R47746 — Social Security Administration (SSA): FY2024 Annual Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation: In Brief

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is responsible for administering the nation’s primary income support programs for older adults and individuals with disabilities: Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). (Social Security includes Social Security Disability Insurance [SSDI].) As part of its duties, SSA receives benefit applications and determines program entitlement or eligibility, holds hearings and other appeals, completes program integrity (PI) reviews of certain beneficiaries, issues new and replacement Social Security number (SSN) cards, and posts workers’ earnings to their Social Security records. SSA is also responsible for supporting the administration of a number of non-SSA programs and laws, such as Medicare, and provides and verifies data for a variety of purposes. Benefit payments for SSA’s programs are considered mandatory spending, which means that such spending is controlled by each program’s authorizing statute—not by appropriations acts. However, the resources to carry out SSA’s programs, as well as to support the administration of other priorities, are generally considered discretionary spending and thus are controlled by appropriations acts. Nearly all of SSA’s administrative expenses are funded by appropriations to its Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) account, and almost all of the funding for the LAE account is provided each year as part of the annual appropriations process. The annual LAE appropriation is a discretionary lump-sum appropriation composed of funds from the Social Security and Medicare trust funds for their respective shares of administrative expenses, the Department of the Treasury’s general fund for SSI’s share of administrative expenses, and a portion of user fees collected for SSA’s administration of certain activities. SSA’s annual LAE appropriation is traditionally provided under the Related Agencies section of the annual Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations act. The FY2024 commissioner of Social Security’s budget request for the total annual LAE appropriation was $16.223 billion, an increase of $2.096 billion (+14.8%) compared to the FY2023 enacted level. The FY2024 President’s budget request for the total annual LAE appropriation was $15.489 billion, an increase of $1.362 billion (+9.6%) compared to the FY2023 enacted level. The FY2024 President’s budget total included $13.468 billion in base LAE funding, $151 million in total user fees, and $1.870 billion in total dedicated PI funding for certain activities, such as continuing disability reviews (CDRs) and SSI nonmedical redeterminations. The House Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee approved its draft LHHS bill on July 14, 2023. The FY2024 House subcommittee draft bill proposed $13.954 billion for the total annual LAE appropriation, a decrease of $173 million (-1.2%) compared to the FY2023 enacted level. The FY2024 total included $11.952 billion in base LAE funding, $151 million in total user fees, and $1.851 billion in total dedicated PI funding. On October 6, 2023, the chair of the House Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee introduced an LHHS bill (H.R. 5894); the text of H.R. 5894, as introduced, was substantially the same as the subcommittee draft. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its LHHS bill to the Senate on July 27, 2023 (S. 2624, S.Rept. 118-84). The FY2024 Senate committee bill proposed $14.419 billion for the total annual LAE appropriation, an increase of $292 million (+2.1%) compared to the FY2023 enacted level. The FY2024 total included $12.417 billion in base LAE funding, $151 million in total user fees, and $1.851 billion in total dedicated PI funding. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 2882; P.L. 118-47), which included the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act (Division D), was signed into law on March 23, 2024. It provided $14.227 billion for the FY2024 total annual LAE appropriation, an increase of $100 million (+0.7%) compared to the FY2023 enacted level. The FY2024 total included $12.225 billion in base LAE funding, $151 million in total user fees, and $1.851 billion in total dedicated PI funding.

Curated by CRS — every bill listed in this report's relatedMaterials. Edge type cited_in_report, gold confidence.

• HR 5894 — Making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and re · 118th Cong
• HR 2882 — Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 · 118th Cong
• S 2624 — Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations · 118th Cong