Unfortunately the answer to the question’s headline is not know because there has been conflicting information as to whether Michael Korbey, a former lobbyist and advocate for cutting and privatizing Social Security is still someone who is leading the new administration’s transition efforts in the area of Social Security.
Numerous news agencies reported that Korbey, just a few days after the election, was put in charge of leading the administration’s transition efforts as it relates to Social Security matters. As referenced in this ABC News story, Korbey “led President George W. Bush’s effort to privatize America’s retirement system,” which obviously failed as most Americans are opposed to privatizing Social Security.
There is a question of whether Korbey is still leading the transition team’s efforts on Social Security because Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is now in charge of the new administration’s transition efforts, indicated within the last week that anyone with lobbying ties would not have official, or even key roles within the transition team or the administration as FOX News reported here.
In a more recent story from the Washington Post it indicated that lobbyists are still advising the new administration on a number of matters, but did concede that some lobbyists who were apart of the original transition team have either resigned or have “deregistered” as official lobbyists, but there was no mention of Korbey’s current status within the transition team. Considering the fact that Korbey is not a current lobbyist there is a strong probability that he is still on the transition team and advising on Social Security matters.
Although an advocate for privatizing Social Security on the transition team will not put a lot of Americans at east, President-elect Donald Trump has said that he opposes efforts to privatize Social Security.
