Social Security Administration (SSA) FY2022 Annual Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation: In Brief

May 13, 2022 R47103

Social Security Administration (SSA) FY2022
Annual Limitation on Administrative
Expenses (LAE) Appropriation: In Brief
May 13, 2022
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R47103

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SSA FY2022 Annual LAE Appropriation: In Brief

Introduction
This report provides a brief overview of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) annual
Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) appropriation for FY2022. It provides links to
relevant agency, Administration, congressional, and other resources. Please note that the amounts
specified in this report differ slightly from the amounts specified in the relevant congressional
reports because those reports apply Congressional Budget Office (CBO) adjustments to user fees
based on the agency’s projection of actual user fee collections. CBO typically projects that SSA’s
actual user fee collections will be less than the amounts authorized in proposals or legislation.
Background on SSA
SSA is an independent agency in the executive branch headed by the Commissioner of Social
Security. SSA employs about 60,000 federal workers across its more than 1,500 offices and
supports about 15,000 state Disability Determination Services personnel who conduct disability
determinations on SSA’s behalf. SSA is responsible for administering the nation’s primary
income support programs for older adults and individuals with disabilities: Social Security and
Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSA is also responsible for supporting the administration of
a number of non-SSA programs and laws, such as Medicare, and provides and verifies data for a
variety of purposes. For more information on SSA, see the following resources:
 CRS Report R47086, Social Security Policy Resources for Congressional Staff.
 CRS Report R47097, Social Security Administration (SSA): Trends in the Annual
Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation Through FY2021.
 SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2021, “Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors,
and Disability Insurance): Structure and Organization” and “SSA Resources and
Operations,” https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/.
Overview of the Annual LAE Appropriation
Benefit payments for SSA’s programs are considered mandatory spending, which is not
controlled by annual appropriations acts. However, the resources needed to carry out SSA’s
programs, as well as to support the administration of Medicare and other priorities, are generally
considered discretionary spending and thus are controlled by appropriations acts. Nearly all of
SSA’s administrative expenses are funded by appropriations to its LAE account, and almost all of
the funding for the LAE account is provided each year as part of the annual appropriations
process.
SSA’s annual LAE appropriation, which is discretionary, is composed of funds from the Social
Security and Medicare trust funds for their respective shares of administrative expenses, the
Department of the Treasury’s general fund for SSI’s share of administrative expenses, and certain
user fees. The legislative text of SSA’s annual LAE appropriation typically consists of four
paragraphs. The first paragraph provides funding for what this report refers to as the main LAE,
which funds (1) the base LAE and (2) certain dedicated program integrity (PI) activities. The base
LAE, which is equal to the main LAE less total dedicated PI funding, constitutes the bulk of
SSA’s discretionary administrative funding. The second paragraph specifies the amount of the
main LAE in the first paragraph that is dedicated to certain PI activities, such as continuing
disability reviews (CDRs) and SSI nonmedical redeterminations. The third and fourth paragraphs
provide additional funding from a portion of the user fees collected for SSA’s administration of
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SSA FY2022 Annual LAE Appropriation: In Brief

state supplementary payments under the SSI program and certifications of non-attorney claimant
representatives.
SSA’s annual LAE appropriation is traditionally provided under the Related Agencies section of
the annual Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related
Agencies (LHHS) appropriations act. For more information on SSA’s annual LAE appropriation
and the annual LHHS appropriations act, see the following resources:
 CRS Report R47097, Social Security Administration (SSA): Trends in the Annual
Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation Through FY2021.
 SSA, Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Fiscal Year 2022,
“Budget Overview,” https://www.ssa.gov/budget/.
 CRS Report R47029, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education:
FY2022 Appropriations.
FY2022 Budget Requests for the Annual LAE
Commissioner of Social Security
The Social Security Act requires the Commissioner of Social Security to prepare an independent
budget and for the President to submit it to Congress, without revision, together with the
President’s budget. The FY2022 Commissioner’s budget request for SSA’s total annual LAE
appropriation was $14.484 billion, which was about $1.553 billion (+12.0%) more than the
FY2021 enacted level. (The Commissioner’s budget request included in the President’s budget
does not provide a breakout of the components of the proposed annual LAE appropriation.) For
more information on the FY2022 Commissioner’s budget request, see the last paragraph of SSA’s
section of the appendix to the FY2022 President’s budget:
 U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Appendix, Budget of the United
States Government, Fiscal Year 2022, p. 1241, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/
pkg/BUDGET-2022-APP/pdf/BUDGET-2022-APP-1-29.pdf#page=9.
President
The FY2022 President’s budget request for the FY2022 total annual LAE appropriation was
nearly $14.189 billion, which was about $1.258 billion (+9.7%) more than the FY2021 enacted
level. The FY2022 total included nearly $12.342 billion in base LAE funding, $139 million in
total user fees, and $1.708 billion in total dedicated PI funding for certain activities, such as
CDRs and SSI nonmedical redeterminations. For more information, see the resources below:
 OMB, Appendix, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2022, p.
1239, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2022-APP/pdf/BUDGET-
2022-APP-1-29.pdf#page=7.
 OMB, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal
Year 2022, Chapter 10. Budget Process, “Adjustments to Base Discretionary
Funding Levels,” pp. 122-123, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-
2023-PER/pdf/BUDGET-2023-PER-4-3.pdf#page=2.
 SSA, Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Fiscal Year 2022,
“Limitation on Administrative Expenses,” https://www.ssa.gov/budget/.
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SSA FY2022 Annual LAE Appropriation: In Brief

