The Social Security Administration is asking Court approval to let DOGE team members back in to the agency's databases. If these DOGE employees employees actually do what they say they're going to do all but one of them, at best, will be engaged in a ridiculous waste of time. I thought they were trying to root out wasteful behavior, not engage in it. See below and, as always, click on the image to view full size:
During the pandemic Social Security made the criteria for approval of a disability claim based upon some orthopedic conditions less onerous. Regulations adopted just before Joe Biden took office had required certain medical evidence within “a close proximity of time.” The Biden Administration interpreted the phrase in a less demanding way because of the difficulties that people had obtaining medical care during the pandemic. I think there was also a realization that the Trump Administration Listings were just too difficult to meet with or without a pandemic. This temporary change was later extended until May of this year but late in the Biden Administration it was extended until 2029.
Social Security has now issued an Emergency Message saying that while the extension to 2029 remains in effect “the agency will be revisiting its policy before then.”
The moral of this story is that if a new Administration doesn’t like a regulation adopted during a prior Administration, it should change the regulation. Don’t just play games with how you interpret it. The Trump Administration would have far more trouble dealing with an actual change in a Listing than with a mere interpretation. The Listings should have been changed in other ways as well. It remains just too tough to meet. It’s the same problem as the changes in the treatment of overpayments introduced by Commmissioner O’Malley. It took no effort for a shambling joke of an Acting Commissioner to reverse O’Malley’s changes even though what O’Malley had done was popular with Republicans as well as Democrats.
I have finally watched the Bisignano confirmation hearing. I found it tedious. For the most part, it wasn't a job interview. It was a performance by all parties. I understand that there are private meetings between nominees and Senators. I hope those are more substantive.
Anyway, here are a few thoughts:
Press Release
Social Security Updates Recently Announced Identity Proofing Requirements
In-Person Requirement Will Not Apply to Disability Insurance, Medicare, and SSI Applications
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is taking proactive steps to enhance the security of its services by implementing stronger identity verification procedures. The updated measures will further safeguard Social Security records and benefits for millions of Americans against fraudulent activity. In-person identity proofing for people unable to use their personal my Social Security account for certain services will be effective April 14, 2025.
“We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “In addition to extending the policy’s effective date by two weeks to ensure our employees have the training they need to help customers, Medicare, Disability, and SSI applications will be exempt from in-person identity proofing because multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person’s identity.”
Under the updated policy beginning April 14, 2025, individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) who cannot use a personal my Social Security account can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office.
Individuals who cannot use their personal my Social Security account to apply for benefits will only need to prove their identity at a Social Security office if applying for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (Spouse or Child) benefits. SSA will enforce online digital identity proofing or in-person identity proofing for these cases. The agency will not enforce these requirements in extreme dire-need situations, such as terminal cases or prisoner pre-release scenarios. SSA is currently developing a process that will require documentation and management approval to bypass the policy in such dire need cases.
Individuals who do not or cannot use the agency’s online my Social Security services to change their direct deposit information for any benefit will need to visit a Social Security office to process the change or can call 1-800-772-1213 to schedule an in-person appointment. The agency also recommends that individuals unable to apply online call to schedule an in-person appointment to begin and complete a claim for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (Spouse or Child) benefits in one interaction.
SSA recently required nearly all agency employees, including frontline employees in all offices throughout the country, to work in the office five days a week. This change ensures maximum staffing is available to support the stronger in-person identity proofing requirement.
The agency will continue to monitor and, if necessary, make adjustments to ensure it pays the right person the right amount at the right time while safeguarding the benefits and programs it administers. SSA plans to implement the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service’s payment integrity service called Account Verification Service (AVS). AVS provides instant bank verification services to proactively and timely prevent fraud associated with direct deposit change requests. SSA will continue to fight fraud while balancing its program integrity responsibilities with delivering on its customer service mission to the American people.
People who do not already have a my Social Security account can create one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount/.
Stay up to date about SSA’s identity proofing requirements and exceptions at What to Know about Proving Your Identity | SSA.
The Trump administration has installed a DOGE operative as the new Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Social Security Administration (SSA) in an apparent effort to evade a federal court order blocking DOGE affiliates from accessing databases containing the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans.
Popular Information obtained an internal memorandum from Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek announcing Scott Coulter, a DOGE operative previously assigned to NASA and the SSA, as the SSA's new CIO.
The move, which was not announced publicly, seems related to a federal lawsuitfiled by a coalition of labor unions — including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — on February 21. The lawsuit alleged that DOGE officials were accessing "personal, confidential, private, and sensitive data from the Social Security Administration" in violation of federal law, including the Privacy Act. The labor unions sued the SSA, Dudek, and then-CIO Michael Russo to stop the disclosure of the data to DOGE.
On March 21, the federal judge overseeing the AFSCME case, Ellen Lipton Hollander, granted the plaintiffs a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) which prohibited SSA, Dudek, and Russo from "granting access to any SSA system of record containing personally identifiable information" to DOGE or any "members of the DOGE team established at the SSA." The order defined the DOGE team at SSA as "any person assigned to SSA to fulfill the DOGE agenda." …
I’ll say this. The longer Coulter hangs around Social Security the fewer illusions he’ll have about the agency. At this point DOGE’s illusions about Social Security may be a bigger threat than its malevolence.
From the Washington Post:
Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Social Security Administration, testified under oath at his confirmation hearing Tuesday that he has had no contact with the Elon Musk cost-cutting team that is directing a major downsizing of the agency.
But Sen. Ron Wyden (Oregon), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the claim is “not true,” citing an account the senator said he received from a senior Social Security official who recently left the agency. The former official — whose detailed statement was shared with The Washington Post — described “numerous contacts Mr. Bisignano made with the agency since his nomination,” including “frequent” conversations with senior executives.
The nominee “personally appointed” Michael Russo, the chief information officer leading Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service team at Social Security, and the two speak frequently about agency operations, the former executive said.
The Post confirmed the former official’s account with two people, including another former senior official who heard Russo speak regularly about his interactions with Bisignano over policy changes. The other, a disability advocate, said she was told by acting commissioner Leland Dudek that the nominee and Russo “spoke multiple times a day” about Social Security operations. The advocate requested anonymity to preserve her relationship with the agency, while the former official did so because they were not authorized to disclose internal details….
The former official said in their statement to Wyden that after Russo had trouble persuading the career staff to expedite the hiring of a DOGE software engineer named Akash Bobba, “Mr. Bisignano personally intervened … to instruct SSA staff to onboard Mr. Bobba and give him immediate access” to the agency’s private data systems. Bisignano did not address what role he may have had in helping Bobba gain access. Bobba and Russo did not respond to requests for comment. …
From NBC News:
WASHINGTON — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is moving to downsize the Social Security Administration with office closures, cutbacks on phone services and new rules requiring in-person visits for some prospective beneficiaries to register.
And DOGE is making those changes without consulting or notifying some of the most senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill who oversee Social Security, including GOP allies of President Donald Trump. …
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a Senate Finance Committee member who on Tuesday pressed Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration about long wait times for customer service, said in an interview that he, too, hasn’t been in the loop for the administration’s changes.
“No, we haven’t,” he said. “I haven’t had any heads-up on any specific announcements.” …
If there were only something these Senate Republicans could do, like delay a nomination or hold a hearing on what DOGE is doing, but, of course, that’s out of the question.
