No Confidence Vote Against SSA-OIG Leadership

FLEOA Announces No Confidence Vote Against Leadership of the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Larry Cosme, President of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) – the nation’s largest non-partisan, not-for-profit professional association representing 30,000 federal law enforcement officers and agents across 65 federal agencies – issued the following statement regarding a vote of no confidence by FLEOA members against the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General:

"FLEOA has taken an overwhelming vote of no confidence against the leadership at the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General (SSA OIG). Although one of our smaller agencies, FLEOA is proud to represents over 90 percent of SSA OIG Agents. Unfortunately, the complaints we have heard from these members are overwhelming and dwarf those we typically receive from larger agencies. It is clear the work environment at the SSA OIG has become so dysfunctional, so demeaning, and so derogatory that our members in the office have lost confidence in their leadership,” President Cosme said.

"FLEOA, as well as the SSA OIG Agents themselves, have consistently voiced concerns regarding erroneous policies that hamper investigative capacity. We have heard concerns regarding the termination of employees based on a survey of investigator’s computer logs which were allegedly subjective and often lacked corroborating or mitigating evidence from immediate supervisors. We have heard concerns about Special Agent training (including no cost firearm safety training) requiring Central Office approval, which appears to be biased, unsafe, and inefficient,” Cosme explained.

Cosme continued, "These issues are cumbersome, regressive and go beyond policies related to officer safety typically seen in other agencies. Most importantly, these issues are undercutting operational effectiveness and investigative capacity. Not only have employees consistently voiced these concerns internally and at town halls, but in August FLEOA issued a letter to the SSA OIG further expounding on what we have learned. The SSA OIG has not changed course.”

"The SSA OIG plays a critical role in combatting COVID-19 fraud and other nefarious criminal activity. Never is this type of management effective or permissible, but it is especially detrimental to our nation right now. This vote of no confidence echoes a choir of concerns voiced by employees and association representatives who have attempted to work with the SSA OIG to improve working environments. With not even an attempt to address employee concerns, we are left with no confidence in the leadership of Office,” Cosme continued.

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