What Is an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)? Roles, Cases, and Hearings

An administrative law judge, or ALJ, is a federal official appointed by the head of an executive-branch agency to preside over hearings between that agency and the individuals or businesses it regulates. ALJs are not Article III judges and do not sit in courthouses, but they carry nearly all the tools of a federal trial judge: they take testimony under oath, rule on evidence, issue subpoenas, and write binding decisions.¹ Roughly 2,000 ALJs work across the federal government, and the Social Security Administration employs the vast majority of them to decide disability claims.

What an ALJ Actually Does

The Administrative Procedure Act sets out the ALJ’s toolkit. A presiding ALJ can administer oaths, issue subpoenas authorized by law, rule on offers of proof and receive relevant evidence, take depositions, regulate the course of the hearing, hold settlement conferences, and make or recommend decisions.²

Much of the work happens before the hearing itself. ALJs can direct the parties to pre-hearing conferences to narrow the issues, set a schedule, and explore settlement. When parties reach an agreement without the ALJ present, they must promptly report it, and the ALJ then enters written rulings memorializing what was agreed to.³ Many cases are streamlined or resolved entirely at this stage.

At the hearing, the ALJ controls the order of evidence, the sequence of witnesses, and what testimony comes in. Evidence rules are looser than in a federal courtroom: an ALJ may receive any evidence believed material to the issues, even if a court applying the Federal Rules of Evidence would exclude it.⁴ Witnesses testify under oath, and the ALJ may personally question any party, expert, or witness.

The Kinds of Cases ALJs Hear

Disability and Benefits Claims

The largest single category is Social Security disability. When a claimant is denied benefits and appeals past the reconsideration stage, an ALJ holds a hearing and decides eligibility. These hearings are informal, audio-recorded rather than stenographically transcribed, and often include testimony from medical or vocational experts the ALJ invites to help evaluate the claim.⁵

Labor Disputes

When the National Labor Relations Board investigates an unfair labor practice charge and a Regional Director issues a formal complaint, an ALJ hears the case and issues a decision with a recommended order. NLRB ALJs also occasionally decide post-election representation disputes.⁶

Securities Enforcement

The Securities and Exchange Commission uses ALJs to adjudicate enforcement actions against individuals and firms accused of securities fraud, insider trading, and other violations. These proceedings drew national attention after the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Lucia v. SEC, which held that SEC ALJs are “Officers of the United States” who must be properly appointed under the Appointments Clause.¹

Environmental, Trade, and Other Agency Matters

The Environmental Protection Agency uses ALJs in pollution enforcement cases, the Department of Labor uses them for workplace safety and whistleblower claims, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission uses them in utility rate proceedings. Across dozens of agencies, ALJs handle the disputes that fall under each agency’s authority.⁷

How ALJs Differ From Courtroom Judges

ALJs are not Article III judges. Article III judges hold lifetime appointments and sit in federal district and circuit courts. ALJs are appointed by the heads of executive-branch agencies to handle disputes arising under each agency’s authority.⁷ They sit inside the executive branch but receive legal protections designed to keep them independent of the agencies whose cases they decide.⁸

There is also a separate role, confusingly similar in name, called an administrative judge (AJ). ALJs are appointed under the Administrative Procedure Act and handle formal adjudication with strong procedural safeguards. Administrative judges are hired directly by agencies under their own employment rules and handle informal disputes, which actually make up the majority of administrative cases. AJs do not receive the same independence protections as ALJs and are subject to normal agency performance reviews and bonus systems.⁸

Independence From the Agency

The system is built on the idea that the person deciding your case should not answer to the people who brought the case against you. The APA enforces that in several ways.

A presiding ALJ cannot consult with any person or party on a contested fact unless every party has notice and a chance to participate. The ALJ also cannot be supervised or directed by any agency employee engaged in investigating or prosecuting cases.⁹ That wall between the judge and the prosecution team is one of the strongest protections in administrative law.

Agencies also cannot easily remove an ALJ who rules against them. By statute, an agency may remove, suspend, demote, cut the pay of, or furlough an ALJ only for good cause established and determined by the Merit Systems Protection Board on the record after an opportunity for a hearing.¹⁰ ALJs are exempt from agency performance bonuses and ranking systems, removing the financial incentive to decide cases the way an agency prefers.⁸

The APA also requires that ALJs be assigned to cases on a rotating basis “so far as practicable” and that they not perform duties inconsistent with the role of judge.⁷ An agency cannot have an ALJ help build enforcement cases one day and rule on them the next.

