A group of Republican members of Congress are questioning President Joe Biden’s authority to replace Andrew Saul as Social Security commissioner and replacing him with Kilolo Kijakazi as the agency’s acting commissioner.
Below is a portion of the letter the legislators sent to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking the GAO for a response on the president’s authority to replace Saul, who was confirmed by the Senate to lead Social Security. A portion of the letter contends that Kijakazi may not be eligible to be Social Security’s acting commissioner because she has only worked for Social Security since January of 2021, but most experts believe that the Social Security Act permits the president to tab pretty much who he wants to be an acting commissioner.
There has been no public announcement of the change in leadership assignments at SSA from either the White House or SSA. White House officials have suggested to Congress that beneficiaries could find out by looking at a revised organization chart that was evidently changed during the stealth firing process and is buried somewhere in SSA’s website, the legislators wrote.
The only notification of the President’s unlawful firing of Commissioner Saul provided to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees came in the form of an email sent by legislative affairs officials at SSA to committee staff on Friday, July 9, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. with a message “FYI,” followed by a copy of a “Commissioner Broadcast” from Dr. Kijakazi reproduced below:
Today, President Biden made the decision to change agency leadership and has asked me to serve as the Acting Commissioner. Over the past several months, I have gained great appreciation for SSA and I have witnessed the commitment you bring to public service each day.
I thank former Commissioner Saul and Deputy Commissioner Black for their service to the public. I am a strong believer in collaboration and Scott Frey and I look forward to working with all of you. This is a pivotal time for the agency and the nation and I know we can overcome any challenge when we confront it together.
Kilolo Kijakazi
Acting Commissioner