FY2022 Congressional Proposals for the Annual LAE
House
The House Appropriations Committee reported its LHHS bill to the House on July 19, 2021 (H.R.
4502, Division A; H.Rept. 117-96), and the House passed the bill, as amended, on July 29, 2021.
The FY2022 House bill proposed almost $14.067 billion for the FY2022 total annual LAE
appropriation, which was $1.136 billion (+8.8%) more than the FY2021 enacted level. The
FY2022 total included nearly $12.220 billion in base LAE funding and the same amounts as the
FY2022 President’s budget for total user fees and total dedicated PI funding. For more
information, see the resources below:
 LAE section of H.R. 4502, pp. 176-179, https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/
hr4502/BILLS-117hr4502rh.pdf#page=176.
 H.Rept. 117-96 (amounts in the report reflect CBO adjustments to user fees),
 LAE section of report write-up, pp. 329-333, https://www.congress.gov/117/
crpt/hrpt96/CRPT-117hrpt96.pdf#page=329,
 LAE section of detailed table, pp. 518-519, https://www.congress.gov/117/
crpt/hrpt96/CRPT-117hrpt96.pdf#page=518.
Senate
The Senate Appropriations Committee released a draft FY2022 LHHS bill and accompanying
report on October 18, 2021, and the chair of the Senate Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee
introduced the bill (S. 3062) on October 25, 2021, which specified the same amounts for the
annual LAE appropriation as the draft bill. It proposed almost $13.938 billion for the FY2022
total annual LAE appropriation, which was $1.007 billion (+7.8%) more than the FY2021
enacted level. The FY2022 total included nearly $12.091 billion in base LAE funding and the
same amounts as the FY2022 President’s budget for total user fees and total dedicated PI funding.
For more information, see the resources below:
 LAE section of draft Senate bill, pp. 181-184,
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
LHHSFY2022_Final.PDF#page=181.
 LAE section of S. 3062, pp. 181-184, https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/s3062/
BILLS-117s3062is.pdf#page=181.
 Draft Senate report (amounts in the report reflect CBO adjustments to user fees),
 LAE section of report write-up, pp. 293-295,
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
LHHSREPT_FINAL3.PDF#page=293
 LAE section of detailed table, pp. 372-373,
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
LHHSREPT_FINAL3.PDF#page=372.
FY2022 Enacted Appropriation for the Annual LAE
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 2471 and P.L. 117-103), which included the
FY2022 LHHS appropriations act (Division H), was signed into law on March 15, 2022. It
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provided almost $13.342 billion for the FY2022 total annual LAE appropriation, which was $411
million (+3.2%) more than the FY2021 enacted level. The FY2022 total included nearly $11.495
billion in base LAE funding and the same amounts as the FY2022 President’s budget for total
user fees and total dedicated PI funding. For more information, see the resources below:
 LAE section of H.R. 2471, pp. 445-446, https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/
hr2471/BILLS-117hr2471enr.pdf#page=445.
 Joint explanatory statement (amounts reflect CBO adjustments to user fees),
 LAE section of write-up, Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 168, no.
42, Book IV (March 9, 2022), p. H2688, https://www.congress.gov/117/crec/
2022/03/09/168/42/CREC-2022-03-09-bk4.pdf#page=212,
 LAE section of detailed table, Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 168,
no. 42, Book IV (March 9, 2022), pp. H2903-H2904,
https://www.congress.gov/117/crec/2022/03/09/168/42/CREC-2022-03-09-
bk4.pdf#page=427.
 SSA, Fiscal Year 2022 Operating Plan, https://www.ssa.gov/budget/FY22Files/
2022OP.pdf.
Comparison and Historical Tables
Table 1 compares the proposed and enacted levels for SSA’s FY2022 total annual LAE
appropriation (including the Commissioner’s request) and the FY2021 enacted level. Table 2
compares the proposed and enacted levels for the FY2022 annual LAE appropriation (excluding
the Commissioner’s request) and the FY2021 enacted level by legislative text component. Error! R
eference source not found. compares the enacted levels for the annual LAE appropriation for
FY2009-FY2022 by legislative text component.
Table 1. Comparison of FY2021 Enacted, FY2022 Proposals, and FY2022 Enacted for
SSA’s Total Annual LAE Appropriation
(in Thousands of Nominal Dollars)
FY2022
FY2022
FY2021
Commissioner’s President’s
FY2022
FY2022
FY2022
Total Annual LAE
Enacted
Budget
Budget
House Bill
Senate Bill
Enacted
Dollar Amount
$12,930,945
$14,484,000
$14,188,896
$14,066,945
$13,937,945 $13,341,945
Dollar Difference Relative
—
$1,553,055
$1,257,951
$1,136,000
$1,007,000
$411,000
to FY2021 Enacted
Percentage Change Relative
—
+12.0%
+9.7%
+8.8%
+7.8%
+3.2%
to FY2021 Enacted
Source: CRS, based on the materials presented in this report.
Notes: “—” = not applicable. Amounts in this table differ slightly from the amounts specified in relevant
congressional reports because those reports apply CBO adjustments to user fees based on the agency’s
projection of actual user fee collections.
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SSA FY2022 Annual LAE Appropriation: In Brief

