Data / Federal rules / 2024-18591
Setting the Manner of Appearance of Parties and Witnesses at Hearings
The Social Security Administration published this final rule in the Federal Register on August 26, 2024. It took effect on November 23, 2024.
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What the agency says
We are revising our hearing regulations to provide that claimants may appear at hearings in one of four ways: by agency video, by online video, by audio, or in person. Those four manners will all be standard manners of appearance in our hearing process. For online video and audio appearances, claimants may appear for hearings remotely, using private electronic devices that we do not own, operate, or approve. For online video appearances, a claimant may appear for a hearing using approved online video conferencing applications, rather than conferencing options using equipment that we own or approve. Additionally, while our current regulations permit us to schedule claimants to appear by telephone in limited circumstances only, this final rule will allow us to schedule claimants to appear by audio without similar restrictions, if the claimant does not object to appearing in that manner. We expect that this final rule will provide us and claimants with additional flexibility, allowing us to manage our hearing process more efficiently.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2024-18591
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Social Security Administration
- Published
- August 26, 2024
- Takes effect
- November 23, 2024
- Dates
- This final rule is effective November 23, 2024.
- Docket
- Docket No. SSA-2022-0013
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 0960-AI71
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 20 CFR 404; 20 CFR 416
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Aged; Blind; Disability benefits; Individuals with disabilities; Social security; Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Significant
- Yes, under Executive Order 12866
- Pages
- 24
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Everything from the Social Security Administration · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on aged · Rules on blind · Published in August 2024
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.