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Biden administration should remove Trump’s Social Security Administration appointees

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Diane Archer

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The Biden administration is going to have a lot of work to do in its initial days just in removing the Trump administration’s political appointees, among them those at the Social Security Administration. Joe Davidson writes in an opinion piece for The Washington Post that Social Security Works and other advocacy groups have a petition demanding that these Social Security Administration Trump appointees be removed, signed by nearly 230,000 people. The Association of Administrative Law Judges and National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals agree, saying they have “no confidence” in Commissioner Andrew Saul and Deputy Commissioner David Black.

Social Security Works is also asking President-elect Joe Biden to remove Deputy Commissioner Mark Warshawsky. Social Security Works says that he is behind Social Security’s attack on people with disabilities. The current Social Security administration is conducting more eligibility reviews of people with disabilities that can lead to lower or no benefits. And, a proposed regulation calls for  reviewing eligibility at the “earliest point” to ensure people return to work as soon as possible.

Biden has not agreed to removing Commissioner Saul. Even if he does, it might not be easy, although Social Security Works says that the Supreme Court gives the President the authority to do so. Trump appointed Saul for a six-year term ending 2025. It’s also possible that Saul might agree to resign.

With Saul as Commissioner, Biden could face a challenge reversing the SSA final regulations as well as the ones that are still pending. It appears that the law requires the Commissioner to do so.

According to Social Security Works, Trump’s appointees have closed Social Security field offices, reduced staffing and more to make it hard to get Social Security benefits. In addition, they have left people feeling unsure about Social Security’s future.

President Obama appointed Carolyn Colvin to head the Social Security Administration. But, the Republican-led Senate would not confirm her appointment. Consequently, SSA has only been run by Senate-confirmed Democratic appointees in eight of the last 40 years.

Saul and his Republican colleagues at SSA also want to put SSA lawyers in charge of hearing appeals from people with disabilities challenging the denials of their eligibility for benefits. Putting SSA lawyers in charge would prevent these appellants from having administrative law judges conduct independent reviews or from having judges with experience conduct reviews.

Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works says: “Union busting and the demoralization of the SSA workforce is causing many employees to resign. This makes it difficult for SSA to provide beneficiaries with a high-quality level of service. The agency needs new leadership at the top who will work to strengthen the agency and make it a desirable place to work, instead of driving people away.”

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One response to “Biden administration should remove Trump’s Social Security Administration appointees”

  1. BC Shelby Avatar
    BC Shelby

    …not just remove Mr. Trump’s appointees, but finally, eliminating the cap which is 137,700$. This would include all members of Congress who receive a minimum of 174,000$ which means 36,400$ is not assessed. For committee members and leaders the gap is even larger. Those at the top already benefit from, generous tax breaks (like in 2017), deductions the average citizens does not receive, and loopholes they exploit all of which put the rest of us at a financial disadvantage.

    Billionaires as a group benefited to the tune of nearly 1$ trillion off of the pandemic, while average citizens have lost jobs, suffer from both food and financial distress, face being evicted or losing their homes, and had little to be “joyful of” this holiday season. Many on SS have been living in poverty as that is the only source of income they have, as costs continue to rise (particularly health and housing related).

    I remember when I was young I could count the number of billionaires in the nation on one hand (and have a finger left over). Now there are over 600, with four being members of the “Centi Billionaire Club” (being worth more than 100$ billion). On top of that there are over 18,600 multi millionaires today as well. To these people what we receive on SS is like dropping a quarter on the pavement.

    Eliminating the cap would make Social Security solvent for decades to come and allow for an increase in benefits to lift seniors out of poverty thus reducing the load on other assistance programmes. The annual Living Cost Adjustment needs to be reworked to reflect the real cost increases seniors and disabled citizens face, particularly housing. Doing the same for Medicare. could also reduce or at least hold the line on increases to the monthly premium which for many, puts a large dent in monthly SS payments.

    Social Security was originally to be one of three means of support for retirees that included pensions and savings. Sadly pensions in the private sector have all but dried up and savings has become more difficult as much of the workforce is in low paying service occupations as well as the new trend of gig and contract employment while wages in this segment have for the most part stagnated. People are working 2 even 3 jobs just to stay financially afloat and there is little if anything left over to put into savings. Many of these jobs are also part time allowing employers to skirt offering benefits like healthcare and retirement plans (401K’s are a poor substitute for a real pension due to the volatility of the market).

    Hence as I mentioned above, many only have Social Security to look forward to after retirement or injury that prevents them from being able to work a 40 hour week. Pulling the rug out by reducing benefits or as Mr. Trump planned to do by permanently eliminating the payroll deduction would only put a majority of the most vulnerable of our society out on the street.

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