41 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
View submission: A Legal Researcher's Guide to Trump Anti-Trans Executive Orders
Social Security being an independent government agency has a lot to do with the Social Security Act mandating the Commissioner (head of the agency) can only be fired for cause and not the whim of the President. Executive Orders are limited by that act to pretty much just national security matters, as it is supposed to protect the SSA's independence to run the fund and program independently.
As for Trump's Anti-Trans Executive Order today, it is going to vary by agency for bathrooms (new gender marker changes on federal register are just banned immediately since there was no federal rule). There is no language mandating it in his orders as a policy directive, but vague complaints about the importance of single sex spaces instead. It will be up to each department head, with review from the courts (multiple circuits say trans people in gov bathrooms is protected by the Civil Rights Act/Constitutionally so legal battles likely incoming).
Comment by alvysaurus at 21/01/2025 at 06:03 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thanks for this. I'm hoping the legal battles go well for us, and we get lucky with some of the departments heads.
Comment by RadBoiLucien at 27/01/2025 at 05:30 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Then why was the sex change identification page on the SSA website taken down?
Comment by A-passing-thot at 22/01/2025 at 06:54 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Executive Orders are limited by that act to pretty much just national security matters
I'd really like to see a citation on that. You're giving legal advice reliant on that being true and when I've asked about it, you said you answered it in other comments.
Everything I can find on this suggests that's not true and that the SSA is subject to Executive Orders, eg, their employees are required to return to in person work because of Trump's new EO. Similar with the various orders relating to COVID.
Similarly, Biden directed the SSA to various actions with Executive Order 13988 (which allowed gender marker changes without medical documentation), to implement DEI initiatives[1] (Executive Order 14091),
[T]he Commissioner of Social Security[...] shall, within 30 days of the date of this order, ensure that they have in place an Agency Equity Team within their respective agencies to coordinate the implementation of equity initiatives and ensure that their respective agencies are delivering equitable outcomes for the American people.
and to create a "support modernized customer experiences"[2] (Executive Order 14058) that likewise states "the Commissioner of Social Security *shall*".
Executive Order 13520 is an example from early in the Obama Administration and a source from the SSA[3] stating they complied with it.
3: https://oig-files.ssa.gov/audits/full/A-15-19-50846.pdf
I'll readily grant that they're an independent agency and that the president doesn't have *direct* control over it but it seems *very* clear they're still subject to many EOs and the administration's agenda, particularly as it relates to the executive branch as a whole or when those EOs direct the work/administration of SS programs.
If Biden can direct the SSA to accommodate gender marker programs and DEI initiatives, why can't Trump do the opposite?