Carolyn Colvin, Social Security’s active commissioner is still leading the agency and with two weeks remaining before President-elect Donald Trump takes office there has been no news on an impending resignation by Colvin. Does this mean Colvin will remain acting commissioner into a Trump presidency?
Only time will tell, but at age 74, and being a product of a President Barack Obama appointment, whether or not Colvin remains commissioner once Trump is in the White House, it is probably a good bet that Colvin will not remain head of the agency for too much longer.
Colvin was appointed as deputy commissioner in 2010 by Obama and then was nominated as the commissioner to replace Michael Astrue June 20, 2014, but the Senate never scheduled confirmation hearings for her so she has served as acting commissioner for nearly three years.
Once Trump assumes office his agency appointments and cabinet appointments will be considered for confirmation by the Senate. Considering there are many positions to fill under a new presidency, it is likely the position of Social Security commissioner may have to wait a while, but Trump can always appoint one of his own choices to serve as acting commissioner to replace Colvin, or could choose to let Colvin continue as commissioner until he appoints a new one.
Typically when new administrations come into office there is a period of instability within agencies and the cabinet because there are a lot of new positions to fill. Even if Trump is open to allowing Colvin to serve as acting commissioner for a while there is no guarantee that Colvin won’t offer her resignation before that. After Inauguration Day things will get very interesting to see how government operates during Trump’s first few months in office. If Colvin has made up her mind of what she plans to do, there is no indication from Social Security as of yet.
