Number Of Disability Claims And Awards Declining

From Office of Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration

Happy Thanksgiving!

SSA Wants To Get Program Uniformity Rules Finalized Before Change Of Administration

     Social Security has sent a final version of the proposed regulations they've titled Ensuring Program Uniformity at the Hearing and Appeals Council Levels of the Administrative Review Process to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final approval before publishing them as final rules. The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has opposed these rules because of their harsh effects.

     I'm surprised that this is being done so late. Typically a new President suspends not just ongoing regulatory actions but new rules that have been finalized but which have not yet gone into effect. Since Social Security has to give at least 30 days notice before a final rule goes into effect, OMB has little time to act on this proposal.

     By the way, if you were going to rush something through, why wouldn't you rush through the proposal to prevent claimants who need a representative payee from buying guns?

Man Arrested After Punching Hole In Wall At Social Security Office

     From WPBN/WGTU in Michigan:

A 32-year-old Ludington man was arrested after allegedly punching a hole in the wall at the Social Security Office. ...

According to the Mason County Sheriff's Office, a man reportedly became upset and loud inside the office over what he felt was unfair treatment. The man was then asked to leave when deputies say he allegedly punched the wall with his fist, causing damage.

An Addition To Trump's Social Security Transition Team

     From the Washington Examiner:

An announcement from President-elect Trump's transition team hints that the incoming administration may be more open to changes in Social Security than the Republican suggested on the campaign trail, if personnel is any guide.

The transition team announced Monday that former Dallas mayor and former Texas Senate candidate Tom Leppert would be part of the "landing team" tasked with preparing the Trump administration to take over control of the Social Security Administration.

Leppert has endorsed raising the retirement age and partially privatizing Social Security, the kinds of changes that Trump has said would reduce the old-age program to shreds.

    The Washington Examiner is a very right wing publication which burns with true fire for the dream of weakening Social Security before killing it. I don't think there's even the smallest chance that Trump would actually attempt such a thing much less that they would succeed. I don't think that Democrats will be that lucky. However, I think we have to put Leppert's name down as a contender for the position of Commissioner of Social Security. I can't imagine why he would have even wanted to be on the Social Security transition team if he wasn't interested in the job of Commissioner.

Number Of Social Security Disability Recipients Declining

From Office of Chief Actuary, Social Security

Many To Leave Social Security Because Of Change Of Administration?

    There are reports on the ALJ Discussion Forum that Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin told agency employees in an in-house television broadcast that she and many other unnamed officials will be leaving their jobs at Social Security at the time of the inauguration. There is nothing surprising about Colvin leaving. That was widely expected.  However, it is surprising that many others would choose to leave Social Security because of the change of administration. That is not at all what has happened in the past.

    The same source contains a report that agency employees have been told to expect that appropriations problems will slow down the hiring of Administrative Law Judges. The slowdown in hiring is inevitable given the appropriations problem. Backlogs are going to grow rapidly over the next four or five months, at least. No one knows what to expect beyond that.

Getting A Little Feisty

     From the testimony of  Robert Klopp, Deputy Commissioner of Systems and Chief Information Officer, Social Security Administration yesterday to the Subcommittee on Information Technology, House Committee on Oversight and Information Technology:

... In our last hearing, some Members voiced concerns about a lack of leadership on cybersecurity at the agency. I appreciate this concern, but I also think we need to be careful about assuming that any security weakness is the result of bad management. If the fact that there are vulnerabilities in our IT infrastructure reflects a lack of leadership, then I accept the responsibility for the lack of leadership. If the criteria is that, if DHS [Department of Homeland Security] finds anything wrong, this reflects a lack of leadership, then I accept the responsibility. But this also means that every agency that has a vulnerability, exploited or not, has a leadership issue - and that means every agency, not just SSA. ...

The SSA can shift funding from our IT budget for cyber, but soaking up any savings by spending it on cyber does not fund continuous improvement. It does not fund IT modernization. The idea that the SSA, or any agency, can do more in cyber while simultaneously rebuilding our IT infrastructure is no less a fantasy than the idea that the country can modernize any other infrastucture - our roads, our dams, our electric grid, our military - without an investment.

My testimony includes a request to modernize IT and to fund improvements in cyber defenses. Wishing for better IT from cost cutting will not help. Wishing for cost-cuts with no investment will not help. Passing legislation without providing funding is not enough. ...