Biden chooses former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration #Biden #chooses #Maryland #Gov #Martin #OMalley #lead #Social #Security #Administration

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration.

If confirmed, O’Malley would run one of the biggest social programs in the nation and grapple with the surrounding uncertainty over its funding. Roughly 70 million people — including retirees, disabled people and children — receive Social Security benefits.

“Governor O’Malley is a lifelong public servant who has spent his career making government more accessible and transparent, while keeping the American people at the heart of his work,” Biden said in a statement. “As Governor, he made government work more effectively across his administration and enhanced the way millions of people accessed critical services.”

FILE - Shuwanza Goff, left, speaks with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md., as they walk on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 4, 2019. President Biden announced that Goff will serve as Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

President Joe Biden has chosen Shuwanza Goff as his new director of legislative affairs, making her the first Black woman to be the White House’s chief emissary to Capitol Hill.

FILE - Paddington Place is shut down by police as multiple people were shot at a home on Paddington Place in Annapolis, Md., Sunday, June 11, 2023. A man has been charged with hate crimes in the shooting deaths of three people last month in Maryland's capital city the state capital after a dispute over parking that also resulted in three people being wounded. (Paul W. Gillespie/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

Maryland prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against a man accused of killing three people and wounding three more in a dispute over parking.

FILE - Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins watches during the second half of the team's NCAA college football game against Oklahoma on Oct. 24, 2009, in Lawrence, Kan. Longtime college administrator Perkins, who played basketball at Iowa before serving as the athletic director at several universities and taking on an influential role within the NCAA, died Tuesday, July 18, 2023. He was 78. Perkins’ family announced his death in a statement issued by Kansas. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)

Longtime college administrator Lew Perkins, who played basketball at Iowa before serving as the athletic director at several universities and taking on an influential role within the NCAA, died Tuesday.

FILE - A general aerial view of Oriole Park at Camden Yards is seen, June 27, 2020, in Baltimore. A Maryland official on a powerful state board says there’s “too much foot-dragging” between the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Baltimore Orioles to renew the team’s lease at Camden Yards. Treasurer Dereck Davis, who is one of three members of the Maryland Board of Public Works, expressed his concerns at the end of a board meeting Wednesday, July 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)

A Maryland official on a powerful state board says there’s “too much foot-dragging” between the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Baltimore Orioles to renew the team’s lease at Camden Yards.

O’Malley served as Maryland’s governor from 2007 to 2015 and was Baltimore mayor for two terms. He also ran as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, but has ruled out running in the future.

The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in March says the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits in about 10 years.

If the fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 80% of scheduled benefits, the report said.

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, said her organization “applauds the nomination of Governor O’Malley, a longtime Social Security champion.”

“Like President Biden, O’Malley supports expanding Social Security’s modest benefits, not cutting them.”

Last October, the agency announced that Social Security recipients would get an 8.7% boost in their benefits in 2023, a historic increase prompted by record-high inflation.

Social Security is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers. The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes for 2023 is $160,200, up from $147,000 in 2022.

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