AALJ-Judicial Council 1 Meets with SSA Acting Commissioner Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi

This week the Association of Administrative Law Judges (AALJ)-Judicial Council 1 President Judge Sommattie Ramrup, AALJ Vice President Judge William Ramsey, and IFPTE president Matt Biggs met with Social Security Administration Acting (SSA) Commissioner Kilolo Kijakzi.

The hour-long meeting was an opportunity for the AALJ to engage directly with Dr. Kijakazi on issues of import to the AALJ, SSA, and the American public. Central to the issues raised was the AALJ’s efforts to protect the due process interests of SSA disability claimants who are getting their day in court.

Critically, these claimants are entitled to independent ALJ decisions under the Social Security Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. AALJ President Ramrup commented on the meeting,

“We thank the Commissioner and her team for taking the time to meet with us. Dr. Kijakazi asked probing questions and clearly had a deep understanding of the issues raised. As we stated to the Commissioner, the AALJ’s core mission is to ensure our members are empowered to provide impartial and independent decisions to the claimants who appear before us. While there are still many issues to be resolved, we are pleased with the Commissioner’s attention to our concerns and her assurances that some of the issues we raised are being addressed. The AALJ looks forward to continuing our productive dialogue.”