Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5429 - Social Security Administration Independence Act

(House Floor)
(Jacobs (D) IN)

H.R. 5429 would establish the Social Security Administration (SSA) as an independent agency outside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The bill is unnecessary, would adversely affect the most vulnerable in our society, and, as currently drafted, contains unconstitutional provisions. If H.R. 5429 were presented to the President, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General would recommend a veto.

The Administration opposes any effort to make the Social Security Administration a separate entity from HHS. There is no justification for changing the status of SSA. According to independent surveys, Americans are extremely satisfied with the service SSA provides. Social Security and health care programs are integrally bound together. SSA has become a gateway for senior citizens to access programs throughout HHS, including Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs providing services to older Americans. H.R. 5429 would cause a breakdown in this system. The public — including the elderly, the blind, the disabled, children, and the poor — would lose the benefit of having an array of Federal and State services available to them in one strong, responsive entity — HHS.

In addition, provisions of H.R. 5429, in its current form, are unconstitutional because they would:

—   Limit the President's power to remove the three-member Social Security Board proposed by the bill. H.R. 5429 provides that board members can be removed only for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." Such a restriction is designed to limit the President's ability to supervise the Board and is therefore unconstitutional.

—   Place restrictions on the President's discretion in selecting the members of the Board and in submitting nominations to the Senate. In addition, the bill's provisions vesting authority in the Board to appoint individuals to a number of positions in SSA are inconsistent with the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

— Require the President to submit to Congress without change SSA's annual budget as well as exempt SSA from normal budgetary and apportionment review of the Executive Branch. The President's authority to assure that SSA, an Executive branch agency, operates within available resources and uses its resources effectively would be impermissibly impaired.

In addition, H.R. 5429 is ill-conceived because many of the day- to-day functions of operating SSA are performed cooperatively with HHS. These functions include personnel management services, complete payroll services, budget preparation and execution services, accounting services, management services, Freedom of Information Act administration, and legal services, including litigation.