Biden picks ex-Maryland Gov. O’Malley to run Social Security Administration

President Biden on Wednesday announced he will nominate former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

O’Malley, who was governor from 2007 to 2015, ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. He had also served as mayor of Baltimore and was first elected in 1999.

“Since Day 1 I have fought to strengthen and defend Social Security, which tens of millions of Americans have paid into and depend on to support their livelihoods. I know that Governor O’Malley will continue to be a strong partner who works tirelessly to protect Social Security for generations to come,” Biden said in a statement.

Kilolo Kijakazi is currently the acting commissioner of the administration after Biden fired Andrew Saul, a holdover from the Trump administration who refused to resign, in 2021.

Biden has vowed to protect Social Security and earlier this year leaned into highlighting talk from Republican lawmakers about cuts to entitlement programs. Biden and the White House often warned that conservative-leaning proposals could mean cuts to critical programs, like Social Security and Medicare.

In his State of the Union address in February, Biden and Republicans had a back-and-forth over entitlement cuts. He has brought up the debate, during which he said that Republicans wanted cuts and vowed to veto any effort to make them, in multiple speeches since.

He has also often bashed policy proposals released last year by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in which the senator proposed sunsetting government programs like Social Security and Medicare every five years.