Former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, seen at an Iowa town hall during his bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, was confirmed by the Senate on Monday to head the Social Security Administration. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The Senate on Monday confirmed former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration as the agency faces looming questions about its long-term solvency, systemic dysfunction and ability to handle day-to-day customer service requests.
Kilolo Kijakazi has led the agency in an acting capacity since Saul’s firing. She’s blamed poor service and backlogs on staff turnover and budgets that have not kept pace with increased retirement claims from aging baby boomers. In a statement on the agency’s accomplishments in 2023 that was sent hours before the Senate voted to confirm O’Malley, Kijakazi wrote that, “the combined effect of the pandemic and chronic underfunding have taken a toll on our employees.”
“Bottom line, we need enough well-trained employees to ensure we can meet your needs,” she added.
O’Malley’s confirmation also comes as Democrats and Republicans debate how to handle the solvency of the agency, which is tasked with paying more than $1 trillion in benefits to millions of seniors and Americans with disabilities. As part of a series on dysfunction at the agency, The Washington Post revealed that an anti-fraud program led by the agency’s inspector general levied unprecedented fines on the poor and disabled.
The SSA was slow to recover from pandemic slowdowns, reopening its local field offices to the public significantly later than most local and state government operations that serve the public opened theirs.
Critics said the agency was failing to serve poor and disabled Americans who rely on face-to-face service to navigate the complex disability benefits system.
Lawmakers also cited data showing that more than 1 million Americans are still waiting for initial decisions on disability benefits that now take an average of 220 days, agency data show. That is almost double the processing time in 2019 and far above the 60 days Social Security itself defines as its minimum level of performance.
Saul, a wealthy former apparel executive and prominent Republican donor, had served on the board of a conservative think tank that called for cuts to Social Security benefits before taking on the leadership of SSA. He had clashed with the labor unions who accused him of using union-busting tactics and clamping down on eligibility for disability benefits. But Saul’s firing as head of an independent agency — whose leadership is designed to cross administrations to minimize partisanship — also chafed many Senate Republicans, jeopardizing confirmation of a successor under Biden.