Changes Made in Appointment of Administrative Law Judges

After a Supreme Court ruling in July 2018, an Executive Order was issued exempting Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) from the “competitive service.” On the basis of this executive order, the Social Security Administration is now able to hire based on any criteria rather than the merit-based system formerly in place. All current ALJs were re-appointed under this rule to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. It remains to be seen how this will change ALJ hiring and decision rates in the future.