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#FridayFact Answer
Today's #FridayFact asked: How many administrative law judges (ALJ) are employed by federal government agencies?
You selected from the following choices.
- 1,931
- 376
- 943
- 1,045
The correct answer was 1,931. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported 1,931 administrative law judges working for federal agencies as of March 2017, the most recent year for which comprehensive data was available at the time of this article's last update in March 2024. The vast majority of these ALJs (1,655) were employed at the Social Security Administration. The role of the ALJ was created and standardized under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946. When an agency is required by statute to use a formal adjudication proceeding, an ALJ must preside. ALJs are recruited and examined by OPM, then hired and paid by agencies. When an agency needs to fill an ALJ position, OPM will offer a list of three candidates for the agency to choose from. Agencies may also hire ALJs from other agencies, either permanently or on a temporary basis, with the approval of OPM.[1][2]
The OPM website describes the work of ALJs in the following way:[2]
“ | ALJs serve as independent impartial triers of fact in formal proceedings requiring a decision on the record after the opportunity for a hearing. In general, ALJs prepare for and preside at formal proceedings required by statute to be held under or in accordance with provisions of the APA, codified, in relevant part, in sections 553 through 559 of title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.). ALJs rule on preliminary motions, conduct pre-hearing conferences, issue subpoenas, conduct hearings (which may include written and/or oral testimony and cross-examination), review briefs, and prepare and issue decisions, along with written findings of fact and conclusions of law.
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—U.S. Office of Personnel Management, "Qualification Standard For Administrative Law Judge Positions"[2] |
ALJs by the numbers
ALJs by agency
The following table shows the distribution of ALJs among federal agencies as of March 2017:
ALJ qualifications
The following table outlines the qualification standards required by law for ALJs:
Qualification requirements for ALJs[2] | ||||||
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Learn more: Administrative law judge
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Office of Personnel Management, "Administrative Law Judges," accessed April 1, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Office of Personnel Management, "Classification & Qualifications," accessed April 1, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.