Verizon Wins Big Contract

     From GCN (whatever that is):

Verizon has won a potential 10-year, $525 million contract to help the Social Security Administration operate its telephone systems and call service center.

But time will tell whether this is for keeps or not. Verizon was originally awarded the Next Generation Telephony Project in July 2019, then incumbent Tyto Athene and prospective newcomer General Dynamics IT quickly protested SSA’s decision.

SSA apparently pulled back the award to take a second look at bids and those protests were dismissed two months after they were filed. ...

For the new NGTP contract, SSA sought an industry partner that could operate the agency’s field office telephone system that is used by at least 1,500 field offices and 15 large site locations. The system is intended to have its four service delivery points geographically located by region, plus configured in a manner that allows for redundancy and fail-over operation in the event of outage.

Club Fed For Former SSA Employee

     From WBTW:

A Florence [SC] woman has been sentenced to more than a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to stealing benefits from disabled social security beneficiaries. 

Kianna Parrot, 31, used her government computer to defraud beneficiaries out of their Supplemental Security Insurance payments from September 2017 to June 2018 ... 

Officials with the Social Security Administration first noticed suspicious deposits to Parrot’s personal accounts from SSI accounts. The investigation revealed Parrot diverted SSI underpayments intended for legitimate beneficiaries to her own account.   

She accomplished this theft by using her Social Security Administration computer and personal identifying number to access the social security records of individuals owed SSI underpayments. ...

Police Officer Turned Away

     From WTVF:

An armed Metro Police Lieutenant running an errand was turned away from the Social Security Administration office in Madison.

He was trying to get a replacement social security card at the Cude Lane location. Fraternal Order of Police President James Smallwood serves as a voice for Metro officers. He said it's against department policy for them to remove their weapons while in uniform as it could put the public, and the officer, in danger. ...

A spokesperson for the Social Security Administration issued a statement:

"Under federal law, Federal Protective Service law enforcement officers and other law enforcement officers, performing official duties, are allowed to enter the premises with their weapons. Law enforcement officers visiting a Social Security facility to conduct personal business must secure their weapon at an appropriate location outside of the facility prior to entry." ...

New SSR On Education

     Social Security Ruling 20-01p will appear in the Federal Register on Monday. You can read it today. The obvious intent of the. Ruling is to make it really clear that Social Security won't consider inability to speak or read English in determining disability.

Why?

     CNN is asking why telework is being mostly eliminated at Social Security just as the Covid-19 virus is spreading.

Congressional Democrats Press For Resumption Of Telework As Response to Covid-19

     From a press release:

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) today urged Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Andrew Saul to return telework options to SSA employees amid the outbreak of COVID-19....

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued interim guidance last month for businesses and employers that reads in part, “for employees who are able to telework, supervisors should encourage employees to telework instead of coming into the workplace until symptoms are completely resolved.” ...

     As I keep saying, this sort of message would have a greater impact if delivered in person at an oversight hearing.

     By the way, the epicenter of Covid-19 in the U.S. at the moment is Seattle. Is Social Security doing anything different in Seattle? There's a regional office there so Social Security has a significant number of employees there.

Seila Law Oral Arguments

     SCOTUSblog has posted a summary of oral arguments in Seila Law v. CFPB. There appears to be a good chance that the position of head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be found to be unconstitutional or, at least, that its head serves at the pleasure of the President.

     What would such a holding mean for Social Security? For one thing Andrew Saul would be gone by the end of next January at the latest if President Trump is not re-elected but, more important, there would probably be endless litigation on the validity of decisions made, regulations adopted and contracts granted at the Social Security Administration. These issues may require multiple Supreme Court opinions to resolve.

     It's distressing to see that the case argued before the Supreme Court dealt only with a tiny agency and that there was virtually no briefing on how this might affect a vastly larger agency that pays benefits to one person in five in this country.

     In retrospect, making Social Security an independent agency was a terrible idea. It's never really been at all independent but its theoretical independence is leading it toward pointless constitutional problems.

Case On Constitutionality Of Positions Like Commissioner Of Social Security To Be Argued At SCOTUS Today

     Amy Howe at SCOTUSblog has a preview of today's oral argument at the Supreme Court in Selia Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a case that poses the issue of the constitutionality of federal agency heads serving fixed terms who can only be removed for cause.  This is the same situation as the Commissioner of Social Security. 

     The right wing wants to throw as much sand as possible into the gears of regulatory agencies. The Social Security Administration isn't the target -- now -- but it may become collateral damage. It's seems odd to me that there has been so little attention paid to the potential effects of this case at Social Security which is orders of magnitude larger than CFPB.

     Selia Law is the first case up today.