Table 2. Comparison of FY2021 Enacted, FY2022 Proposals, and FY2022 Enacted for
SSA’s Annual LAE Appropriation, by Legislative Text Component
(in Thousands of Nominal Dollars)
FY2021
FY2022 President’s
FY2022
FY2022
FY2022
Component
Enacted
Budget
House Bill
Senate Bill
Enacted
Dollar Amount (in Thousands)
Main LAE
$12,794,945
$14,049,896
$13,927,945
$13,798,945
$13,202,945
Base LAE (non-add)
$11,219,945
$12,341,896
$12,219,945
$12,090,945
$11,494,945
Total Dedicated PI (non-add)
$1,575,000
$1,708,000
$1,708,000
$1,708,000
$1,708,000
Base PI (non-add)
$273,000
$273,000
$273,000
$273,000
$273,000
Adjusted PI (non-add)
$1,302,000
$1,435,000
$1,435,000
$1,435,000
$1,435,000
SSI SSP User Fees
$135,000
$138,000
$138,000
$138,000
$138,000
Non-Attorney User Fees
$1,000
$1,000
$1,000
$1,000
$1,000
Total Annual LAE
$12,930,945
$14,188,896
$14,066,945 $13,937,945 $13,341,945
Dollar Difference Relative to FY2021 Enacted (in Thousands)
Main LAE
—
$1,254,951
$1,133,000
$1,004,000
$408,000
Base LAE (non-add)
—
$1,121,951
$1,000,000
$871,000
$275,000
Total Dedicated PI (non-add)
—
$133,000
$133,000
$133,000
$133,000
Base PI (non-add)
—
$0
$0
$0
$0
Adjusted PI (non-add)
—
$133,000
$133,000
$133,000
$133,000
SSI SSP User Fees
—
$3,000
$3,000
$3,000
$3,000
Non-Attorney User Fees
—
$0
$0
$0
$0
Total Annual LAE
—
$1,257,951
$1,136,000
$1,007,000
$411,000
Percentage Change Relative to FY2021 Enacted
Main LAE
—
+9.8%
+8.9%
+7.8%
+3.2%
Base LAE (non-add)
—
+10.0%
+8.9%
+7.8%
+2.5%
Total Dedicated PI (non-add)
—
+8.4%
+8.4%
+8.4%
+8.4%
Base PI (non-add)
—
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Adjusted PI (non-add)
—
+10.2%
+10.2%
+10.2%
+10.2%
SSI SSP User Fees
—
+2.2%
+2.2%
+2.2%
+2.2%
Non-Attorney User Fees
—
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Total Annual LAE
—
+9.7%
+8.8%
+7.8%
+3.2%
Source: CRS, based on the materials presented in this report.
Notes: “—”= not applicable. PI = program integrity. SSI = Supplemental Security Income. SSP = state
supplementary payment. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding. “Non-add” amounts are displayed
for clarification purposes; these amounts are not added to the totals. The FY2022 Commissioner’s request is not
shown because the President’s budget does not provide a breakout of the components of the Commissioner’s
request. Amounts in this table differ slightly from the amounts specified in relevant congressional reports
because those reports apply CBO adjustments to user fees based on the agency’s projection of actual user fee
collections.

