Will President-Elect Obama Replace The Commissioner Of The SSA?

There are many decisions and hard choices for President-elect Obama when he takes office January 20, 2009. These would include the direction to take on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, what to do about the economy, whether to bail out the three major car manufacturers perhaps. In the headlines recently have been his appointments to his cabinet.

A very important decision that could be made is about the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michael J. Astrue. His is a six-year term that is not due to expire until January 19, 2013. He was confirmed by the Senate on 02/01/2007. George W. Bush appointed this Commissioner in part, it is believed, because his predecessor, Jo Anne B. Barnhart, did not buy in to the private savings account plan that Bush failed so miserably at trying to sell to the country and Congress. President-Elect Obama could leave Astrue in charge and do nothing. Let's hope that is not the case.

Since taking over, Astrue has done little to effectively improve the wait for social security disability hearings. The length of time to get to a hearing has in fact increased during his term. Further, one of his first moves was to cancel a new initiative which would have eliminated the Reconsideration level of appeal. This "reconsideration" step is largely seen as unnecessary and a further delay in the process, and had been studied for several years.