crs_reports: R48794

Congressional Research Service reports with summaries, authors, and topic classifications.

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R48794 Social Security Administration (SSA): FY2026 Annual Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation: In Brief 2026-02-25T05:00:00Z 2026-02-26T10:38:01Z Active Reports Tamar B. Breslauer, William R. Morton Retirement Security & Social Insurance, Appropriations Policy, Social Security Administration (SSA), Cash Assistance The Social Security Administration (SSA) is responsible for administering Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which are the nation’s primary income support programs for older adults and individuals with disabilities. (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 Medicare and 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 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 FY2026 commissioner of Social Security’s budget requested $14.793 billion for the total annual LAE appropriation, an increase of $494 million (+3.5%) compared to the FY2025 enacted level. The FY2026 President’s budget requested $14.793 billion for the total annual LAE appropriation, an increase of $494 million (+3.5%) compared to the FY2025 enacted level. The FY2026 total included $12.225 billion in base LAE funding, $2.397 billion in total dedicated PI funding, and $171 million in total user fees. The House Appropriations Committee reported its LHHS bill to the House on September 11, 2025 (H.R. 5304, H.Rept. 119-271). The FY2026 House committee bill proposed $14.793 billion for the total annual LAE appropriation, an increase of $494 million (+3.5%) compared to the FY2025 enacted level. The FY2026 total included $12.225 billion in base LAE funding, $2.397 billion in total dedicated PI funding, and $171 million in total user fees. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its LHHS bill to the Senate on July 31, 2025 (S. 2587, S.Rept. 119-55). The FY2026 Senate committee bill proposed $14.893 billion for the total annual LAE appropriation, an increase of $594 million (+4.2%) compared to the FY2025 enacted level. The FY2026 total included $12.325 billion in base LAE funding, $2.397 billion in total dedicated PI funding, and $171 million in total user fees. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148, P.L. 119-75), which included the FY2026 LHHS appropriations act (Division B), was signed into law on February 3, 2026. It provided $14.843 billion for the FY2026 total annual LAE appropriation, an increase of $544 million (+3.8%) compared to the FY2025 enacted level. The FY2026 total included $12.275 billion in base LAE funding, $2.397 billion in total dedicated PI funding, and $171 million in total user fees. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48794/R48794.2.pdf https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R48794.html

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