Hiring Freeze Will Cause Longer Delays in Disputing Social Security Claims, Group Warns

Union calls for SSA to fire supervisors to allow for support staff funding.

Federal administrative judges tasked with overseeing Social Security claims are warning a hiring freeze will further slow an already delayed appeals process.

Citing a figure from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, the Association of Administrative Law Judges said it currently takes 540 days for individuals to receive a hearing on disputed cases, and that number will only climb thanks to current Social Security Administration plans. SSA preemptively ceased most hiring earlier this year in anticipation of funding cuts expected once Congress issues full-year appropriations for fiscal 2017.

President Obama requested $11.1 billion to cover basic administrative costs at SSA in his fiscal 2017 budget, a $522 million decrease over the 2016 spending level. The House’s funding bill that includes SSA would provide the agency with $772 million less than that request, while the Senate measure would allocate $582 million less.

Under the House measure, SSA said it would process about 400,000 fewer disability claims and hold 200,000 fewer hearings. Employee furloughs of up to two weeks may also be necessary, the agency said.

In fiscal 2016, SSA hired 250 new administrative law judges. However, with support staff hiring frozen, new judges were often left to fend for themselves, according to Marilyn Zahm, AALJ’s president. Without support staff, judges are struggling to process new evidence, file documents and schedule hearings, Zahm said. Absent an unexpected uptick in funding, the hiring freeze will expand to judge positions in fiscal 2017.

“When you don’t have enough staff or staff is spread so thin, it affects a judge's ability to do his or her job,” she said. “Fewer decisions can go out the door.”

SSA’s judges have been forced to do more with less for the last few years, Zahm said, but the impact will be amplified in 2017 due to the across-the-board hiring freeze. The agency has endured cuts throughout much of the Obama administration; SSA’s operating budget has fallen 10 percent since 2010 after adjusting for inflation, according to its own calculations. The number of Social Security beneficiaries has grown 12 percent in the same time period, however, as the baby boomer generation has retired.

Zahm pointed to solutions beyond just bigger budgets to address the shortfalls; the union president said SSA should “reduce the amount of nonsense in the system” by trimming the number of analysts, supervisors and regional offices in favor of more employees “doing actual work.”

“We are micromanaged,” she said.

Though the agency still maintains a network of 1,250 offices nationwide to serve people in person, SSA has shuttered more than 60 field offices and 500 mobile offices since 2010. It backed away from a 2014 proposal to close many more field offices in favor of telephone and digital services.

AALJ, which represents about 1,600 employees, is holding an education and training conference for its members beginning Tuesday. The conference will focus on productivity, including several roundtable discussions on how to do work more efficiently and a presentation on technology tips that will help judges prepare for doing some of the work typically handled by a fully staffed support team. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.