Recommendation 2018-2 – Severability in Agency Rulemaking, formerly titled Minimizing the Cost of Judicial Review, encourages federal agencies that anticipate litigation over their rules to consider early in the rulemaking process whether a rule is severable—that is, divisible into portions that can and should function independently. It also identifies steps agencies should take if they intend that portions...
In April 2018, the President signed into law the “Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018” following its unanimous passage in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives (...
The Administrative Conference undertook a project to examine the agencies and other organizational entities of the federal executive establishment, including independent agencies. The resulting report catalogues a comprehensive set of characteristics for each entity, including structure (e.g., commission or single-head agency, internal organization), personnel (e.g., number and types of appointed positions, limitations on removal), decision-...
In December 2018, the Administrative Conference published a second edition of the Sourcebook of United States Executive Agencies. The Administrative Conference previously undertook a project to examine the agencies and other organizational entities of the federal executive establishment, including independent agencies, and published the...
Recommendation 2016-3 – Special Procedural Rules for Social Security Litigation in District Court encourages the Judicial Conference of the United States to develop a uniform set of procedural rules for cases under the Social Security Act in which an individual seeks district court review of a final administrative decision of the Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).
At the request of the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Office of the Chairman studied the duty of candor and the submission of all evidence in Social Security disability claims. The resulting report briefly reviews and summarizes the Social Security Act and SSA’s current regulations and practices regarding the duty of candor and the submission of all evidence. It also reviews requirements from other tribunals, the Federal Rules of...
The Social Security Administration (SSA) engaged the Office of the Chairman to conduct an independent study of federal court review in social security disability insurance and supplemental security income cases. The project consultants:
Reviewed and analyzed the Social Security Act, as well as SSA’s implementing regulations, policies, and practices for adjudicating claims under titles II and XVI.
At the request of the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Office of the Chairman studied state guardianship/conservatorship laws and court practices with an eye toward improved information sharing between SSA and state courts.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) engaged the Office of the Chairman to conduct an independent study reviewing and analyzing SSA’s laws, regulations, policies, and practices concerning evaluation of claimants’ symptoms in the adjudication of social security disability claims. The Office of the Chairman prepared a report advising SSA on how to best articulate the scope of symptom evaluation in its adjudication process, so as to improve...
