Andrew Saul

Andrew Marshall Saul (born November 6, 1946) is an American businessman and political candidate who served as commissioner of the United States Social Security Administration from 2019 to 2021.

Saul was fired from the position by President Joe Biden on July 9, 2021, after refusing to offer his requested resignation.

Saul stated that his discharge was illegal.

Saul previously served as the chair of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) and vice chairman of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968.

Saul began his career with Brooks Fashion Stores, rising to become its president, and growing the company into a large corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Along with his father, he then purchased the bankrupt South Florida women's apparel company Caché Inc. and restored it to solvency.

The company was an upscale fashion store with 300 outlets around the world, and was publicly traded on the NASDAQ.

Saul has been a general partner in the investment firm Saul Partners, L.P., since 1986.

As chair of the Thrift Investment Board, he oversaw the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a retirement savings account for employees of the Federal Government and soldiers of the armed services.

Saul was born to a Jewish family in New York City.

He has served on the board of directors since 1986, and as chair from February 1993 to October 2000.

In 1986, he founded an investment firm with his father, Saul Partners, L.P., as a partner.

Saul was originally appointed to the board to represent Westchester County in 1996 by County Executive Andrew O'Rourke.

Saul, and his executive director Gary Amelio, inherited a mishandled computer project for a new record-keeping system, which had been started in 1997 and wasted $36 million.

Saul was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate in 2002 as chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, the agency which manages the Thrift Savings Plan for employees of Federal Government agencies, and soldiers in the Armed Services, providing retirement security for more than 3.7 million participants.

He was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, which was controlled by the Democrats.

Saul replaced James H. Atkins of Arkansas, who had been nominated to a third term by President Bill Clinton in a recess appointment.

Since being appointed by President Bush, Saul pushed for more rigorous audits of TSP operations.

The General Accounting Office concurred with Saul's efforts in a 2003 report, urging Congress to set up procedures that would keep it better informed about the operations and policy decisions at the federal employee retirement program, suggesting that Congress could "establish a formal process by which the Secretary of Labor can report to the Congress issues of critical concern associated with the actions of the TSP board and executive director."

During his confirmation hearing, Senator Daniel Akaka told Saul he would be facing a difficult situation, as the outgoing executive director had taken a number of actions before his sudden departure which led to "demoralization of the TSP staff, expensive lawsuits, investigations, rancorous battles with other agencies, along with the costs of a failed record keeping system project" that were all eventually dealt with by the FRTIB.

Shortly after Saul assumed office, TSP Executive Director James Petrick resigned.

It has been alleged by former FRTIB Chairman and Executive Director Roger Mehle that this occurred when Petrick wished to pursue a lawsuit against the contractor for the record keeping system which led to a conflict with the Justice Department over whether the board had standing to sue.

Saul pursued a settlement and dropped the lawsuit.

The system was eventually brought online in 2003.

Under the direction of Saul and Amelio, a new mainframe computer was installed that ran ten times faster than the old system, with an emergency backup computer that can be used in the event of a disaster.

The agency also acquired its first toll-free line, opened two new call centers, and extended hours for customer service.

In 2005, Saul was one of only two members to vote against a one-time $50 million holiday fare discount from the MTA's budget surplus.

In 2006, Saul was appointed by Governor George Pataki to a six-year term as a vice-chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority after nine years as a board member.

He was recommended by Westchester County Executive Andy Spano.

He also served as Chair of the Finance Committee, and was a member of each of the other eleven board committees of the MTA.

In 2007, Mehle launched his own lawsuit against Saul and the board which alleges that the board violated its fiduciary duty to TSP participants by forcing out Petrick in order to settle the lawsuit against the contractor.

With the Thrift Savings Board, he eliminated open enrollment periods, which had allowed eligible participants to enroll year-round.

On May 3, 2007, President George W. Bush renominated Saul to two more consecutive terms on the board expiring September 25, 2012.

Following the resignation of Gary Amelio in 2007, Saul appointed Gregory T. Long as executive director for the Thrift Savings Plan.

Long was previously the director of product development for the TSP.

In May 2013, he was made a member of the board of trustees for the National Gallery of Art.

Cache again filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015 when it ceased all operations.

He is a member of the board of trustees of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the United Jewish Appeal Federation, the Sarah Neuman Nursing Home, the Wharton School of Business, the Manhattan Institute, and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City.

He is also a member of the Chairman's Council of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a patron of the Museum of Modern Art, and is one of the top art collectors in New York, with extensive holdings of modern art and contemporary art, especially post war American and Chinese bronzes.