A budget deal was finalized last month and despite what some people wanted, Social Security’s operating budget was not slashed, in fact, certain agencies were given the authority to increase discretionary spending because the budget deal was an appropriations bill.
Discretionary funding is an optional part of fiscal policy, in contrast to entitlement programs, which many people have labeled Social Security, and entitlement programs require mandatory funding. Because discretionary funding is optional, Social Security’s operating funds can be increased through the measure. Budget experts expect Social Security to have some extra funding to go to increased costs, even potentially increasing overtime to employees.
The problem is no one at Social Security seems to know who is in charge of authorizing overtime. Up until earlier this month, Nancy Berryhill was operating as the acting Social Security commissioner, a post she took over when Carolyn Colvin, who was named acting commissioner by President Barack Obama, resigned coinciding with the inauguration of President Donald Trump January 20, 2017. The problem is the Government Accountability Office (GAO) informed Trump that Berryhill serving in that role after November 17, 2017, was unlawful because there is a time limit for an acting commissioner to run a federal agency and Trump never nominated a successor.
Another blog attempted to ask “insiders” to respond to whether they were authorized overtime due to the budget deal passed last month. The “insiders” are seemingly Social Security employees.
There were only two responses, but neither identified overtime as a solution to Social Security’s backlog problem. On person responded that overtime was not authorized after the week of March 19. Another person who responded, said that overtime was not a good idea because it increased “burnout,” and resulted in many employees not showing up to work another day of the week.
