From WTOP:
U.S. Park Police Chief Jessica Taylor will be retiring from the force to take on a new role with the Social Security Administration, according to the Department of the Interior.
Taylor will serve as the chief security and resiliency officer, which will make up part of the SSA’s newly announced executive leadership team. …
From Outcomes Following Termination of Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits, an article in the Social Security Bulletin, the agency's scholarly journal:
We examined the experiences of former Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) disabled-worker beneficiaries in the years following termination of benefits due to medical improvement or work. Using Social Security Administration data, we found that approximately 16 percent of former DI-only beneficiaries whose benefits were terminated because of medical improvement between 2005 and 2014 returned to DI entitlement within 5 years of termination. By contrast, the DI reentitlement rate during the same period among those whose benefits were terminated because of work was significantly higher (about 32 percent). Fewer than half (45 percent) of former DI-only beneficiaries whose benefits were terminated because of medical improvement had average post-termination earnings exceeding the poverty threshold, compared with 71 percent of beneficiaries with work-based terminations. Age, entitlement duration, the likelihood of medical improvement, and certain diagnoses—especially psychotic disorders, intellectual disorders, neoplasms, and injuries—correlated with earnings levels and the likelihood of DI reentitlement in the years following benefit termination.
From the Washington Post:
They were civil rights lawyers, Social Security employees and labor experts. And now they’re all in completely different jobs. To fill vacancies left behind by waves of firing and resignations in the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal government, agencies are reassigning people to posts they know little about. That includes people who were forced out of jobs that are required by law or are essential to basic government functions, according to interviews with 20 federal employees across seven departments, most of whom spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. …
The result, employees said, is that work is being done less efficiently by people with little relevant experience or background, even if they have spent years in government in other positions. One former IT worker at the Social Security Administration — newly reassigned to disability benefits processing — described the changes as “leaving a Bugatti in the garage” and “a strategic decapitation of institutional knowledge.” …
The Data Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, is calling for an independent investigation into the matter
From a press release:
House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Ron Estes (KS-04), and Work & Welfare Subcommittee Chairman Darin LaHood (IL-16) announced today that the Subcommittees on Social Security and Work & Welfare will hold a joint hearing to discuss barriers to work and how policymakers can support opportunities for individuals with disabilities to establish, renew, or strengthen their connection to the workforce. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at 2:00 PM in 1100 Longworth House Office Building.
Republican ideas for removing “barriers” have sometimes included time limited disability benefits. I think they regard the lack of compulsion to return to work as a “barrier.”I do not expect anything coming out of this hearing that would genuinely help anyone drawing benefits.
By the way, when are they going to reschedule that hearing with the Commissioner? Ever?
From a press release:
Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano announced today his executive leadership team and organizational changes designed to strengthen accountability, improve performance, and modernize service delivery. …
Social Security Administration Executive Leadership Team:
Chief of Staff & Chief Risk OfficerChad PoistChief ActuaryKaren GlennChief Communications OfficerNicholas PerrineChief of Disability AdjudicationJay Ortis (Acting)Chief of Field OperationsAndy SriubasChief of Processing CentersMark QuinlanChief of Digital ServicesStephen EvangelistaChief Human Capital OfficerFlorence Felix-LawsonChief Information Officer (Core Business Functions)Michael L. RussoChief Information Officer (Technology and Customer Products)Aram MoghaddassiChief of Law, Policy, & Legislative AffairsMark SteffensenChief Financial OfficerThomas HollandChief of Security and ResiliencyJessica TaylorTo enhance SSA’s focus on operational excellence and foster a structure that brings leadership closer to the frontlines, the functions previously under Operations will be realigned into three distinct areas: Field Operations, Processing Center, and Digital Service.
SSA is also consolidating all Security functions into a single, integrated organization, which will be responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight of information security, physical and protective security, as well as personnel security and suitability programs. …
From Axios:
The Social Security Administration — under pressure from Senate Democrats —is on track to finish an internal audit of the agency's call wait times by year's end, Axios has learned. …
Remember that Social Security’s Office of Inspector General is no longer independent. This could easily be a whitewash.
The Social Security Administration has asked for White House approval of proposed changes to its cardiovascular listings. There’s no way of knowing what’s in the proposal.
