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New York businessman Andrew Saul testifies before the Senate Finance Committee during his confirmation hearing to be Commissioner of the Social Security Administration in the Dirksen Senate office building on Capitol Hill on October 02 2018 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
President Joe Biden sacked the head of the Social Security Administration on Friday after the official, appointed by former President Donald Trump, refused to resign.
The White House said Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul “undermined and politicized” the agency’s benefits, among other things that justified his dismissal. Saul’s deputy David Black, also appointed by Trump, resigned on Friday at the request of the White House.
“Since taking office, Commissioner Saul has undermined and politicized Social Security disability benefits, ended the agency’s telework policy which was used by up to 25% of the workforce. work of the agency, has not repaired the SSA’s relationship with affected federal employee unions, including in the context of COVID-19 workplace safety planning, reduction in protections due process for benefits appeal hearings and taking other actions that run counter to the agency’s mission and the president’s political agenda, ”the White House said.
Saul, however, told the Washington Post that he plans to reconnect to work on Monday.
“This was the first time that I or my deputy knew this was going to happen,” Saul told the newspaper, referring to the email he received from the White House personnel office on Friday morning. “It was a lightning bolt that nobody expected. And right now, it left the agency in complete turmoil.”
Saul, 74, is a longtime Republican donor, a former vice chairman of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a wealthy businessman who transformed women’s clothing company Cache.
The president has appointed Kilolo Kijakazi, who is currently the deputy commissioner for retirement and disability policy, as the acting commissioner, a White House official told NBC News.
Kijakazi previously worked as a researcher at the Urban Institute, program manager for the Ford Foundation and senior policy analyst for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A search for commissioner and deputy commissioner will be carried out.
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