https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-social-security-ssa-biden/2020/12/17/28483610-40b2-11eb- a402-fba110db3b42_story.html

Some groups want Biden to fire Trump’s Social Security commissioner. That’s not easy to do.

By Joe Davidson Columnist

Dec. 18, 2020 at 4:00 a.m. MST

Top Social Security Administration leaders are under fire from multiple fronts — federal unions and beneficiary advocates who want President Trump’s appointees out. The Social Security Works advocacy organization says its petition demanding the removal of Trump’s people gathered almost 230,000 signatures in less than three weeks. The Association of Administrative Law Judges and the National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals (Council 220) have declared “no confidence” in SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul and Deputy Commissioner David Black, with the council also calling for their ouster.

In addition to Saul and Black, Social Security Works is urging President-elect , “on day one of his administration,” to jettison Deputy Commissioner Mark Warshawsky, whom the organization calls “the apparent mastermind behind an ongoing regulatory war on disability beneficiaries.”

Neither the agency nor Biden’s team responded to requests for comment.

Advocates object to several Trump administration moves, including more frequent eligibility reviews that likely will result in decreased disability payments. Community Legal Services of Philadelphia estimates that “hundreds of thousands of people will stop receiving disability benefits as a result of this new rule.”

The proposed regulation says eligibility should be determined at the “earliest point so that beneficiaries who have medically improved and are no longer disabled return to the workforce at the earliest point possible.”

Yet that same document says that “we believe that there may be positive employment effects as a result of these proposed rules, although we cannot currently quantify them.” Pushing Saul from his job is easier proposed than accomplished, even if Biden agrees.

Saul, like Trump, is a New Yorker and was his University of Pennsylvania Wharton School classmate. Appointed SSA commissioner last year for a six-year term ending in 2025, he reports directly to the president. Unlike lower-level appointees, the commissioner cannot simply be fired, according to a Social Security Works report submitted to Biden’s transition staff. Commissioners can be dumped only for neglect of duty or malfeasance.

“In the unlikely event that Saul refuses to resign,” the report adds, “the President should remove him nevertheless,” citing a Supreme Court decision as authority.

Advocates want him out because Biden’s policy options could be limited if Saul stays. “We are also concerned that if Saul remains in place, the Biden administration will not be able to reverse or withdraw the newly finalized regulations, or even those that are still pending,” said Lawson. “Our understanding of the law is that doing so requires action by the commissioner."

The organization’s report made a direct partisan appeal to Biden. “Republican control at the top has brought a number of lower-level appointees whom the Social Security community views as hostile to Social Security,” the document said. “It has also brought harmful regulations, the closing of field offices, reductions in staffing . . . anti-union animus, and other actions and attitudes that have degraded access, diminished service, and reduced confidence in the future of Social Security specifically and government more generally.”

Before a 1994 law giving SSA commissioners six-year terms, they were commonly replaced by incoming presidents, said Linda Benesch, communications director of Social Security Works. Senate Republicans refused to confirm President ’s appointee, Carolyn W. Colvin.

“As a result, in only eight of the last 40 years has SSA had Senate-confirmed Democratic leadership,” Benesch said. “We think it’s time for Democrats to play hardball.”

Another change opposed by advocates and administrative law judges would allow expanded use of agency lawyers to consider appeals from people who think their eligibility was not properly determined.

“These attorney advisors, who the agency calls ‘appeals judges,’ will not have the independence nor experience that disability claimants count on right now,” said Melissa McIntosh, president of the judges association, an affiliate of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.

The judges also hear overpayment cases. McIntosh said unlike administrative law judges, the attorney advisors can receive annual bonuses from the agency, which could sacrifice their independence.

Council 220’s objections centered on telework for employees.

A union statement said its executive committee’s finding of “no confidence” in agency leaders is an “unprecedented act” resulting from “years of mismanagement and poor leadership.” Much of the statement focused on agency telecommuting policies since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic: “The vote is also an admonition of their handling of the remote work program, the lack of open communication with SSA employees amid a global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, and the absence of a clear vision for SSA.”

Ralph de Juliis, president of Council 220, part of the American Federation of Government Employees, said “it is essential that President-elect Biden not only removes SSA leadership, but clears the agency of all who were infected by Saul’s anti-employee bias.”

Working conditions that apply to employees, including Trump’s vigorous attacks on federal labor organizations generally, also can affect agency customers.

“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,” said Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works. “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."

Joe Davidson Columnist Joe Davidson covers federal government issues in the Federal Insider, formerly the Federal Diary. Davidson previously was an assistant city editor at and a Washington and foreign correspondent with the Wall Street Journal, where he covered federal agencies and political campaigns. Follow

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/11/220000-sign-petition-demanding-biden-clean-house- trump-social-security-appointees

Published on Friday, December 11, 2020 by Common Dreams 220,000+ Sign Petition Demanding Biden 'Clean House' of Trump Social Security Appointees on Day One

"'s political appointees are undermining our Social Security system, and Biden must remove them immediately." by Jake Johnson, staff writer

A petition calling on President-elect Joe Biden to fire President Donald Trump's top political appointees at the Social Security Administration on day one has garnered more than 220,000 signatures as the outgoing administration moves forward with a last-minute assault on the New Deal program that could deny benefits to hundreds of thousands people with disabilities. "On the first day of your administration, rescind the Trump administration's rule changes that undermine Social Security, and fire all of Donald Trump's political appointees to the Social Security Administration," reads the petition launched by advocacy group Social Security Works, which is urging Biden to "clean house" at the agency.