How ALJs Decide Cases

In most administrative proceedings, the side bringing the claim or complaint must prove it by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning the ALJ must find it more likely than not that the allegations are true.¹¹ That is a lower bar than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal trials. The proponent of a rule or order generally carries the burden unless a statute says otherwise.²

After the hearing closes, the ALJ reviews the record and issues a written decision with findings of fact, conclusions of law, and the reasoning behind the outcome. The APA requires a statement of findings and conclusions on every material issue of fact, law, or discretion, along with the appropriate order, relief, or denial.¹² The reasoning must be detailed enough for a reviewing body to evaluate whether the ALJ got it right.

An ALJ’s ruling is typically called an “initial decision.” It becomes the agency’s final decision automatically unless someone appeals to the agency, or the agency itself decides to review it within the time its rules allow.¹² On review, the agency steps into the ALJ’s shoes and has the same powers the ALJ had, though it can limit the issues. In some proceedings the ALJ issues a “recommended decision” instead, which requires the agency to adopt or modify it before it takes effect.

If you disagree with the outcome, you generally cannot jump straight to federal court. Most agencies require you to exhaust internal appeal options first. Under the APA, a person cannot seek judicial review of an agency action until all available administrative appeals have been completed, unless the agency’s regulations do not make the internal appeal mandatory or do not pause the agency’s action during the appeal.¹³ Once internal steps are cleared, you can typically file suit in federal district court to challenge the final decision.

What an ALJ Hearing Is Like

For most people, the first encounter with an ALJ is a Social Security disability hearing, and it is nothing like a television courtroom. The hearing is informal. There is no jury, no opposing attorney cross-examining you, and no gallery. Usually the only people present are the ALJ, you, your representative if you have one, and any expert witnesses. The proceeding is audio-recorded rather than transcribed by a court reporter.⁵

You are allowed, but not required, to bring a representative, who can be an attorney or a non-attorney. The ALJ explains the issues, asks you questions, and may call medical or vocational experts to testify about your condition and ability to work. You and your representative can question any witnesses present.⁵ Most disability hearings last under an hour, though complex cases run longer.

Outside the SSA context, hearings tend to be more formal and adversarial. An SEC or EPA enforcement action feels much closer to a trial, with agency counsel presenting a case and the respondent mounting a defense. Even in those settings, the rules of evidence are looser than in federal court, and the ALJ has wide latitude to control the proceeding and accept evidence a court might exclude.²

Who Becomes an ALJ

Qualifying is demanding. Applicants must hold an active law license in at least one U.S. jurisdiction and have a minimum of seven years of experience as a licensed attorney preparing for, participating in, or reviewing formal hearings or trials involving litigation or administrative law.¹⁴ The experience must involve proceedings conducted on the record with formality at least equivalent to what the APA requires. In practice, most ALJs have spent years as litigators, agency counsel, or judges before appointment.

The Office of Personnel Management develops and administers the ALJ examination used to evaluate candidates.¹⁵ OPM does not hire ALJs; each agency does its own hiring, generally from OPM’s list of eligible candidates or with prior OPM approval for an outside appointment. Under Lucia v. SEC, the actual appointment must be made by the head of the agency, consistent with the Appointments Clause.¹

As of 2026, ALJ pay runs from $131,700 at the entry level (AL-3/A) to $197,200 at the top (AL-1).¹⁶

1
Justia US Supreme Court. Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 585 US (2018)
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 US Code 556 – Hearings; Presiding Employees; Powers and Duties
3
eCFR. 31 CFR 501.722 – Prehearing Conferences
4
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 Subpart J – Administrative Law Judge Hearing Procedures
5
Social Security Administration. SSA’s Hearing Process, OHO
6
National Labor Relations Board. Administrative Law Judge Decisions
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 3105 Appointment of Administrative Law Judges
8
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 US Code 554 – Adjudications
10
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. Jarboe v. Department of Health and Human Services – MSPB Opinion and Order
11
eCFR. 5 CFR 2423.32 – Burden of Proof Before the Administrative Law Judge
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 US Code 557 – Initial Decisions; Conclusiveness; Review by Agency
13
Justice Manual Archives. 34 Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
14
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Administrative Law Judge Positions
15
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 930 Subpart B – Administrative Law Judge Program
16
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table No. 2026-ALJ