Social Security Administration (SSA):
Budget Issues
Scott D. Szymendera
Analyst in Disability Policy
September 8, 2014
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Social Security Administration (SSA): Budget Issues

Summary
The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Old Age and Survivors Insurance
(OASI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and
Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans programs that affect the lives of nearly every
American family. These programs pay out more than $900 billion in annual federal benefits.
Program benefit costs are considered mandatory spending not subject to annual appropriations.
The SSA requires annual discretionary appropriations to administer these programs and to
provide support to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The President’s FY2015 budget request
for SSA administrative expenses, referred to as the limitation on administrative expenses (LAE)
account, is $12.0 billion.
This report provides an overview of the SSA’s mandatory spending but largely focuses on
discretionary appropriations for the agency’s administrative expenses. The size of the annual
appropriations for administrative expenses affects the agency’s ability to effectively administer
the SSA’s benefit programs as well as conduct program integrity activities designed to ensure that
only eligible persons receive federal benefits.

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Social Security Administration Programs
The programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) touch the lives of nearly
every American family and are key components of the nation’s economic safety net for the aged
and disabled. In FY2015, the SSA projects total spending of $963 billion on program benefits and
administrative costs,1 with the majority of this spending for benefits and administration of the
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program. The SSA also administers the Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs and provides
Special Benefits to Certain World War II Veterans.
The President’s budget request for total administrative expenses for the SSA for FY2015 is $12.4
billion.2 The total appropriation for SSA administrative expenses in FY2014 was $12.0 billion.
Spending on benefit payments for the SSA’s programs is considered mandatory spending.
Spending for the cost of administering these programs, as well as providing for other
administrative responsibilities of the SSA, is considered discretionary spending.3
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
The OASI program is the largest program
FY2015 OASI Projections4
administered by the SSA. OASI provides cash
Average number of beneficiaries: 49.2 mil ion
benefits to insured workers upon retirement
Benefit outlays: $744.1 bil ion
and to their spouses, dependents, and
survivors. Workers are insured for OASI by
Administrative and other costs: $7.5 bil ion5
working at jobs covered by the Social Security
Total program spending: $751.7 bil ion
system and paying payroll taxes that finance
benefits. OASI benefits and administrative costs are paid out of the federal OASI trust fund.

1 Excludes projected spending on administrative costs related to the replacement of the National Computer Center
provided for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, P.L. 111-5, as well as costs associated with
legislative initiatives proposed in the FY2015 Budget.
2 Includes the request for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), research, and other planned obligations.
3 For additional information on mandatory and discretionary spending in the federal budget, see CRS Report RL33074,
Mandatory Spending Since 1962, by Mindy R. Levit and D. Andrew Austin, and CRS Report RL34424, The Budget
Control Act and Trends in Discretionary Spending, by D. Andrew Austin.
4 Social Security Administration, FY2015 President’s Budget: Key Tables, March 2014, Tables 3-5, http://ssa.gov/
budget/FY15Files/2015KT.pdf; hereafter cited as SSA, FY2015 Key Tables.
5 Includes administrative expenses, demonstration projects, payments to the Railroad Retirement Board, and the
quinquennial adjustment for military wage credits.
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Social Security Disability Insurance
The SSDI program pays cash benefits to
FY2015 SSDI Projections6
insured workers unable to work because of
Average number of beneficiaries: 11.1 mil ion
significant long-term disabilities.8 The
Benefit outlays: $146.8 bil ion
spouses, dependents, and survivors of disabled
workers are also eligible for benefits. SSDI
Administrative and other costs: $4.0 bil ion7
benefits continue until the disabled worker
Total program spending: $150.8 bil ion
dies, returns to work, or reaches full
retirement age, at which point he or she transitions to the OASI program. SSDI benefits and
administrative costs are paid out of the federal Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund.
Supplemental Security Income
The SSI program pays cash benefits to low-
FY2015 SSI Projections9
income aged, blind, and disabled persons,
Average number of federal recipients: 8.3 mil ion
regardless of their Social Security insured
Federal benefit outlays: $56.2 bil ion
status.12 Disabled children are eligible for SSI.
To be eligible for SSI, a person must have
Federal administrative and other costs: $4.5 bil ion10
limited income and assets. SSI benefits are
Total federal program spending: $60.7 bil ion11
reduced by other countable income meaning
that SSI is often a program of last resort for low-income aged, blind, and disabled persons. SSI
benefits and administrative costs are paid out of general revenue.

