# What This Bill Does

This bill blocks a new rule that the Social Security Administration created about how appeals hearings work. Specifically, it cancels a rule that was published in November 2020 about how Administrative Appeals Judges conduct hearings when people appeal Social Security decisions through the Appeals Council.

To understand why this matters, imagine you applied for Social Security disability benefits and got denied. You'd have the right to appeal that decision. The Appeals Council is where that appeal gets reviewed, and Administrative Appeals Judges are the officials who hold hearings in that process. The Social Security Administration created new procedures for how these judges should run those hearings, but this bill says "no"—it completely wipes out that new rule and says it has no legal effect.

The practical impact depends on which side of the debate you're on. If you're someone waiting for a Social Security appeal hearing, this bill could affect how your case is handled, though the exact changes depend on what the cancelled rule would have done differently. The bill essentially keeps the old procedures in place instead of switching to whatever new system the Social Security Administration had planned. For people working in the Social Security system or advocates who opposed the new rule, this is a victory. For those who supported the new procedures, it means the old way of doing things continues.

This is a relatively narrow bill focused on one specific administrative procedure, so it won't affect most people's daily lives unless they're directly involved in appealing a Social Security decision.

Disapproving the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to hearings held by Administrative Appeals Judges of the Appeals Council.

Larson, John B.

 <p>This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Social Security Administration on November 16, 2020, that outlines when its administrative appeals judges may hold hearings and issue decisions on individual cases. Currently, these judges serve an appellate function where they review, at the request of Social Security claimants, the decisions of the administrative law judges who issue decisions in individual cases.</p>