"We must call on the incoming Biden-Harris administration to rescind these dangerous, last-minute rule changes by the Trump administration and fire all of Donald Trump's political appointees from the Social Security Administration." —Social Security Works

Earlier this week, the American Federation of Government Employees Council 220 and the Association of Administrative Law Judges—unions that collectively represent tens of thousands of SSA employees—both released surveys showing that their members overwhelmingly do not have confidence in the leadership of Commissioner Andrew Saul, Deputy Commissioner David Black, and other top agency officials.

In a statement Friday, Social Security Works executive director Alex Lawson said his group's petition and the union members' no-confidence votes make clear that "Social Security beneficiaries and SSA employees agree: Donald Trump's political appointees are undermining our Social Security system, and Biden must remove them immediately."

The growing calls for Biden to remove the top political officials at SSA come as the Trump administration is working to finalize a rule that would tighten eligibility requirements for recipients of Social Security disability benefits, a move that one economist warned "could ultimately prevent as many as 500,000 Americans from receiving benefits."

The outgoing president is also rushing ahead with a rule that would subject Social Security disability recipients to more frequent eligibility reviews.

In addition to Saul and Black, Social Security Works is demanding that Biden remove Deputy Commissioner of Retirement and Disability Policy Mark Warshawsky, a longtime advocate of stricter eligibility rules for disability benefits.

"There is no justification for this policy," said Social Security Works. "The already has some of the strictest eligibility criteria for disability benefits in the world. More than half of all claims are denied."

"We must call on the incoming Biden-Harris administration to rescind these dangerous, last-minute rule changes by the Trump administration," the group added, "and fire all of Donald Trump's political appointees from the Social Security Administration."

In a "transition report" (pdf) released last month, Social Security Works stressed that Saul "should be asked to resign, and not simply terminated, because the statutory provision setting forth his six-year term states that he can only be removed for 'neglect of duty or malfeasance.'" That statute does not protect Black from termination for any reason, the group noted. "In the unlikely event that Saul refuses to resign, the president should remove him nevertheless, citing as the power to do so the recent Supreme Court case, Seila Law LLC vs Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," the report states. "It is imperative that the current commissioner and deputy commissioner, in addition to all other political appointees, be removed."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2020/12/10/social-security-leadership-gets-thumbs-down-from-staff/ Social Security Leadership Gets Thumbs-Down From Staff

By Ginger Szala | December 10, 2020 at 05:25 PM

Surveys of both Social Security Administration rank-and-file and administrative law judges showed overwhelming disapproval.

Top Social Security Administration officials were given an overwhelming “no-confidence” vote by members of the American Federation of Government Employees’ Council 220, which represents 26,000 SSA employees, according to a report in The Federal Times Wednesday.

In a survey, Council members said unanimously that they had no confidence in SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul and Deputy Commissioner David Black.

In a further show of displeasure, 88% of the Association of Administrative Law Judges, representing some 1,100 ALJs who are responsible for making disability claim decisions at a hearing level, reported no confidence in Saul.

They also gave Theresa Gruber, deputy commissioner for the Social Security’s Office of Hearings Operations, and Chief ALJ Patrick Nagle a roughly 84% no-confidence vote.

The AFGE, which has 313,000 dues-paying federal employee members, stated in a release that the COVID-19 pandemic, and its mismanagement by the Trump administration, was a key reason for the group’s no-confidence vote.

“Under the Trump administration, the SSA leadership has gone above and beyond to castigate and undermine public servants, leaving employees demoralized and out of the loop,” Ralph de Juliis, AFGE Council 220 president, said in the statement.

He added that “as we transition to a new administration, it is essential that President-elect Biden not only removes SSA leadership, but clears the agency of all who were infected by Saul’s anti-employee bias.” The AALJ’s disapproval stemmed from actions taken by SSA leadership that had “appeals judges” review decisions made by ALJs to reduce a backlog, which the AALJ said never existed.

According to Melissa McIntosh, AALI president, “Right now, these ‘appeals judges’ only review cases after an ALJ. What the [SSA] leaders are doing is creating a system whereby their employees would be holding initial hearings and then reviewing their own decisions, raising due process concerns. And, unlike ALJs who are required by statute to have decisional independence, these [appeals judges] receive annual bonuses.”

Saul previously headed up the Federal Retirement Thrift investment Board, which manages the Thrift Retirement Plan, the defined contribution plan for federal employees. He was nominated to the SSA by President Donald Trump and approved by the Senate by a 77-16 vote in June 2019 for a term to expire Jan. 19, 2025.

Black was sworn in to the SSA in October 2019 to serve a term also expiring Jan. 19, 2025. He previously had been general counsel of the SSA for 10 years.

Gruber has been deputy commissioner for disability adjudication and review since 2015.