6 SSA, FY2015 Key Tables, Tables 3-5.
7 Includes administrative expenses, payments to vocational rehabilitation and Ticket to Work providers, demonstration
projects, payments to the Railroad Retirement Board, and the quinquennial adjustment for military wage credits.
8 For additional information on the SSDI program, see CRS Report RL32279, Primer on Disability Benefits: Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), by William R. Morton.
9 SSA, FY2015 Key Tables, Tables 6-7.
10 Includes administrative expenses, payments to vocational rehabilitation and Ticket to Work providers, and research
expenses.
11 Total projected SSI program spending does not include the fees paid by 10 states and the District of Columbia to the
SSA to administer their state SSI supplement programs.
12 For additional information on the SSI program, see CRS Report RL32279.
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Figure 1. Projected Spending on SSA Programs
FY2015

Source: Social Security Administration, FY2015 President’s Budget: Key Tables, March 2014, Table 3,
http://ssa.gov/budget/FY15Files/2015KT.pdf.
Notes: OASI: Old-Age and Survivors Insurance; SSDI: Social Security Disability Insurance; SSI: Supplemental
Security Income; WWII Vets: Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans. Special Benefits for Certain
World II Veterans make-up significantly less than 1% of projected SSA program spending.
Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans
The SSA pays Special Benefits to Certain
FY2015 Special Benefits for Certain
World War II Veterans to low-income World
WWII Veterans Projections13
War II veterans who are living outside of the
Average number of beneficiaries: 1,000
United States.15 Established in 1999, this
Benefit outlays: $4 million
program is designed to provide a minimum
cash benefit to two groups: low-income
Administrative and other costs: $1 mil ion14
American veterans; and low-income veterans
Total program spending: $5 mil ion
of the Filipino armed forces that fought
alongside the American military during World War II. Beneficiaries must currently live outside of
the United States, and usually live in the Philippines. The cost of these benefits and their related
administrative costs are paid out of general revenue.

13 SSA, FY2015 Key Tables, Table 8.
14 Includes program administrative costs only.
15 For additional information on Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans, see CRS Report RL33876,
Overview of Filipino Veterans’ Benefits, by Christine Scott, Sidath Viranga Panangala, and Carol D. Davis.
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Social Security Administration Budget Request
President’s Budget Request
The President’s budget request to Congress for the SSA currently consists of four accounts:
payments to the Social Security trust funds, the SSI program, the Office of the Inspector General
(OIG), and limitation on administrative expenses (LAE).
Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds
This account is designed to reimburse the OASI and DI trust funds for the costs of certain
activities payable by general revenue. This account consists of payments permanently and
indefinitely authorized and thus not subject to annual appropriations, and payments subject to
annual appropriations.
Payments not Subject to Annual Appropriations
For FY2015, the President’s budget projects $32.0 billion in payments not subject to annual
appropriations.16 Nearly this entire amount, $31.7 billion, is from the taxation of Social Security
benefits. In addition, $44 million is the projected reimbursement to the OASI and DI trust funds
from general revenue to account for the reduction in the Social Security payroll tax rate from
6.2% to 4.2% in calendar year 2011 and part of calendar year 2012.17 The remaining amounts are
from reimbursement for union administrative expenses, Social Security payroll tax credits, and
payments related to changes in the reporting of self-employment income.18
Payments Subject to Annual Appropriations
For FY2013, the President’s budget requests $16.4 million in payments to the Social Security
trust funds subject to annual appropriations.19 Of this request, $10.0 million is for interest earned
on benefit checks that remain uncashed for at least six months and $6.4 million is for
administrative costs related to the 1974 pension reform legislation.20 The President’s budget does

