I-TEAM: Miami Valley congressman calling delayed apology from Social Security Chief ‘unacceptable’

A Miami Valley congressman is one of the lawmakers calling the delayed apology from a top federal administrator ‘unacceptable.’

The News Center 7 I-Team first told you the Social Security Administration’s Acting Commissioner Dr. Kilolo Kijakaz said she gave Congress misleading testimony.

The I-Team, along with our Cox Media Group sister stations and KFF Health News, filed a Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request for internal SSA records which show more than two million Americans get hit with an overpayment notice each year.

It’s more than double what the agency’s acting commissioner told Congress during a hearing in October.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: I-TEAM: Social Security Chief apologizes to Congress for misleading testimony on overpayments

Kijakaz apologized for giving what she called “a preliminary, unvetted and partial answer” adding ... “I very much regret not contacting you with more information right away.”

She sent the letter just days after we exposed the numbers she gave to Congress were wrong but seven weeks after the testimony.

Miami Valley congressman Mike Carey is among the lawmakers who this afternoon responded saying, in part:

“The SSA’s failure to disclose this mistake for weeks after it was first identified, and only disclosing it when forced to do so pursuant to a FOIA request, is unacceptable from an agency that is expected to hold the public’s trust.”

The Senate confirmed former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley as the new permanent head of the Social Security Administration.

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