Under the Trump Administration a regulation allowing Administrative Appeals Judges (AAJs) to hold hearings and issue decisions on disability cases will be exercised as of December 16, 2020.
The final regulations were recently published in the federal register. The idea behind the move was for AAJs to assist Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) with hearings to reduce the backlog of disability cases, but since the backlog has been greatly reduced over the last year, and the number of disability cases are declining there doesn’t seem to be much need for this move, unless there is another reason the Trump Administration is pushing for this. Below is a brief description of the changes as written by Social Security.
We are revising our rules to clarify when and how administrative appeals judges (AAJ) on our Appeals Council may hold hearings and issue decisions. The Appeals Council already has the authority to hold hearings and issue decisions under our existing regulations, but we have not exercised this authority or explained the circumstances under which it would be appropriate for the Appeals Council to assume responsibility for holding a hearing and issuing a decision. This final rule will ensure the Appeals Council is not limited in the type of claims for which it may hold hearings. We expect that this rule will increase our adjudicative capacity when needed, and allow us to adjust more quickly to fluctuating short-term workloads, such as when an influx of cases reaches the hearing level. Our ability to use our limited resources more effectively will help us quickly optimize our hearings capacity, which in turn will allow us to issue accurate, timely, high-quality decisions.
Critics of this move argue that there is a big difference between ALJs and AAJs. In a press release issued November 13, 2020 three Democratic members of Congress criticized the move to replace “independent and impartial ALJs with internal agency lawyers.” A statement from U.S. Rep. John Larson, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis voicing objection to the move is below.
“For nearly two years, we’ve sounded the alarm that this change would erode due process for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income applicants and beneficiaries and threaten their access to their earned benefits. The rule puts unqualified agency staff in control of deciding appeals hearings and contradicts the congressional intent of the law governing such proceedings. We condemn this political decision that will go into effect just as the Trump Administration is on its way out the door. It is our hope that the Biden Administration rights this grievous wrong and ensures that all those who are eligible can access their disability, retirement, and survivors’ benefits.”
This regulation goes into place December 16, 2020, which is just over a month before a new president will be sworn into office. President Elect Joe Biden will take over in the White House beginning January 20, 2021. Biden’s Administration could have a large say as to whether these regulations will be implemented while he is president.