16 Social Security Administration, Justifications of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Fiscal Year 2015, March
2014, p. 28, http://www.ssa.gov/budget/2015FullJustification.pdf; hereafter cited as SSA, FY2015 Budget Justification.
17 Title VI, Section 601 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010,
P.L. 111-312, reduced the Social Security payroll tax rate paid by employees in calendar year 2011 from 6.2% to 4.2%
and required the OASI and DI trust funds to be reimbursed for revenue lost from general revenue. The Temporary
Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, P.L. 112-78, extended the payroll tax reduction through February 29, 2012,
and the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, P.L. 112-96, extended the payroll tax reduction through
the end of calendar year 2012.
18 The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, P.L. 110-234, made changes to the reporting of self-employment
income. Section 15361 of this act is a mandatory appropriation to reimburse the OASI and DI trust funds for revenue
lost because of these changes in FY2009 through FY2017. The estimate for FY2015 is $8 million.
19 SSA, FY2015 Budget Justification, p. 17.
20 Section 1131 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §1320b-1) as established by the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, P.L. 93-406, requires the SSA to furnish certain information on deferred vested pension rights to
pension plan participants and their dependents and survivors. The cost of this activity is initially paid from the OASI
trust fund and reimbursed from general revenue through an annual appropriation.
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not request an appropriation for the two remaining activities subject to annual appropriation:
administrative costs associated with coal industry retiree health benefits and reimbursement for
pre-1957 military wage credits.21
SSI Program
The costs of SSI benefits and administration of the SSI program are paid out of general revenue
and appropriated to the SSA in this account. This account contains three components. First, there
is an appropriation for benefit and administration costs for the given fiscal year. This component
is described in additional detail below. Second, there is a mandatory appropriation of “such sums
as may be necessary” for any benefit costs incurred after June 15 and any unanticipated costs
associated with the SSI program. Third, there is an advance appropriation for benefit costs for the
first quarter of the succeeding fiscal year. Funds appropriated for the SSI program remain
available to the SSA until expended. The President’s FY2015 budget requests $40.9 billion for
current fiscal year program costs and $19.2 billion for SSI benefits in the first quarter of FY2016.
Total federal benefit payments in FY2015 are estimated to cost $56.2 billion, with $19.7 billion
coming from the FY2015 advance appropriation. 22
Administrative and Other Expenses
In addition to providing for the cost of SSI benefits, the appropriation for the SSI program also
provides for administrative expenses relating to the SSI program, beneficiary services, and costs
related to research and demonstration projects. The FY2015 President’s budget request for these
administrative and other expenses is $4.4 billion.
Administrative expenses for the SSI program are initially paid from the OASI and DI trust funds
and are appropriated to the LAE account. The appropriation to the SSI program account for
administrative expenses is used to reimburse the trust funds from general revenue for these costs.
Administrative expenses for the SSI program include costs related to initial disability
determinations, disability hearings and appeals, and program integrity activities. The FY2015
President’s budget request for administrative expenses is just under $4.3 billion.
The SSI program appropriation also funds beneficiary services, research, and Medicare outreach.
Beneficiary services include payments to state vocational rehabilitation agencies and Ticket to
Work employment networks for services provided to SSI recipients. The FY2015 President’s
budget requests $70 million for beneficiary services, $53 million for Title XVI research and
demonstration projects, and an additional $1 million for costs associated with the Department of
State’s discretionary change to the Special Immigrant Visa rules for Afghans, which may affect
the eligibility of some immigrants for SSI benefits.23

21 The SSA has determined that appropriations are not needed in FY2015 for these activities. Costs associated with coal
industry retiree health benefits will be paid from unobligated prior appropriations and pre-1957 military wage credits
will be financed from scheduled transfers from the trust funds not subject to appropriation.
22 SSA, FY2015 Budget Justification, p. 42.
23 Ibid.
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Office of the Inspector General
The SSA OIG investigates fraud, waste, and abuse within programs administered by the SSA and
audits such programs to determine their effectiveness and efficiency. The OIG also investigates
improper receipt of federal benefits; certain crimes committed by SSA employees, contractors,
and program beneficiaries; and supports larger government-wide homeland security efforts. The
President’s FY2015 budget request for the OIG is $104.6 million, of which $29 million is from
general revenue and $75.6 million is from the OASI and DI trust funds as authorized by Section
201(g)(1) of the Social Security Act24 for costs associated with the OASI and DI programs.25
Limitation on Administrative Expenses
The appropriation for the LAE account funds the SSA’s administrative costs associated with the
OASI, SSDI, and SSI programs as well as costs incurred by the SSA to support the Medicare and
Medicaid programs. This account also funds administrative functions, such as the operations of
SSA field offices, employment verification, agency information technology activities, and the
Social Security Advisory Board.
The LAE account is discretionary and subject to annual appropriation. The funds that make up
this account come from the OASI and DI trust funds, the Medicare trust funds, general revenue,
and certain fees collected by the SSA, with funds from the Social Security trust funds making-up
half of the LAE budget authority. Thus, unlike a traditional appropriation in which Congress
provides money from the Treasury to an agency, the LAE appropriation is actually a limitation on
the amount of money from these various sources that the SSA can spend on its administrative
activities. Figure 2 provides the breakdown of budget authority for the LAE account in the
President’s FY2015 budget request.
The FY2015 President’s budget request for SSA’s LAE account is $12.0 billion.26 This total
appropriation consists of the base LAE appropriation, additional appropriations for program
integrity activities, and appropriations for LAE activities from user fees paid to the SSA. The
base LAE appropriation is the general appropriation for the SSA’s administrative expenses. The
President’s FY2015 budget request for the base LAE account is $10.5 billion.

