Scammer Pleads Guilty In Houston

      From a press release:

A 37-year-old Indian citizen who was illegally residing in Houston has entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Between April and October 2019, Waseem Maknojiya was involved in a telemarketing scheme via Indian call centers to extort money from victims in the United States. Maknojiya acted as a runner in these schemes, using aliases and fake identification documents to pick up more than 70 parcels containing cash the scheme’s victims had mailed.  ...

This Argument Seems Strong To Me

     From the Supreme Court amicus brief of the American Bar Association in U.S. v. Vaello-Madero, the case presenting the question of whether it is constitutional to deny SSI benefits to American citizens who reside in Puerto Rico:  

... As a threshold issue, all of the government’s justifications for the SSI law start from the premise that it has legitimate interests in treating Puerto Rico differently because of its territorial status. ...     

However, “[i]t is well settled that the Equal Protection Clause ‘protects persons, not groups.’” Engquist v. Or. Dep’t of Agric., 553 U.S. 591, 597 (2008) (citing Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 515 U.S. 200, 227  (1995)). The “persons” whose equal-protection rights are implicated in this case are the particular Puerto Rico residents such as Mr. Vaello-Madero who would otherwise qualify for SSI, which is only a subset of Puerto Rico residents as a “group” or “jurisdiction.” The government’s justifications for the law must supply a rational basis for treating these particular individuals differently than similarly situated individuals who do qualify for SSI because they reside elsewhere. But because the government only focuses on how all Puerto Rico residents can be treated as a group, it fundamentally fails to provide a rational basis for discriminating against Mr. Vaello-Madero and similarly situated individuals who happen to reside in Puerto Rico. ...

Covid-19 Poll

 

bike trails

OIG Threatens Employee Discipline Over Productivity During Pandemic

      From Government Executive:

... The Social Security Administration’s inspector general office has in recent months conducted surveys of computer logs and telephone records of its employees, aiming to ensure its employees were engaging in work activities at the proper times. The probes have resulted in employee discipline, including firings, according to SSA IG staff.  ...

In a message to employees in July on "reentry planning" obtained by Government Executive, [Gail] Ennis [Social Security's Inspector General] announced to employees she had requested an assessment of the workforce's remote work productivity. She noted the agency found, as a general matter, the IG's office remained consistently productive and had "demonstrated an ability to produce meaningful results" in extraordinary circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the "vast majority" of employees worked the hours they said they did and "met their obligations as public servants."

Ennis added, however, that not all employees performed so admirably. 

“Regretfully, some employees did not, and they will be held accountable for their conduct,” she said. ...

One employee estimated that nearly two-dozen employees are facing potential discipline. That would represent about 7% of the IG’s Office of Investigations workforce. ...

     Note that the discussion here is about Inspector General employees specifically, not Social Security employees generally.

Man Indicted For Threatening To Blow Up Social Security Offices

Social Security office in Lubbock

     From KLBK:

A man was indicted on federal charges Wednesday and accused of threatening to blow up the Social Security Administration buildings in Lubbock [TX] and Hobbs, New Mexico, according to court documents.

Michael Wayne Nietfield, was indicted on three counts of interstate threatening communications and three counts of attempting to interfere with the Social Security Administration.

According to court documents, on July 1, Nietfield threatened that he would go to his nearest SSA building – located in Lubbock – and “blow it up.” He also said he was “going to be in jail for what he is about to do.”    

The next day he threatened to bomb the SSA building in Hobbs and ordered the manager to evacuate the office, according to court documents.

That same day, Nietfield threatened the Lubbock SSA building again.

According to court documents, he said if he didn’t get a response, “you better call them and clear them [sic] offices, cause I’m blowing these sons of b****** up.”

Students Go Hungry Because Of Social Security Backlog

   From The Spectrum, a student publication at the University of Buffalo (emphasis added):

Despite leaving her dorm 30 minutes before her lecture to get breakfast at 8:30 a.m., freshman biomedical sciences major Dina Dahhan had to settle for a partly frozen Smucker’s Uncrustables sandwich from the vending machine. 

That’s because the long lines at various eateries in the Atrium would have made her late for class. 

Dahhan isn’t the only student who has been forced to make unorthodox meal choices this past week. The national labor shortage has made it difficult for Campus Dining and Shops to meet student demand, resulting in the temporary closure of Atrium eateries, Hubies and The Bowl. The long wait times and limited hours are making it difficult for students to use their meal plans — despite the price increase on all student meal plans over the summer.   ...

CDS attributes the congestion to the national labor shortage, but also to a backlog from the Social Security Administration, which processes paperwork required for international students to work in the U.S. International students make up a large part of CDS’s workforce, so once the paperwork is pushed through, CDS hopes more food services will be available.  ...

SSA No Longer Insisting On Seeing Original Identity Documents

      From Emergency Message EM-21056: 

... While mail continues to offer an additional channel for the public to communicate with us, you must discourage customers from mailing important documents that they should keep secure and maintain in their possession, such as driver’s licenses, passports, or immigration documents. If they prefer, customers may choose to mail us secondary evidence of identity and less sensitive material. ...

Vaello-Madero Scheduled For Oral Argument On November 9

      The Supreme Court has revised its November argument calendar and added U.S. v. Vaello-Madero on November 9. Vaello-Madero presents the issue of whether it is constitutional to deny SSI benefits to U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico.

     By the way, many amicus briefs have been filed already in this case. Every one supports the argument that it is unconstitutional to deny SSI to Puerto Rican residents.

    Also, by the way, the Supreme Court is going back to in person oral arguments for its October term. Will Justice Thomas go back to his silent ways?

White House Draft Of CR Contains No Additional Money For SSA

      The federal fiscal year (FY) ends on September 30 each year. Each year Congress fails to complete regular appropriations bills by that deadline so it must pass continuing resolutions (CRs) that enable government agencies to  continue to spend at the rate of the prior appropriation. The CRs generally contain special provisions allowing additional spending under the CRs for urgent needs.

    The White House has released its draft CR for this year. It contains additional funding for disasters and for Afghan refugee resettlement but no additional funding for the Social Security Administration. Of course, Congress gets a say in this. There was an earlier supplemental appropriation bill. The original Senate draft of that bill included an extra $150 million for Social Security. That was removed in negotiations. Could that return in the CR? We'll see.

SSI Disappointment

      The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over SSI, has announced that on September 9 and 10 his Committee will mark up a bill to be part of the budget reconciliation bill that Democrats hope to pass this month.  The announcement includes a description of what will be in the draft bill. I see no mention of SSI. This may be amended in committee but I doubt it will happen.

     The Senate Finance Committee may have different priorities. If so, the differences will have to be worked out.