Embattled SSA Inspector General To Resign
Social Security Administration (SSA) Inspector General (IG) Gail Ennis is resigning, after a tumultuous tenure that included reports of whistleblower retaliation, falling employee morale, and obstructing an investigation.
Ennis announced her departure in an email to employees, with her resignation effective June 29, 2024. She had been SSA IG since 2019, after her appointment by then-President Trump.
Pressure had been building on Ennis.
Her office is under investigation by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). The probe was started in 2022, after the Washington Post reported that an anti-fraud program run by the SSA IG office, was levying escalating penalties on disabled and elderly people accused of disability benefits fraud.
In March, Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz who’s spearheading the investigation, found that Ennis’s office failed to notify some of the disabled and elderly Americans before levying the fines, violating their rights to due process.
The Washington Post reports that IG Horowitz also accused Ennis of attempting to obstruct the investigation by failing to cooperate, withholding documents, and telling some of her staff not to sit for interviews.
That report is not public, and the Washington Post cites two anonymous sources familiar with the findings.
This latest investigation is not the only issue involving the SSA IG office.
There has been a string of senior staff departures, with the Post reporting that Ennis’s “mercurial leadership and lack of focus on the office’s mission” drove some of the employees away.
Other employees were upset with Ennis for monitoring computers during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure employees were working.
Ennis also took disciplinary action against some law enforcement officers for poor performance, a charge that was denied by the agents and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA). FLEOA voted “no confidence” in Ennis in 2021.
In addition, employee morale is in decline at the agency. It ranked 430 out of 459 subcomponent agencies in the most recent Best Places to Work in the Federal Government ranking.
Congressional Reaction
News of the resignation was applauded by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), who wrote to President Biden asking him to fire Ennis back in February.
In a statement, Senator Wyden said, “Under her leadership, the Inspector General’s office at Social Security has fallen into disarray, plagued by complaints of a hostile work environment, retaliation against whistleblowers, abysmal staff morale ratings, and falling productivity. I look forward to working with the Biden administration to restore the Social Security Inspector General’s office to the position of strength it once held.”
Michelle Anderson, the assistant inspector for audits and one of Ennis’s top-ranking deputies, will serve as acting inspector general until a permanent replacement is named.