Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senator Mike
Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, today asked
U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Yellen about the outsized delay of the
Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds 2021 trustees’ reports.
Crapo
says the delay is especially troubling considering Congress is expected to
consider further legislation this year that will affect Social Security and
Medicare, and also notes that he and House Ways and Means Ranking Member Kevin
Brady (R-Texas) asked about the reports many
months ago and have still received no response.
From
the letter:
“It is now early
August, and Treasury officials have not yet contacted my staff regarding the
anticipated release date for the reports.
This lack of transparency and accountability over important federal
programs like Social Security and Medicare to inquiries from a Committee of
jurisdiction is concerning. It appears
that any policies Treasury has formulated for reporting on late trustees’
reports do not comply with the spirit and intent of GAO’s recommendations.”
…
“Assessing the true
nature of the trust funds’ current financial status is time sensitive. Reasons could always be concocted to explain
away missing the statutory deadline.
There are no repercussions to the Managing Trustee for failing to meet
the statutory deadline. And, it appears
that the reporting deadline has no operative meaning. I welcome any suggested legislative ideas
from you to cure this problem.”
Read
the full letter here or below:
Dear
Secretary Yellen:
The
Social Security Act requires that trustees’ reports for the Social Security and
Medicare trust funds be issued annually, and no later than April 1st
of each calendar year.
According
to a July 2019 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), 2008
was the last year in which the statutory deadline had been met. The 2020 report
was 21 days overdue, missing the deadline by fewer days than the past decade’s
average, yet still late. The 2021 report has not yet been issued, and is
126 days overdue.
The
2019 GAO report recommended that the Secretary of the Treasury, as Managing
Trustee of the Boards of Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust
funds, work to improve management of the report development schedule to provide
Trustees reports to Congress by the statutory deadline; and “establish a policy
to inform Congressional committees of jurisdiction when the trustees determine
that the reports are expected to miss the issuance deadline.”
The
Senate Finance Committee recently learned, in late May, indirectly through
questions posed to a nominee for a Treasury position, that: “A policy has
already been established to inform Congressional committees of jurisdiction by
electronic communication when it is determined that the reports are expected to
miss the issuance deadline pursuant to the recommendation of the Government
Accountability Office. For the 2021 reports, Treasury informed the committees
of expected delays in the issuance of the reports on March 19, 2021.” The nominee also identified that: “Treasury
does not have the authority to impose particular outcomes or to require that
decisions be made within specified timeframes.” It is not clear that such
an interpretation of the Social Security Act (specifically, Sec. 201(a)) is
accurate in describing authority provided to the Secretary of Treasury as Managing
Trustee of the Board of Trustees.
On
March 19, some Congressional staff did in fact receive electronic mail (email)
from an official in Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) identifying
that the 2021 reports would be delayed for some indefinite “at least eight
weeks” period.
Later,
on April 23, 2021, my Finance Committee staff requested a status update via
email from Treasury’s OLA. Specifically, my staff asked whether the
Managing Trustee (i.e., Treasury Secretary) expected the reports to be released
by the end of May, or if the approximate eight week timeline would slip even
further. That request went unacknowledged and unanswered.
On
April 30, 2021, my staff again contacted Treasury officials via email.
That email, too, went unacknowledged and unanswered. Finally, on May 13,
2021 my staff received a response from Treasury officials indicating that an
internal inquiry would be made regarding the status of the reports’ issuance
date, and that Treasury staff would follow up with the information soon.
Shortly
after, on May 24, 2021, House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Kevin
Brady and I sent you a bicameral letter requesting that a revised Medicare
Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund insolvency projection be provided to us as
soon as possible. Once again, we have not received information.
It
is now early August, and Treasury officials have not yet contacted my staff
regarding the anticipated release date for the reports. This lack of
transparency and accountability over important federal programs like Social
Security and Medicare to inquiries from a Committee of jurisdiction is
concerning. It appears that any policies Treasury has formulated for
reporting on late trustees’ reports do not comply with the spirit and intent of
GAO’s recommendations.
Transparency
and accountability regarding management of, and accounting for, Social Security
and Medicare trust funds has taken on increased importance with the recent
unlawful dismissal by President Biden, in violation of Sec. 702(a)(3) of the
Social Security Act, of Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul on political
grounds.
Transparency
and accountability over the Social Security and Medicare trust funds is also
especially important given that there have not been public trustees in place to
participate in formulation of trustees’ reports since production of the 2016
report.
Assessing
the true nature of the trust funds’ current financial status is time
sensitive. Reasons could always be concocted to explain away missing the
statutory deadline. There are no repercussions to the Managing Trustee
for failing to meet the statutory deadline. And, it appears that the
reporting deadline has no operative meaning. I welcome any suggested
legislative ideas from you to cure this problem.
Either
through reconciliation or regular order, there is every expectation that
Congress will consider additional legislation impacting mandatory programs
during the remainder of this year. Before Congress debates any further
legislation, it is imperative that policymakers have accurate information
explaining the status of the two trust funds. Please
provide Congress and the American people with an expected delivery date of the
overdue trustees’ reports.
I
also respectfully urge you, as Managing Trustee, to develop a better policy, more
in line with GAO’s recommendations, for keeping congressional committees of
jurisdiction and the American people regularly informed of anticipated
trustee-report delivery dates when trustees miss the statutory deadline of
April 1 of each year.
Sincerely,