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Adds new subsections (h) through (k) to section 1106 of the Social Security Act establishing access restrictions for political appointees and special government employees, defining 'beneficiary data system', creating civil remedies and damages, criminal penalties, and Inspector General investigation and reporting requirements.
Inserts a new section 1150D into Title XI of the Social Security Act authorizing the Commissioner to make payments to state protection and advocacy systems to protect the legal rights of individuals who are applicants for or beneficiaries of benefits under title II or title XVI on the basis of disability; specifies eligible services, application requirements, minimum payment amounts (with inflation adjustment), reporting, funding allocation and carryover, definitions, and an authorization of appropriations.
Amends the provision governing funding for administration of titles II, VIII, XVI, and XVIII by adding an automatic appropriation formula and specifying funding sources (trust funds and general fund) and by authorizing Medicare trust fund appropriations for SSA-administered Medicare administrative costs.
Revises the text (as section 13301(a) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990) to exclude specified receipts, disbursements, and program integrity costs related to Social Security, SSI, and parts of Medicare from budget totals and certain budget enforcement measures.
Amends the Congressional Budget Act allocation and suballocation provisions to exclude outlays for the administration of title II and the administration of titles XVI and XVIII (as administered by the Commissioner of Social Security) from committee allocations and suballocations under the Act.
Amends 42 U.S.C. 902 by adding new subsections (f), (g), and (h) that establish three Deputy Commissioner-led offices within the Social Security Administration (Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity; Office of Transformation; Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight) and specify appointment requirements and responsibilities for each office.
Adds a new subsection (f) to 42 U.S.C. 904 (Section 704 of the Social Security Act) titled 'Access to Field and Hearing Offices and Live Telephone Operator Services' imposing minimum requirements on maintenance of field and hearing offices, live telephone operator services, employee levels, hiring authority, online access, and related prohibitions on closures and service reductions.
Amends subsection (r) of 42 U.S.C. 405 by revising paragraph (7) (changing the matter preceding subparagraph (A) from 'may' to 'shall', making other specified edits to subparagraphs (A) and (B), and adding a new subparagraph (C) requiring notification to any agency that has a cooperative arrangement under paragraph (3) or (11)), and by adding a new paragraph (12) prohibiting the Commissioner of Social Security from recording a death in records provided under this section unless there is clear and convincing evidence to support that the individual should be presumed deceased.
Amends subsection (a)(1)(A) by restructuring its opening phrase into clause (i) (making payments subject to a new clause (ii)) and by adding a new clause (ii) that prescribes that, for adjustment or recovery on account of an overpayment pursuant to clause (i), the Commissioner shall decrease monthly benefits by an amount equal to the greater of specified amounts and provides an exception where that subclause shall not apply in certain cases.
Limits how Social Security overpayments can be recovered from monthly benefits, creates new grant programs to help people with disabilities apply for and appeal disability benefits, and provides major funding to modernize SSA systems and reduce claims backlogs. It also tightens privacy and data-access rules for beneficiary records, protects SSA operations from certain executive reorganization actions, requires maintaining field and hearing offices and live phone service levels, creates three new internal SSA offices, restricts moving competitive-service jobs to the excepted service, and changes how SSA administrative costs are funded and scored in the federal budget.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced September 10, 2025 by Bernard Sanders · Last progress September 10, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate