What is a Congressional Inquiry?
A congressional inquiry is a “status check” of your disability claim conducted by your local senator or representative on your behalf. While requesting a congressional inquiry does not automatically guarantee that your claim will be revised or addressed any sooner, it won’t negatively affect your disability application.
How Do You Get a Congressional Inquiry?
To initiate a congressional inquiry, you will need to contact your local senator or representative’s office to request that he or she look into where your disability claim stands. In your request, you should give a general overview of the circumstances surrounding your claim. You may include factors such as:
- How long it has been since you began the application process
- How long you have been waiting for an appeal hearing to be scheduled
- Any medical, emotional, or financial distress the application process has caused; or
- The number of family members you are currently supporting
While these are just examples, be sure to include any information that will help explain why you are in need of a congressional inquiry.
What Happens If Your Congressperson Takes Your Request
If your congressperson takes action on your request, he or she will contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) by phone, email, or letter, to ask for an update on the status of your disability claim. This may give the SSA the push required to resolve your claim sooner.
Although this is not guaranteed, the outcome of your appeal hearing will not be affected in any way.
Typically, congressional inquiries are only sought by applicants whose initial claims and reconsideration reviews have been denied. Congressional inquiries are helpful for individuals who, due to financial or medical hardship, can no longer wait for a disability hearing to be scheduled.
Talk to a Social Security Attorney
It is extremely important to understand that while a congressional inquiry can speed up the Social Security Disability application process, it can’t and won’t change the SSA’s decision regarding your eligibility to receive SSDI or SSI benefits.
Also, while it may be tempting to try to request a congressional inquiry to expedite your disability claim during the initial application or reconsideration review, it will do very little to speed up your claim.
Keep in mind that a congressional inquiry is not the only step an applicant can take to expedite a decision on a Social Security Disability appeal hearing. If you are having difficulty trying to apply for Social Security benefits. You may wan to talk to a Social Security attorney.
They can help you gather all the necessary paperwork you need and can help make the process go a lot smoother.
