Top Social Security official resigns after DOGE requests access to data
The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), Michelle King, resigned after a request from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for access to sensitive data about Social Security recipients. King, who had a long tenure at the SSA, stepped down amid concerns regarding potential fraud and data access. Musk’s claims involved allegations of improper payments to deceased individuals. The SSA oversees pension payments and maintains extensive personal data, including Social Security numbers and medical records.Following King’s resignation, Leland Dudek, a member of the SSA, was appointed as acting commissioner until Frank Bisignano receives Senate confirmation. The push for accessing personal data has met resistance in other government sectors as well. This change occurs in a politically sensitive surroundings, recalling past attempts at Social Security reform that faced public backlash.
Top Social Security official resigns after sparring with DOGE over access to data
The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration stepped down from her role after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency requested access to Social Security recipient information.
Acting Commissioner Michelle King, who spent several decades at the agency, resigned over the weekend, according to a Washington Post report. The agency has grown as a target of Musk, who claimed over the weekend that there’s fraud from improper payments to dead people.
The Social Security Administration manages pension payments for more than 70 million seniors in the U.S. It hosts significant amounts of personal data including all Social Security numbers, comprehensive medical records for those who have applied for disability benefits, bank information, income records, and more. At the time of King’s departure, it was not immediately clear which data the Musk associates wanted or exactly what led her to leave.
Musk and his associates’ wish to access highly personal data has already been met with pushback in other federal government sectors. The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking civil servant recently resigned after refusing to grant DOGE access to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which manages more than $5 trillion in annual payments.
President Donald Trump replaced her as acting commissioner with Leland Dudek, who currently works at the SSA, while Frank Bisignano awaits a Senate confirmation vote. Dudek has previously posted positive statements on social media about DOGE’s efforts to search for fraud in federal agencies.
“President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement on the matter. “In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner.”
Reforms to the agency are typically met with swift political backlash. When Republicans held a trifecta in the government in 2005 as they do now, they tried to reform Social Security, but their efforts were met with pushback and a blue wave in the 2006 midterm elections, with GOP actions on Social Security, among other issues, growing unpopular.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Now loading...