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3. - rust-'COMMITTEE ON
HOMELAND srcumw AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

WASHINGTON, DC 20510- 6250

March 19, 2018

Beatrice M. Disman

Acting Chief of Staff

Social Security Administration

6401 Security Blvd, West High Rise
Baltimore, MD 21235

Dear Ms. Disman:

In January 2018, the Association of Administrative Law Judges (AALJ) reported thatjust over
one million people were waiting for hearings and decisions on their claims for disability bene?ts
or supplemental security income bene?ts. I am concerned that the increasing strain on the
adjudicatory process frustrates the mission of the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) perform an essential judiciary function in the United States
and as a direct result of the current caseload, claimants may be forced to wait up to two years for
a decision on their claim. This is not an acceptable constraint on due process.

The adj udicatory process at the SSA must be quickly and effectively reformed to address this
issue. There are things that Congress must do to assist in effectively speeding up processes and
there are things that can be done administratively. Whether it is Congressional action or
administrative action, any change in process must not harm the integrity of the various programs
adjudicated by ALJs. Therefore, I request that you work with ALJs to streamline the
adjudicatory process, without causing program harm to either the disability bene?ts program or
the SSI bene?ts program, by considering the following proposals:

1. Close all or some regional of?ces by centralizing administrative work in Headquarters
and reassigning staff members to hearing of?ces.

2. Reorganize the management structure of hearing offices so that more employees perform
case-handling work.

3. Review the estimated 1000 changes that have been made to the Hearings, Appeals, and

Litigation Law Manual since 2011 for requirements that can impede the ef?ciency and

effectiveness of the adjudicatory process.

Establish procedural rules for hearings.

Establish a list of specialized medical experts which can be rapidly consulted by ALJs

when they need access to medical experts.



Acting Chief of Staff Disman
Page 2
March 19, 2018

6. The agency should implement a Social Security Ruling (S SR) which would outline the
common combination of impairments which are non-disabling. ALJ would
then reference this SSR in decision making in lieu of using costly and time consuming
Vocational Experts at the hearing.

7. Assign quali?ed attorneys and clerical employees to each ALI to reduce the number of
support functions that Judges are currently required to perform

3. Instruct the Appeals Council to remand cases only for reasons that impact the outcome of
a case.

It is my understanding that all of these suggestions can be handled administratively and requires
no Congressional action. Furthermore, SSA could accomplish these changes through internal
memoranda or through the regulatory process using current statutes as the basis for the
rulemaking. I urge you to move expeditiously on these suggestions to ensure that SSA programs
are 11111 in a more ef?cient and effective manner.

I request that you provide an answer to this letter by April 16 which should include the agency?s
response to each of the listed proposals. If you have any questions about this correspondence,
please contact Clark Hedrick with Senator Lankford?s staff at (202) 224-6684. Thank you for
your prompt attention to this important matter.

Sincerelyw RV

James Lar?cford
Chai?/an
Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and
Federal Management, US. Senate Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental

Affairs