakers that have been underway for months, according to sources. 

The war of words came in a Senate Finance Committee hearing when Republican Senator Bill Cassidy asked Yellen if Democratic President Joe Biden was aware that Social Security funds will run out within the next decade unless Congress shores up the popular retirement program with 66 million beneficiaries.

When Yellen responded that Biden "stands ready to work" with lawmakers, Cassidy shot back, "That's a lie because when a bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly requested to meet with him about Social (Security) ... we have not heard anything on our requests."

For several months now, Cassidy and independent Senator Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, have tried to address Social Security underfunding as approximately 10,000 baby boomers retire every day. ...

 Cassidy and King are leading a group of workhorse senators that include Republican Mike Rounds, Democrat Tim Kaine and independent Kyrsten Sinema. ...

"It's going to be tough. I don't think we should sugarcoat it. But there are serious conversations in the Senate ... on a package that would improve Social Security's finances," said Shai Akabas, economic policy director at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a centrist think tank in Washington. ...

    The Republican plan is to have a very few Republicans work with a very few Democrats to come up with a wildly unpopular plan that includes an increase in full retirement age. Republicans will provide only a few votes to pass the plan. It will only be passed if Biden strong arms Democrats and probably not even then. Republicans will then run against Democrats on the issue.

    Biden won't fall for this.

    By the way, I'm sure that the Democrats involved with these negotiations are well intentioned but they're fools. This is a dead end.

Does Political Messaging Matter?

    From the Washington Post:

 In that Jan. 25 meeting [with the President], [Senator Bernie] Sanders pushed the president to fully fund Social Security for more than seven decades by expanding payroll taxes on affluent Americans, rather than just on workers’ first $160,000 in earnings, as is the case under current law. Sanders also asked the president to back his proposal — highly unlikely to pass Congress — to not only defend existing benefits but also increase them. He wants to provide another $2,400 per year for every Social Security beneficiary.

This previously unreported discussion between Biden and his onetime presidential primary rival reflects a broader behind-the-scenes effort inside the White House to decide how, or if, the party’s message on entitlements should go beyond criticizing the GOP. ...

Biden aides have in recent weeks discussed proposing raising payroll taxes on the rich to fund Social Security, but it is unclear if the president will ultimately endorse that measure when he releases his budget in March, according to three people familiar with international deliberations. ...

“There’s a faction inside the White House that feels some need to offer a plan, though I personally feel that’s misplaced,” one senior Democratic pollster said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with senior administration officials. “Stick to our basic message: Hands off our seniors. That’s working.” ...

    Note that these are discussions about political messaging. No tax increases are happening with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives. The Republican message that "We'll never agree to tax increases so Democrats, not Republicans, must propose benefit cuts" won't ever lead to a solution.

    It's apparent to me how Social Security's long-term financing issues will be resolved. Eventually, Democrats will have a great election cycle and have enough strength in Congress to pass a bill. Until then, it's just posturing but today's political messaging can become tomorrow's enacted fix for Social Security so the posturing matters. If Democrats don't have such an election cycle in time, it's going to be a train wreck, mainly for the GOP which will be caught between its ideology and the great majority of the country which loves Social Security and doesn't want to see it cut.

We're All In Agreement, Right?

     From USA Today:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood up from her seat in the back of the House chamber to heckle President Joe Biden after he said during his State of the Union address Tuesday that “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset” while discussing the need to raise the debt ceiling in order to avoid a US default.

“Liar!” she said. Other lawmakers in the chamber booed him. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, seated behind Biden, shook his head in disapproval.  ...

As boos continued, Biden turned toward the House gallery to address an audience member not seen on camera. 

"It's being proposed by individuals," he said. "I'm politely not naming them, but it's being proposed by some of you."  ...

As the camera landed on individual lawmakers, it captured a shot of a stunned Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah [who has openly talked about his desire to 'phase out" Social Security], who looked around the room with his mouth wide open. 

“So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now,” Biden said. “They're not to be touched? All right. We've got unanimity!"

Cheers erupted in the chamber.

"Tonight, let's all agree, and apparently we are — let's stand up for seniors," Biden said, raising his fists in the air. Speaker McCarthy took to his feet. ...