Social Security Delays 9/11 Claims Data for Up to 18 Months Amid Agency Cuts
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 8
Social Security Delays 9/11 Claims Data for Up to 18 Months Amid Agency Cuts
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 8
Summary
Lawyers and advocates say the Social Security Administration has stopped sending key earnings records to the Justice Department, stalling Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund claims for sick and deceased victims.
Up to 18 months of waiting has hit some claimants, according to attorney Matthew McCauley, leaving families under added financial strain when illness has already kept victims from working.
The disruption appears to coincide with sweeping cuts at the agency since the start of President Trump’s second term, though the exact reason the data transfers stopped remains unclear.
The fund, created by Congress in 2010 and later expanded, relies on Social Security earnings histories to calculate economic-loss awards for people exposed to toxic dust near the World Trade Center and Pentagon.