Trump To Nominate Andrew Saul For SSA Commissioner

The White House has issued a press release announcing President Trump’s plans to nominate Andrew Saul as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. If confirmed, he would serve the remainder of the six-year term that expires Jan. 19, 2019, and the following six-year term that expires Jan. 19, 2025. Trump also announced David Black of North Dakota as his nomination for SSA Deputy Commissioner for the remainder of the six-year term that expires Jan. 19, 2019.

The federal agency has been without a Senate-confirmed commissioner since Feb. 13, 2013, when Michael Astrue stepped down. The lack of a commissioner has been in the news recently and was the topic of a House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee hearing held March 7, “Lacking a Leader: Challenges Facing the SSA After Over 5 Years of Acting Commissioners.”

According to the release, Saul is a partner with Saul Partners, LP, and previously held roles in public service as chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Currently, he is a commissioner for Westchester County, New York.

Saul held other business roles as board chairman for Cache Inc., president of Brooks Fashion Stores Inc., and president of BR Investors. Additional community involvement includes serving as vice chairman of the Mt. Sinai Health System in New York City, vice chairman of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, and as trustee for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Saul graduated from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, at the same time as President Trump, and serves on its board of overseers.

Black currently serves as White House senior advisor at the SSA. He served as general counsel from October 2007 to July 2015, according to the release. His background includes serving as deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and as lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq during the Global War on Terrorism and earned a Bronze Star. He has a J.D. from the University of Minnesota and B.A. in political science from the University of North Dakota.

Once the nominations are formalized, they will go to the Senate to be considered for confirmation.