A Message From Andrew Saul, Who's Still Calling Himself "Commissioner", Not "Acting Commissioner"

 Maintaining Service during the COVID-19 Pandemic

02-11-2021 · 2 MINUTE READ · Commissioner Broadcasts

A Message To All SSA and DDS Employees

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impose hardships especially on our country’s most vulnerable citizens. Of concern, we have seen reduced application filings for the Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs since the middle of last year. Many of these individuals, including those people with low-income, limited English proficiency, facing homelessness, or with mental illness, have historically relied on meeting with you face-to-face to get the help they need.

Over the past year, we have worked closely with national and local advocacy groups to improve service to vulnerable populations. We have also engaged Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as private industry, to raise public awareness of how to access our services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive response demonstrates how much our programs matter. Agency resources, like the recently implemented “Information for People Helping Others” page at www.ssa.gov/thirdparty, provide the type of information the beneficiaries, and the advocate communities who help them, need, but we can do more.

I know our frontline employees witness the hardships our customers endure firsthand. Soon, I will share a number of initiatives with you that are designed to help us provide better service through enhanced outreach and communication with our most vulnerable populations.

We are determined to continue to keep you safe while ensuring we do not fail the people who depend on us. Additionally, these efforts align with President Biden’s executive order on supporting underserved communities. With your continued help and that of our partners, we can ensure that the people know about and apply for our programs.

Thank you for your continued commitment and dedication to the public we serve.

Andrew Saul
Commissioner

Three Sandwiches And Three Bottles Of Beer

     From the Virginian-Pilot:

William Rankin came to Norfolk’s Social Security Administration building Monday afternoon with a simple message — “I want my money!” — and a plan to get it, one that involved a handgun, rifle and some 600 rounds of ammunition, according to the FBI.

It appears he was prepared to stay a while: He brought three sandwiches and three bottles of beer. ...

On Thursday, federal prosecutors charged the 44-year-old Rankin with attempted murder of someone helping an employee of the U.S government, assault, having a firearm in a federal facility and being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, Rankin faces 10 years to life in prison, although sentences for federal crimes are usually less than the maximum. ...

It all started a little before 3:30 p.m. Monday, when Rankin entered the Social Security Administration building at 5850 Lake Herbert Drive. Right after he entered with a rifle bag slung over his left shoulder, a security guard approached him. ...

Rankin yelled, “I want my money!”

The guard told Rankin that, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the building was closed; he needed to call the phone number listed on the front door. Rankin clarified he was there because he wanted his mother’s money. The guard said he still needed to call the number listed on the door.

Rankin then pulled a .380 pistol and told the guard he wasn’t leaving without the money. The guard tried to keep Rankin calm. But Rankin became more agitated and demanded the guard unholster his gun and put it on the ground. The guard refused.

So Rankin fired at least five rounds at the security guard, hitting him in the left arm, left shoulder, left leg, right leg, left upper chest and the lower abdomen. A bulletproof vest saved the security guard from the shots to his upper chest and abdomen.

 After firing, Rankin turned and started to move to the front door, at which point the security guard drew his weapon and shot Rankin several times. Even though he’d been shot multiple times, the guard was able to get into an elevator, go to the second floor and tell others he’d been shot and to call 911. He then went back downstairs and watched Rankin until backup arrived. ...

Law enforcement found a 9mm Hi Point rifle and roughly 600 rounds of ammo in his rifle bag, including nine boxes of 9mm and three fully-loaded extended 9mm magazines. Officers searched Rankin’s Chesapeake home and interviewed his wife, who told them about his struggle to get Social Security benefits for his mother. ...

A Bulletproof Vest Saved His Life

      From WAVY:

A security company says a bulletproof vest likely saved the life of a 52-year-old guard who was shot at a U.S. Social Security Administration building in Norfolk on Monday. ...

In the message Tuesday, the president of [the security company] said an “armed assailant” attempted to gain entry into the Social Security building, but it was closed to the public.

When he was refused entry, he opened fire into the lobby. ...

The security guard was hit four times, but returned gunfire “until the threat was neutralized.”

After he was shot, the security guard went to the second floor to alert the other officer he was working with. That officer was already responding to the sound of gunfire downstairs, and had secured the seven employees on the floor and called 911.

Despite being injured, the officer who was shot went back to the main floor and secured the scene until police arrived. ...

[T]he guard was set to have surgery Tuesday and was in stable condition. ...

Arbitrator Rules In Favor Of ALJ Union

      From Government Executive:

An independent arbitrator last week ruled that the Social Security Administration violated federal labor law when it moved to unilaterally implement a partial union contract on the Association of Administrative Law Judges, despite the fact that several issues remained up for negotiation.

