Millions of Americans depend on Social Security benefits in order to make ends meet. Many have very little, to no other source of income. So it is even more important that the Social Security administration has a strong and decisive leader. For the last four years or so, the Social Security Administration has been without a permanent commissioner due to a variety of factors.
With the naming of a new President of the United States, many have speculated that this year may be the year of the naming of a new and permanent Social Security Administration commissioner. This person is essentially the head and face of the administration and will rule and comment on any changes or legislative issues that may affect the millions of Americans receiving some form of Social Security – including Social Security disability. Since the SSA has not seen many changes in recent years, many speculate that changes to the retirement age, and other factors that have been proposed, may be topics debated and ultimately decided on by the new commissioner and other decision-makers. Federal regulations could set the tone for changes explained by the existing or new commissioner.
Timing on said proposed commission has not been reported on by the White House correspondent. Based at the rapid pace in which the Trump administration has made changes, it wouldn’t be outside the realm to think that a new commissioner could be named in the near future. Commissioners for similar agencies, like Medicare, have been named by Trump within the last month. However, the progress in building and naming his cabinet has been some of the slowest in history.
It is unclear right now when or if a new commissioner will be named for the SSA. Meanwhile, millions of SSD recipients anxiously wait to see if a new commissioner will mean changes. A commissioner does not make sole-decisions about SSD. It is a combination of governing bodies and legislation that take affect to make a change to SSD benefits.
Source: baltimoresun.com, “Social Security waits anxiously for Trump to nominate commissioner,” John Fritze, February 6, 2017
