A Milestone

     Social Security benefit payments are supposed to exceed $1 trillion for the first time next year. By way of comparison, the Trump tax cut is about $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

A Sad Story Of Insanity, Guns And Bad Policing

     The Miami Herald reports on the sad story of how Social Security Administrative Law Judge Timothy Maher ended up killing himself after an armed standoff with police. There's no question about it. This sad story shouldn't have ended like this. Maher should have been involuntarily committed. There was ample evidence to justify an involuntary commitment well before the armed standoff began.

Just In Time For The Labor Day Weekend

     From the Baltimore Sun:

Unions representing thousands of Social Security Administration employees said Thursday that the agency is lifting rules that restricted the unions’ ability to advocate for members in the workplace. The rules had been issued by President Donald Trump in three executive orders May 25. 

A federal judge ruled Saturday that Trump overstepped his authority in significant portions of the orders, which restricted members’ access to government office space for union business and limited the time for union activities such as discussion about grievances.

The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions had been waiting since Saturday for the Baltimore-based Social Security Administration to confirm it would comply, as the Justice Department in Washington weighed a possible appeal.

Confirmation came Thursday.

“As of August 30, the agency is returning to the terms we had with our unions prior to the implementation of the executive orders,” the administration said in a statement in response to Baltimore Sun questions. “Social Security enacted these steps consistent with the recent District Court ruling and accompanying guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management.” ...

Social Security In No Hurry To Comply With Court Ruling On Unions

     From Joe Davidson writing for the Washington Post:

Federal labor organizations won a major battle against President Trump with a U.S. District Court ruling overturning major sections of executive orders that substantially undermined government unions.

But the lingering effects could continue to haunt the already mangled management-labor relationship in an administration that has taken one step after another to alienate federal employees.

First, will the administration obey the court order? ...

The response of the Social Security Administration is instructive. It demonstrates no hurry to follow the court’s decision....

Emails provided by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) from Social Security labor relations officials in Chicago and Dallas to local union leaders indicate the agency still considers Trump’s orders binding.

“The agency is currently evaluating the judge’s ruling on the executive orders,” said a labor and employee relations supervisor in Chicago. “We will not make any changes until that evaluation is complete.”

An email sent Monday from a Social Security official in Dallas said “we just received notice from headquarters, that the Agency’s position remains the same on the guidance that was effective on July 9, until further notice.”  ...

     Update: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has now instructed federal agencies to comply with the District Court decision.

SSR 82-53 Rescinded

     The Social Security Administration has announced that it is rescinding Social Security Ruling 82-53.

Bill Introduced To Restore ALJs To Competitive Service

     From Government Executive:

A pair of senators is looking to reverse a recent executive order issued by President Trump to remove administrative law judges from the competitive service, which critics have warned could strip the executive branch employees of their independence.

President Trump in July issued an executive order that would allow agency heads to pick whomever they wish to be administrative law judges, provided they are active lawyers or judges. Previously, the Office of Personnel Management independently vetted candidates, and then submitted to agencies a short list of potential names.

The new bill, introduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, would restore the government’s 1,900 ALJs—most of whom work for the Social Security Administration—to the competitive service. The reversion would ensure OPM makes hiring recommendations based on “qualifications and competence,” the senators said, rather than any arbitrary justification political appointees choose. ...

Astrue And Fichtner Nominated For Social Security Advisory Board

     The President has nominated former Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue and Jason Fichtner to become members of the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB). Astrue is well known to readers of this blog. Fichtner recently called for increasing Social Security's full retirement age and cutting cost of living adjustments as well as an increase in the F.I.C.A. tax the supports Social Security's trust funds.

     The SSAB has no direct role in the management of the Social Security Administration and only limited influence. SSAB members often testify at Congressional hearings on Social Security matters but, again, their influence is limited.

Discouraging Status Of FY Appropriation

     Congressional work on the appropriations bills needed to fund the government in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, which begins on October 1, 2018, has proceeded along what used to be a normal track, with each House of Congress passing separate appropriations bills for broad sectors of the government with differences to be ironed out in a conference committee. The conference committee hasn't finished its work. I'm not sure it's even been appointed but things are far ahead of recent years where agencies worked on continuing resolutions (CRs) well into the new fiscal year and sometimes for the entire fiscal year.

     This does not mean that there will be no government shutdown or prolonged CR this time around. Congress can only do so much. There's another branch of government whose headquarter is at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Some experts think there will be a government shutdown, mostly over the President's insistence on tens of billions of dollars in funding for a border wall. Even most Republicans aren't eager for that wall, much less a government shutdown over it, but the President believes it vitally important. He may even think it's just what he needs to get Republican voters out to the polls in November. I'd call that nuts but I'm not a Republican voter.

     Whenever an appropriation bill gets passed, it's almost certain to be bad news for Social Security. Both the House and Senate passed appropriations bills give the Social Security Administration $11 billion in operating funds, which is what the President requested, but which is $400 million below the appropriation for the current fiscal year. The cut is even worse than it sounds, however. You have to consider inflation which is about 2.9%. Social Security needed an increase of about $330 million just to stay even. The agency will effectually receive a 6.4% cut in its operating budget. That's going to hurt.

     If you want the best case scenario, it would be that despite the appropriations progress already made, we'll still end up with a CR and that the CR will extend past the start of the new Congress next January and that Democrats will control one or both Houses of Congress which will allow them to make demands with a higher appropriation for Social Security being one of their demands. I don't think that's going to happen. If nothing else, Democrats winning one or both Houses of Congress would concentrate the attention of Republicans who would rush to enact appropriations bills before their power diminishes.