Over the last two years, Social Security and the ALJ union have undergone a long and at times acrimonious process to negotiate a new union contract. Last January, the Federal Service Impasses Panel took jurisdiction over nine contract articles still disputed by the parties, over the objection of the union. ...

Despite the fact that several elements of the new contract still had not been finalized, the Social Security Administration called on the judges union to ratify a partial contract of articles on which they had come to agreement, in apparent violation of the parties’ ground rules for negotiations. When the union declined to hold that vote, the agency unilaterally imposed those contract provisions in August 2020.

In his decision, Arbitrator Salvatore Arrigo said the agency’s violation of its memorandum of understanding with the union when it implemented the partial contract was “clear and patent,” and that it “constituted a repudiation of the essence of the ratification process.” ...

Arrigo ruled that the agency should cease engaging in bad faith bargaining with the administrative law judges union, rescind its demand that the union ratify only part of the new contract, and roll back implementation of those new provisions. The agency may appeal the decision to the FLRA [Federal Labor Relations Authority] for review. ...

 

Authorities Only Releasing Limited Information On Norfolk Shootings

      From "13NewsNow":

Norfolk police have released new details in their investigation of a shooting at the site of the Social Security Administration office, including the identity of the suspected gunman.

Around 4 p.m. Monday, officers were sent to the 5850 block of Lake Herbert Drive after learning that a shooting broke out there. That building houses both the Social Security Administration office as well as a disability services office.

Police arrived to find two men who both had been shot multiple times.

William D. Rankin was one of those men. Investigators have charged him as the suspected gunman. The 44-year-old was taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries.

A 52-year-old man who Rankin allegedly shot suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police say he was working as a security guard at the building when the shooting started. 

Authorities charged Rankin with:

• Malicious Wounding
• Shooting in an occupied building
• Use of a Firearm
• Firearm by Felon ...

No other details have been released at this time, including the motive behind the shooting. ...

SSA On A Real Losing Streak In Conn Cases

      From WTVQ:

Hundreds of Social Security disability recipients in Appalachia who were victimized by now-disbarred attorney Eric C. Conn’s fraud scheme notched another major legal victory.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday the Social Security Administration violated due process rights of Conn’s former clients by refusing to allow them to rebut allegations that their medical evidence was tainted by fraud. ...

The agency ended up terminating benefits for nearly half those individuals, including Gary Kirk and Larry Kermit Taylor, the plaintiffs in Thursday’s decision.

Kirk and Taylor successfully argued the SSA violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution when it revoked their disability.

Besides the Fourth Circuit, the Sixth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit have considered substantially similar cases and each concluded that the SSA’s redetermination procedures were unlawful. ...

Two People Shot At Social Security Office In Norfolk

     Two people have been shot at a Social Security office in Norfolk, VA. It's not clear whether they were shot inside or outside the building or whether the shooting had anything to do with the Social Security office itself. However, federal authorities are participating in the investigation.

Could SSI Changes Be Coming?

      I had earlier posted the names of the members of the House Social Security Subcommittee. However, it's unlikely that that Subcommittee will advance any significant legislation in this Congress or, at least, that it could be passed. It would take 60 votes in the Senate to overcome filibuster and pass such legislation. It's hard to imagine any significant Social Security bill garnering 10 Republican votes in the Senate. Specifically, the Byrd Rule prevents budget reconciliation bills (which don't require 60 votes in the Senate) from containing provisions that affect Title II of the Social Security Act. 

     Legislation affecting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a different story. My understanding is that SSI legislation could be passed as part of a Budget Reconciliation bill. However, the budget reconciliation rules do forbid anything that extends beyond 10 years so anything affecting SSI would have to include a 10 year sunset provision. That's not a complete bar. Much tax legislation including 10 year sunsets has been passed as part of budget reconciliation bills. It's basically a challenge to future Congresses to re-up the provisions. Would that happen with SSI legislation? I don't know. The Biden campaign released an ambitious SSI plan but I've heard nothing about SSI since the election. 

     I do know that the Social Security Subcommittee lacks jurisdiction over SSI. That's under the jurisdiction of the Worker and Family Support Subcommittee. It could be the more important subcommittee in this Congress. Here are the Democratic and Republican members of that Subcommittee:

Worker and Family Support Subcommittee

Chair: Rep. Danny K. Davis

• Democrats 

• Rep. Judy Chu

• Rep. Gwen Moore
• Rep. Dwight Evans
• Rep. Stephanie Murphy
• Rep. Jimmy Gomez
• Rep. Dan Kildee
• Rep. Jimmy Panetta

Republicans

Republican Leader Tom Reed (R-NY)

Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC)

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX)

Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS)

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK)