[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2763 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2763
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to permanently appropriate
funding for the administrative expenses of the Social Security
Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 10, 2025
Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Ms. Smith, Ms. Warren, Mr. Reed, Mr. Kim, Mr. Markey, Mr.
King, Mr. Welch, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Coons, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Hirono, Mr.
Padilla, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Merkley, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Booker, Mrs.
Murray, Mr. Warner, Ms. Alsobrooks, and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to permanently appropriate
funding for the administrative expenses of the Social Security
Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Keep Billionaires
Out of Social Security Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Exempting Social Security from the jurisdiction of the
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
and the application of certain executive
orders.
Sec. 3. Access by political appointees and special government
employees.
Sec. 4. Limitations on authority of Social Security Administration to
except positions from competitive service
and transfer positions.
Sec. 5. Requiring that only deceased individuals be added to the Death
Master File.
Sec. 6. Closure of field and hearing offices and resident or rural
contact stations.
Sec. 7. Reestablishing the Offices of Civil Rights and Equal
Opportunity, Transformation, and Analytics,
Review, and Oversight.
Sec. 8. Funding for administrative expenses of the Social Security
Administration.
Sec. 9. Additional funding to improve Social Security customer
experience.
Sec. 10. Codification of former policy regarding recovery of Social
Security overpayments.
Sec. 11. State grants to protect the legal rights of SSI and SSDI
applicants and beneficiaries.
Sec. 12. Social Security assistance and representation grants.
SEC. 2. EXEMPTING SOCIAL SECURITY FROM THE JURISDICTION OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY (DOGE) AND THE
APPLICATION OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
(a) In General.--With respect to the agencies, personnel, systems,
and benefits and programs described in subsection (b)--
(1) DOGE shall have no authority or jurisdiction; and
(2) the Executive orders described in subsection (c) shall
not apply.
(b) Covered Agencies, Personnel, Systems, and Benefits and
Programs.--The agencies, personnel, systems, and benefits and programs
described in this subsection are the Social Security Administration,
any officer or employee of the Social Security Administration, the
data, information technology, and operating systems of the Social
Security Administration, and any benefits or program administered by
the Social Security Administration, including the Old-Age and Survivors
Insurance and Disability Insurance programs and associated benefits
under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.).
(c) Executive Orders.--The Executive orders described in this
subsection are--
(1) Executive Orders 14158, 14210, 14219, and 14222 (90
Fed. Reg. 8441, 9669, 10583, 11095); and
(2) any other Executive order relating to any entity
described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (5).
(d) DOGE.--For purposes of this section, the term ``DOGE'' means--
(1) the United States DOGE Service;
(2) the United States DOGE Service Temporary Organization;
(3) any DOGE team (as defined in any of the Executive
orders described in subsection (c)(1));
(4) any entity established in accordance with, or to
implement, any Executive order described in subsection (c); and
(5) any successor entity to an entity described in
paragraphs (1) through (4).
SEC. 3. ACCESS BY POLITICAL APPOINTEES AND SPECIAL GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES.
(a) In General.--Section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1306) is amended by adding after subsection (g) the following new
subsections:
``(h) Access by Political Appointees and Special Government
Employees.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Prohibition on access to beneficiary data
systems.--Notwithstanding any other subsection of this
section, an individual who is a political appointee (as
that term is defined in section 4(a) of the Edward
`Ted' Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential
Transitions Improvements Act of 2015 (5 U.S.C. 3101
note)) or a special government employee (as that term
is defined in section 202(a) of title 18, United States
Code) may not access a beneficiary data system.
``(B) Exception.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply
with respect to a political appointee or special
government employee who has been appointed to, or is
employed in, a position within the Social Security
Administration with responsibility to research,
analyze, or improve the delivery of benefits to program
recipients.
``(2) Beneficiary data system defined.--In this section,
the term `beneficiary data system' means a system that is
maintained by the Social Security Administration for the
purposes of administering this Act that--
``(A) issues or records social security account
numbers;
``(B) is used to determine eligibility for benefits
under this Act;
``(C) to pay benefits under this Act; or
``(D) otherwise contains records of personally
identifiable information, personal health information,
or Federal tax information of individuals receiving or
applying for a benefit under this Act.
``(i) Civil Penalties.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Disclosure or access by employee of united
states.--If any officer or employee of the United
States negligently discloses or accesses any
information that pertains to an individual in violation
of any provision of subsection (a) or (h), such
individual may bring a civil action for damages against
the United States in a district court of the United
States.
``(B) Disclosure or access by a person who is not
an employee of united states.--If any person who is not
an officer or employee of the United States negligently
discloses or accesses any information that pertains to
an individual in violation of any provision of
subsection (a) or (h), such individual may bring a
civil action for damages against such person in a
district court of the United States.
``(2) Exceptions.--No liability shall arise under this
section with respect to any disclosure or access--
``(A) which results from a good faith, but
erroneous, interpretation of subsection (a) or (h); or
``(B) which is requested by the individual.
``(3) Damages.--In any action brought under paragraph (1),
upon a finding of liability on the part of the defendant, the
defendant shall be liable to the plaintiff in an amount equal
to the sum of--
``(A) the greater of--
``(i) $5,000 for each act of unauthorized
access or disclosure with respect to which such
defendant is found liable; or
``(ii) the sum of--
``(I) the actual damages sustained
by the plaintiff as a result of such
unauthorized access or disclosure, plus
``(II) in the case of a willful
access or disclosure or an access or
disclosure which is the result of gross
negligence, punitive damages,
``(B) the costs of the action, plus
``(C) reasonable attorneys fees, except that if the
defendant is the United States, reasonable attorneys
fees may be awarded only if the plaintiff is the
prevailing party.