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Table 3. SSA’s Enacted Annual LAE Appropriation, by Legislative Text Component, FY2009-FY2022
(in Millions of Nominal Dollars)
Component
FY2009
FY2010
FY2011
FY2012
FY2013
FY2014
FY2015
FY2016
FY2017
FY2018
Main LAE
$10,307.5
$11,285.5
$11,238.0
$11,291.6
$10,884.2
$11,525.0
$11,680.9
$12,024.9
$12,357.9
$12,753.9
Base LAE (non-add)
$9,803.5
$10,527.5
$10,481.5
$10,535.5
$10,141.6
$10,328.0
$10,284.9
$10,598.9
$10,538.9
$11,018.9
Total Dedicated PI (non-add)
$504.0
$758.0
$756.5
$756.1
$742.6
$1,197.0
$1,396.0
$1,426.0
$1,819.0
$1,735.0
Base PI (non-add)
$264.0
$273.0
$272.5
$273.5
$272.0
$273.0
$273.0
$273.0
$273.0
$273.0
Adjusted PI (non-add)
$240.0
$485.0
$484.0
$482.6
$470.6
$924.0
$1,123.0
$1,153.0
$1,546.0
$1,462.0
SSI SSP User Fees
$145.0
$160.0
$185.6
$160.7
$160.4
$171.0
$124.0
$136.0
$123.0
$118.0
Non-Attorney User Fees
$1.0
$1.0
$0.0
$1.0
$0.9
$1.0
$1.0
$1.0
$1.0
$1.0
Total Annual LAE
$10,453.5
$11,446.5
$11,423.6
$11,453.3
$11,045.6
$11,697.0
$11,805.9
$12,161.9
$12,481.9
$12,872.9
Component
FY2019
FY2020
FY2021
FY2022

Main LAE
$12,741.9
$12,739.9
$12,794.9
$13,202.9

Base LAE (non-add)
$11,058.9
$11,157.9
$11,219.9
$11,494.9

Total Dedicated PI (non-add)
$1,683.0
$1,582.0
$1,575.0
$1,708.0

Base PI (non-add)
$273.0
$273.0
$273.0
$273.0

Adjusted PI (non-add)
$1,410.0
$1,309.0
$1,302.0
$1,435.0

SSI SSP User Fees
$134.0
$130.0
$135.0
$138.0

Non-Attorney User Fees
$1.0
$1.0
$1.0
$1.0

Source: CRS, based on applicable annual LHHS appropriations acts and applicable annual SSA operating plans.
Notes: PI = program integrity. SSI = Supplemental Security Income. SSP = state supplementary payment. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding. Amounts
reflect new budget authority provided by the annual LAE appropriation only and include reductions due to sequestration and most rescissions. Amounts for certain
components are adjusted from those specified in applicable annual LHHS appropriations acts and SSA’s congressional budget justification for purposes of consistent
presentation. “Non-add” amounts are displayed for clarification purposes; these amounts are not added to the totals. The table starts with FY2009 because no dedicated PI
funding was provided for FY2003-FY2008. The table does not reflect CBO adjustments to user fees based on the agency’s projection of actual user fee collections.

CRS-6

SSA FY2022 Annual LAE Appropriation: In Brief

Author Information

William R. Morton

Analyst in Income Security

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