A top official at the Social Security Administration has stepped down after conflict with Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees, according to reports.
Michelle King (pictured), who was the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, stepped down and was then replaced by Leland Dudek. Dudek will serve in King’s former role until President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Frank Bisignano, is confirmed.
According to ABC News, the conflict involved DOGE employees attempting to access what the outlet described as “an internal data system which includes sensitive, personal information of Americans.”
Dudek, meanwhile, said that he is committed to leading the agency in “an open and transparent manner.”
“My first call as Acting Commissioner was to our Inspector General’s office to provide them an opportunity to oversee and review any and all agency activities, including my actions past, present, and future. Transparency is at the heart of good government,” he wrote.
The White House, via Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields, said of the switch up: “In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner.”
“President Trump is committed to appointing the best and most qualified individuals who are dedicated to working on behalf of the American people, not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long,” Fields added.
It remains unclear if DOGE employees successfully accessed the information they were seeking, but the news coincides with DOGE and its head, Elon Musk, weeding through the waste within the agency.
“So, crazy things like just cursory examination of Social Security and we’ve got people in there that are 150 years old. Now, do you know anyone who’s 150? I don’t, OK. They should be on the Guinness Book of World Records, they’re missing out,” Musk said from the White House on February 11.
“So, that’s a case where I think they’re probably dead, is my guess, or they should be very famous — one of the two. And then there’s a whole bunch of Social Security payments where there’s no identifying information,” he continued.
On Monday, Musk shared an image revealing startling data from the Social Security database — millions over the age of 130 — prompting an investigation by DOGE.
“Looking into this,” DOGE followed up.
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