The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has named Jebby Rasputnis as Deputy Director of Programs. Her appointment was effective March 10.
Ms. Rasputnis will assist Director of Programs Arturo Cardenas in overseeing agency operations to process and pay benefits administered by the agency. These benefits include retirement and survivor, disability, and unemployment and sickness insurance. In addition, the Office of Programs is responsible for performance evaluation and management, overseeing the RRB’s nationwide Medicare contract, and the reporting of worker earnings by railroad employers.
A long-time public servant at the time of her appointment, Ms. Rasputnis was the Executive Director of the Office of Appellate Operations and Chair of the Appeals Council at the Social Security Administration (SSA). She had been in that position since December 2019, providing executive guidance and leadership to about 900 employees involved in adjudicating and reviewing appeals and civil actions related to SSA benefits. She received her appointment to the Senior Executive Service in February 2020.
Most of Ms. Rasputnis’ federal service was with the Board of Veterans’ Appeals in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). She started there as a law clerk in the summer of 2008, and after completing her legal studies, became Associate Counsel in December 2009. She was subsequently selected as Special Counsel in 2013, Supervisory Senior Counsel in June 2016, Interim Chief of the Office of Litigation Support and Customer Service in 2018, and also served as an Acting Veterans Law Judge.
Ms. Rasputnis received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2009, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 2000 from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she worked for about six years in communications and policy.
A native of Quincy, Illinois, Ms. Rasputnis currently lives in Maryland with her husband Boris and their teenage son, Lev. Locally, she has been active with parent teacher associations and in the Washington, Virginia & Maryland Garden Railway Society.
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An independent federal agency based in Chicago, the RRB administers over $13.6 billion a year in benefits under the federal Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts covering the nation’s railroad workers and their families.