24 42 U.S.C. §401(g).
25 SSA, FY2015 Budget Justification, p. 164.
26 Ibid., pp. 98-99.
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Figure 2. SSA Total LAE Budget Authority
FY2015 President’s Budget Request

Source: Social Security Administration, Justifications of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Fiscal Year 2015,
March 2014, p. 115, http://www.ssa.gov/budget/2015Ful Justification.pdf.
Note: “OASI and DI Trust Funds” includes administrative costs for Special Benefits for Certain World War II
Veterans.
Program Integrity Activities
The FY2015 President’s budget requests $1.4 billion for costs associated with conducting
continuing disability reviews (CDRs) and SSI redeterminations.27 CDRs are periodic reviews of
SSDI beneficiaries and SSI recipients to determine if they still meet the statutory definition of
disability. In the majority of cases, a CDR mailer that does not involve a medical review is used
instead of a full medical CDR. SSI redeterminations are used to determine if SSI recipients
continue to fall below the program’s income and asset limits.
Under the provisions of Section 101 of the Budget Control Act of 2011, P.L. 112-25, the annual
discretionary funding caps created by the act are to be adjusted by the amount by which funds
appropriated to the SSA for CDRs and SSI redeterminations for a fiscal year exceed $273 million.
The maximum adjustment for SSA program integrity activities will rise from $623 million for
FY2012 to $1.309 billion a year for FY2017 through FY2021, with a maximum adjustment of
$1.123 billion permitted for FY2015. Thus, the President’s budget request of $1.396 billion for
program integrity activities for FY2015 includes the maximum base amount of $273 million and
the full cap adjustment of $1.123 billion.

27 Ibid.
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User Fees
The FY2015 President’s budget request includes $125 million in LAE appropriations from two
user fees collected by the SSA with $124 million from fees collected from states for the
administration of their SSI supplement programs.28 An additional $1 million is requested from
fees paid by non-attorney representatives for certification to represent claimants before the SSA.
Research and Demonstrations
The FY2015 President’s budget request also includes $53 million for research and demonstration
projects.29 While this request is not part of the formal requested LAE language, it is a component
of the SSA’s total administrative funding request.
Carryover
The annual LAE appropriations language enacted by Congress permits the SSA to carryover
unobligated administrative funds to be used in future fiscal years for information technology
activities. A portion of these unobligated funds are transferred into the agency’s no-year
Information Technology Systems (ITS) account. The SSA currently estimates that it has $195.6
million in no-year ITS funding available for FY2014.30
SSA Commissioner’s Budget
The Social Security Administration became an independent federal agency in March 1995 after
enactment of the Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994, P.L.
103-296. Section 104(a) of this legislation granted the SSA Commissioner the authority to submit
to the Congress, without revision, a budget request.31 This budget request is independent of the
President’s budget request for the agency and generally includes a request for total administrative
funding and a request for funding for the OIG. The Commissioner’s budget is included in the
section on the SSA in the appendix to the President’s budget. The FY2015 Commissioner’s
budget for administrative funding for the SSA is $12.6 billion, of which $46 million is for
research, with an additional $105 million for the OIG.32
As shown in Figure 3, for each year since the SSA became an independent agency, the
Commissioner’s budget has exceeded the President’s request. In all but two of these fiscal years,
FY1997 and FY2009, the final appropriation from Congress, taking into account any rescissions,
has been less than the Commissioner’s budget and only in FY1997, FY2008, FY2009, and
FY2014 has the final appropriation exceeded the President’s request.

28 Ibid.
29 Ibid., p. 108.
30 Ibid., p. 128.
31 Section 704(b) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. §904(b)].
32 Office of Management and Budget, Appendix, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2015, Washington, DC,
March 2014, p. 1257, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2015/assets/ssa.pdf.
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Figure 3. SSA Administrative Budget Requests and Appropriations
FY1997 to FY2015

Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS) using data from each fiscal year’s President’s budget and
appropriations for the SSA.
Notes: Excludes funding for the OIG. “President’s Request” includes LAE and for FY2000 a $100 mil ion
requested transfer of automation investment funds to base operations, but excludes for FY2015 the requested
$46 mil ion for research. “Final Appropriation” includes all rescissions, except rescissions of no-year ITS funds,
but does not include any supplemental appropriations. The SSA became an independent agency in 1995 and first
submitted a Commissioner’s budget for FY1997.

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