Smith: “Social Security Needs More Independent Oversight”

Writing at FedSmith.com, Brenton Smith argues that the vacant positions for Social Security’s two public trustees undermines confidence in the program.

The Public Trustee is supposed to be independent of the forces of politics. Each of these trustees enjoys a term that is defined by law rather than by job title. Thus, these individuals cannot be dismissed by the President, nor terminated by the politics of Congress.

As such, these individuals insert visible independent oversight of the numbers which govern the discussion of this critical program. If we have any hope of finding a middle ground in developing reforms, it will come from data on which all sides can agree on the size and scope of any financial challenges.

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