Social Security Administration Must Hire More Judges

Shannon Weidemann

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Social Security Disability appeals have created such a backlog that more administrative law judges must be hired according to a House subcommittee. There are over 730,000 disability appeals waiting for a ruling. The cases are to decide whether or not someone qualifies for Social Security disability benefits.

Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue and Linda M . Springer, director of the Office of Personnel Management, told the House subcommittee yesterday that efforts are underway to increase the number of judges and to create new procedures for hiring the judges.

The agency sets the qualifications for the job, rates the applicants and places those who qualify on a hiring roster. Springer said a new roster would be ready by late October.

New procedures are being pushed for in order to hire more administrative law judges and get through the case backlog quickly. The OPM was sued eight years ago over their hiring procedures and that slowed hiring down for some time.