The Government Accountability Office (GAO) informed President Donald Trump that Social Security Acting Commissioner Nancy Berryhill’s service after Nov. 17, 2017 has been unlawful because the Federal Vacancies Reform Act limits the time a position can be filled by an acting official.
Berryhill has served as acting commissioner since Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20, 2017. She replaced another acting commissioner, Carolyn Colvin, who resigned from her position. Colvin served as the acting commissioner ever since Michael Astrue, who was nominated by George W. Bush, resigned as commissioner in 2013. Colvin was nominated for the commissioner’s spot by Barack Obama, but the confirmation process stalled and Colvin finished her term as acting commissioner.
According to an article in The Washington Post, The GAO sent a letter to Trump March 6 informing that Berryhill’s duties have been unlawful ever since Nov. 18, 2017.
“Specifically, we are reporting that the service of Nancy A. Berryhill as Acting Commissioner at SSA after November 17, 2017 is a violation of the Act,” the letter stated.
The blame for this revelation by the GAO can’t be placed at the previous president’s feet. Obama nominated someone for the position and the Republican-controlled Senate never confirmed Colvin’s nomination, and Trump has been in office for nearly 14 months without nominating anyone for the position.
U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, (R-Texas), who is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee, has already requested that Trump nominate someone for the position.
“This just reinforces what we already know: Social Security has gone without a Senate-confirmed commissioner for far too long. This is simply unacceptable,” Johnson was quoted in the article. “The president needs to nominate a Social Security commissioner now. The American people deserve nothing less.”
Berryhill, by no means, overstepped her bounds; she was next in line to be acting commissioner. She had no other choice to take over the role, considering no confirmed candidate was available, whether she wanted the post or not.