``(4) Period for bringing action.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, an action to enforce any liability
created under this section may be brought, without regard to
the amount in controversy, at any time within 5 years after the
date of discovery by the plaintiff of the unauthorized
disclosure or access.
``(j) Criminal Penalties.--It shall be unlawful for any officer or
employee of the United States to willfully to disclose to any person
any information that pertains to an individual in violation of any
provision of subsection (a) or (h). Any violation of this subsection
shall be a felony punishable upon conviction by a fine in any amount
not exceeding $10,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or
both, together with the costs of prosecution, and, in addition to any
other punishment, such officer or employee shall be dismissed from
office or discharged from employment upon conviction for such offense.
``(k) Investigation and Report.--
``(1) Investigation.--The Inspector General of the Social
Security Administration shall investigate each disclosure in
violation of subsection (a) and each access of a beneficiary
data system in violation of subsection (h).
``(2) Treatment of disclosure or access.--For the purposes
of this subsection, the Inspector General may, if the Inspector
General determines appropriate, treat a series of violations of
subsection (a) or (h) as a single violation.
``(3) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the Inspector
General becomes aware of a violation of subsection (a) or (h),
the Inspector General shall submit to Congress a report on such
violation, which shall include--
``(A) a detailed description of the violation;
``(B) a risk assessment of any threat to the
privacy of any individual whose information was
disclosed or accessed, national security,
cybersecurity, or the integrity of the applicable
beneficiary data system as a result of the violation;
and
``(C) a detailed description of any stopped payment
during the unauthorized use or access.''.
(b) Privacy Regulations.--Notwithstanding this section and the
amendments made by this section, part 401 of title 20 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as in effect on January 19, 2025, shall have the
force and effect of law.
(c) GAO Study and Interim Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller of the United States
shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a
report including the following information:
(A) The results of a study on the effects of the
changes made to section 1106 of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1306) by this section and any subsequently
enacted law.
(B) Any civil actions brought under subsection (i)
of section 1106 of such Act, as added by subsection
(a), including the results of such civil action.
(C) A summary of any investigations conducted under
subsection (k) of section 1106 of such Act, as added by
subsection (a).
(D) Any convictions for a violation of subsection
(a) or (h) of section 1106 of such Act under subsection
(j) of such Act, as added by subsection (a).
(2) Interim reports.--Not later than 1 month after the date
of enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter until such
time as the report required under paragraph (1) is submitted,
the Comptroller of the United States shall submit to the
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Finance of the Senate an interim report on the
information required under paragraph (1), including the status
of the study described in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b)
of this section shall apply to violations of section 1106 of the Social
Security Act occurring on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION TO
EXCEPT POSITIONS FROM COMPETITIVE SERVICE AND TRANSFER
POSITIONS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``Administration'' means the Social Security
Administration;
(2) the term ``Commissioner'' means the Commissioner of
Social Security;
(3) the term ``competitive service'' has the meaning given
the term in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code;
(4) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office
of Personnel Management; and
(5) the term ``excepted service'' has the meaning given the
term in section 2103 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Limitations.--A position in the competitive service in the
Administration may not be excepted from the competitive service unless
that position is placed--
(1) in any of schedules A through E, as described in
section 6.2 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, as in
effect on September 30, 2020; and
(2) under the terms and conditions under part 6 of title 5,
Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on September 30,
2020.
(c) Transfers.--
(1) Within excepted service.--A position in the excepted
service in the Administration may not be transferred to any
schedule other than a schedule described in subsection (b)(1).
(2) OPM consent required.--The Commissioner may not
transfer any occupied position in the Administration from the
competitive service or the excepted service into schedule C of
subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations,
or any successor regulations, without the prior consent of the
Director.
(3) Limit during presidential term.--During any 4-year
presidential term, the Commissioner may not transfer from a
position in the competitive service in the Administration to a
position in the excepted service in the Administration the
greater of the following:
(A) A total number of employees that is more than 1
percent of the total number of employees employed by
the Administration, as of the first day of that
presidential term.
(B) 5 employees.
(4) Employee consent required.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section--
(A) an employee who occupies a position in the
excepted service in the Administration may not be
transferred to an excepted service schedule other than
the schedule in which that position is located without
the prior written consent of the employee; and
(B) an employee who occupies a position in the
competitive service in the Administration may not be
transferred to the excepted service without the prior
written consent of the employee.
(d) Report.--Not later than March 15 of each calendar year, the
Director shall submit to Congress a report on the immediately preceding
calendar year that lists--
(1) each position in the Administration that, during the
year covered by the report, was transferred from the
competitive service to the excepted service and a justification
as to why each such position was so transferred; and
(2) any violation of this section that occurred during the
year covered by the report.
(e) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue regulations to
implement this section.
SEC. 5. REQUIRING THAT ONLY DECEASED INDIVIDUALS BE ADDED TO THE DEATH
MASTER FILE.
Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (7)--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by
striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'';
(C) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(C) notify any agency that has a cooperative
arrangement with the Commissioner of Social Security
under paragraph (3) or (11) of the error.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(12) The Commissioner of Social Security may not record a death
to a record that may be provided under this section for any individual
unless the Commissioner of Social Security has found it has clear and
convincing evidence to support that the individual should be presumed
to be deceased.''.
SEC. 6. CLOSURE OF FIELD AND HEARING OFFICES AND RESIDENT OR RURAL
CONTACT STATIONS.
(a) In Genera