SSA serves millions of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries each month. The benefits these programs pay are part of the Federal Government's mandatory spending because authorizing legislation (Social Security Act) requires us to pay them.

While Congress does not set the amount of benefits we pay each year, they decide funding for our administrative budget. Our administrative budget provides resources to administer Social Security and SSI programs as well as certain aspects of the Medicare program. It funds salaries and benefits for Federal SSA employees and for State employees at disability determination services (DDS) offices who make disability determinations for us. In addition, our administrative budget pays for other expenses, such as rent for our field offices across the country, our National 800 Number, and information technology costs. Each year, we must submit budget requests to Congress that justify our funding needs for the following year.