最新蜜桃影像

Thirty thousand people died while waiting for their disability evaluations in 2023, Social Security Commissioner Martin O鈥橫alley told the House Appropriations Committee on Nov. 20.

In his final weeks on the job before resigning to start his run for Democratic National Convention chair, O鈥橫alley called upon Congress to restore funding for staffing and increase funding for technology modernization.

After a half-billion-dollar cut to the Social Security Administration budget in July, the largest ever by the House Appropriations Committee, staffing has hit a 50-year low. Simultaneously, the number of people claiming Social Security hit an all-time high, said O鈥橫alley.聽

The Social Security Administration鈥檚 budget decides how much of the $2.7 trillion in Social Security reserves the agency can access for administrative costs. Currently, the amount is 0.3%, 75% of which is spent on staffing. O鈥橫alley asked the committee today to restore the accessible amount to 1.2%.聽

鈥淲e cannot stand back and watch this agency crater,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is a sacred promise to the people of the United States; they鈥檝e worked their entire lives so Social Security would be there for them.鈥�

Cuts to the SSA budget, which don鈥檛 contribute to reducing the deficit, are defacto cuts to Social Security benefits, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. She said cuts to staff make Social Security Benefits harder to access. O鈥橫alley agreed, asking the committee, 鈥淲hat good are benefits if you can鈥檛 get through on the phone to access them?鈥�

GOP Lawmakers were reluctant to restore the staffing budget, citing the SSA鈥檚 policy of allowing staff to work from home two days a week. O鈥橫alley responded that productivity had increased by 6%, and some claimants now preferred to conduct their meetings over the phone.聽

Karl Polzer from the Center on Capital and Social Equity explained to 最新蜜桃影像 that the baby boomer generation means more people are receiving Social Security benefits. Still, the money is set to run out.聽

鈥淪ocial security has a trust fund that runs out in 2035, so the agency says if Congress doesn鈥檛 fix the solvency issue, which is a big issue, they鈥檙e going to have to cut benefits by about 20%,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the past, Social Security collected more money than it鈥檚 paying out. Since 2021, it鈥檚 paying out more money than it鈥檚 going in,鈥� said Polzer.

The Social Security Administration has set a new target of 215 days of wait time, up from the current average of 243 days. However, in Georgia, the wait time for disability evaluations is 14 months.聽

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told O鈥橫alley that regulations say the wait time should be 49.5 days, a regulation O鈥橫alley had not heard before.聽

Clyde suggested the Social Security Administration contact the newly founded Department of Government Efficiency. 鈥淢aybe Elon Musk and Vivek can help you guys trim that,鈥� he said, referring to Musk and Ramaswamy鈥檚 appointments.聽

As well as $600 million more a year for fixed costs to avoid 鈥渢he grim reaper of attrition,鈥� O鈥橫alley sought a $5 billion one-time investment to modernize the systems for the future, saying the last big investment was when news anchor Walter Cronkite investigated in the 60s.聽

鈥淥ne of my deep concerns about this agency when I depart next Friday is a looming problem on the horizon of antiquated IT systems totally breaking down or being shut down by bad actors,鈥� said O鈥橫alley.聽

O鈥橫alley will not be part of the next administration, but he made final calls to the House Appropriations Committee to restore funding to help their constituents, 鈥淚 know you鈥檝e received their calls, I know you鈥檝e heard their cries,鈥� he said.