U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) is leading the charge to hold Social Security Administration employees accountable under a bill that would not allow former employees to continue collecting federal retirement benefits if they are convicted of a felony that results from their official duties.
Rice introduced the Holding SSA Employees Accountable Act in response to revelations of SSA fraud carried out by government employees in recent years. In one such case, SSA Administrative Law Judge David Daugherty pleaded guilty in a scam that left the government on the hook for approximately $550 million in fraudulent Social Security claims.
Sean Brune, the assistant deputy commissioner at the SSA Budget Office, testified before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security in May that SSA did not have authority to withhold Daugherty’s federal retirement benefits, despite his felony conviction.
“One of my biggest problems with federal government agencies is that unelected bureaucrats are rarely held accountable for any wrongdoing,” Rice said. “It is outrageous that people like former Judge David Daugherty can help con the government out of $550 million in Social Security payments yet are still able to collect retirement benefits at taxpayers’ expense.”
Under the Holding SSA Employees Accountable Act, the Social Security Act would be amended to prevent SSA employees convicted of a felony stemming from their official job duties from receiving federal retirement benefits.
“It should be common sense that if you are caught defrauding the government you shouldn’t continue to be rewarded with federal benefits,” Rice said.