Dachsie comment:

Looks like the Biden Administration has caused another huge federal agency to go to wreck and ruin.
High level SSA administrator, Theresa Gruber, has demonstrated "behavioral anomalies" for several months. SSA Acting Commissioner, Dr. Dr. Kijakazi, has chosen to do nothing.
Conceivably many thousands of SS applicants for SS programs may have been treated unjustly and may now experiencing severe financial crisis because of not receiving a decision regarding their application or being denied SS program acceptance unjustly.

Employees are afraid to blow the whistle on Ms.Gruber because if she is not fired, she will fire those employees who blew the whistle on her.

Consequently, because this problem has gone on for several months, the general morale and functioning of the entire federal Social Security Administration* is in a state of devolving decay and rot.

From 2014 - 2021, Dr. Kijakazi served as an Institute fellow at the Urban Institute where she developed collaborative partnerships to expand and strengthen Urban’s rigorous research agenda, effectively communicate findings to diverse audiences, and recruit and retain a diverse research staff at all levels. Dr. Kijakazi also conducted research in the areas of economic security, structural racism, and the racial wealth gap.

Dr. Kijakazi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York, Binghamton, a Master of Social Work degree from Howard University, and a PhD in public policy from the George Washington University.

*Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi is the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Dr. Kijakazi has only been employed by the SSA since 2021. Before that she was employed at the Urban Institute. I do not see what that is or where that is or what it does.
https://www.ssa.gov/agency/commissioner/

Biden fired the former Commissioner and brought in this replacement. Something looks seriously awry at the Social Security Administration and that affects all of us.
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I heard about this problem at the SSA from this video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2LBw1a9s7M


SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED AT THE SSA...

Social Security Disability Benefit Videos SSI SSDI
50.9K subscribers

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...ector-general/

Top Social Security official keeps job after reports of being impaired at work

Excerpts from article

Image without a caption
By Lisa Rein
July 12, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. EDT



A top Social Security leader is often impaired at work, six witnesses told investigators. But months after the report was filed, no action has been taken, and the problems persist, witnesses say. (Jenny Kane/AP)

Her department manages half a million hearings and appeals a year for claimants seeking disability, retirement and survivor benefits, with more than 1,500 administrative law judges and staffers in 10 regions and close to 170 local hearing offices.

Theresa Gruber, a deputy commissioner overseeing around 9,000 employees and a $1.2 billion budget in the hearings and appeals operation, displayed “significant anomalies” at work over the course of at least a year, including slurred speech in which she “appeared intoxicated,” leaving meetings without notice, slouching in her chair and aggressive behavior, witnesses told investigators.

The report concluded by referring its findings to the agency “for any administrative action deemed warranted” and asking for a written response explaining “the final disposition or administrative action to be taken.” The report said the inspector general’s office took “no position” on “the imposition of administrative actions” against Gruber.

The investigation was not released publicly.

Inspectors general have varying practices on disclosing reports on senior leaders as they seek a balance between protecting staff privacy and exposing harmful conduct. If a leader can’t perform their job, it violates one of the key principles of the federal merit system to “manage employees efficiently and effectively.” The more senior the leader, the less privacy they tend to be afforded, said several inspectors general who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

In cases where an employee displays conduct that affects their ability to work, it is standard practice at federal agencies for managers to ask their personnel departments to do an internal review, then recommend that the employee take medical leave to address the issue, particularly in cases of drug or alcohol abuse, according to experts on federal government operations and written policies.

Ennis’s office gave Kijakazi 60 days to respond in writing to its report on Gruber. For reasons that are unclear, the inspector general did not complete its investigation to produce a full report.

A spokeswoman for Ennis declined in an email to “confirm or deny” the report. The spokeswoman, who refused to be named, wrote that Social Security “is solely responsible for any personnel actions” stemming from an investigation of an agency employee. Asked why Gruber was not interviewed, the spokeswoman wrote that the office “does not disclose techniques and procedures related to its law enforcement investigations.”

Investigations conducted by the inspector general are “not public documents,” the spokeswoman wrote, a policy at odds with major watchdog offices in the federal government.

Alice Crites contributed to this report.

...
“The leadership of Social Security is clearly protecting one of their own,” Nick Schwellenbach, a senior investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, which monitors the work of federal inspectors general and advocates for reforms to the system, said after The Post described the allegations to him. “If you’re just sweeping the problem under the rug, that’s the kind of thing that kills public confidence in federal agencies.”