December 15, 2008

ISSUE 1248

District Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California refused Dec. 5 to agree to arguments by the government for expediting further consideration of the revised Social Security “No-Match” rule. Following the submission of legal briefs and other documents, which are due Feb. 24, 2009, Breyer will schedule a hearing, possibly in March 2009. The Bush Administration had asked for the expedited time frame so the case could be resolved before the president leaves office in January.

The initial No-Match rule was to take effect on Sept. 14, 2007. However, the implementation of the rule was delayed due to litigation arguing that certain procedures, including an analysis of the law's economic impact on small businesses, were not followed.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Supplemental Proposed Rulemaking for the No-Match Rule in the March 24 Federal Register. It announced the Supplemental Final Rule last October, which was meant to address the procedural issues raised in the lawsuit, but offered few actual changes.

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