OHO Caseload Analysis Report

     From the newsletter of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR), which is not available online to non-members:

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     Note the continuing decline in receipts and backlogs. I can't see the national picture but I know locally that one reason for this is that cases are piling up at  the initial and reconsideration levels. You can't ask for a hearing until you've been denied at initial and reconsideration. Increased backlogs at that level, at least where I am, has led to decreased backlogs at the hearing level. 

     Note also the large amount of overtime used as well as how highly variable overtime usage is from month to month. I'd say that such heavy usage of overtime in a program that deals with only very minor seasonal fluctuations in workload is bad management. I think that if they were honest that Social Security managers would agree but would blame it on the uncertain budget situation they face. 

     By the way, I think it's time to change the caption on this report from "ODAR Workload and Performance Summary" to "OHO Workload and Performance Summary". It's been quite some time now since they changed the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) to the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO).

Kavanaugh Would Hold That Social Security Commissioner Is Unconstitutional

     Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has no history of rulings directly in Social Security cases as best I can tell. There just aren't that many Social Security cases arising in the D.C. Circuit where he has been a judge. However, he has opined on an issue that could directly affect the Social Security Administration. He believes that it is unconstitutional to have an independent agency with a solitary head, such as the Social Security Administration. He's a fan of the "unitary executive" theory who believes that we're all safer if the President has largely unlimited power over the Executive Branch. Since the President can't simply fire a confirmed Commissioner of Social Security, the agency, as presently constituted, would be unconstitutional in Kavanaugh's view. If Kavanaugh is confirmed, expect litigation over the constitutionality of the Social Security Commissioner, assuming a Commissioner is also confirmed.

Happy Labor Day — 2018 Style

     From the New York Times:

The Trump administration seemed to suffer a major setback recently when a judge rebuffed its efforts to impose tighter labor rules in federal agencies. 

But the judge largely found fault with the means by which it had acted, not with the ends it was pursuing: to make it easier to fire federal employees and limit the power of their unions. 

As a result, the administration may yet achieve the same goals. And according to workers and union officials, the effort has already created a climate of anxiety across much of the government. ... 

Few agencies epitomize this approach better than the Social Security Administration. Union officials say that while management has generally taken a more confrontational posture since the George W. Bush administration, the atmosphere has been poisonous at times under President Trump. ...  

[U]nion leaders worry that the Social Security Administration will seek to enact the same provisions through a short-circuited bargaining process. Under that approach, the agency could declare an impasse, opening the door for an outside panel — a body composed of presidential appointees — simply to impose most of what management had sought. ...

Happy Labor Day!

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.