The acting head of the Social Security Administration stepped down after reportedly clashing with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
Michelle King, a career official who served at the agency for more than 30 years, was serving as acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration but left the agency after she was replaced with Leland Dudek this weekend.
Sources said that DOGE employees were seeking access to an internal data system which includes sensitive, personal information of Americans.
Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works, which works to expand social security, told ABC News the data the Social Security Administration has is expansive.
“It’s your entire earnings record. If you’re a beneficiary, it’s your benefits, it’s the name of your spouse and when you got married and if you got divorced, and all kinds of information. And most sensitive, if you’ve applied for disability benefits, all of your medical records,” said Altman.
It’s not clear if DOGE employees ultimately gained access to the system following the dispute with King.
An email message sent to all SSA staff from Dudek tonight said he was “humbled and honored to lead this agency” until Trump’s pick to lead Social Security, Frank Bisignano, is confirmed by the Senate.
”I will lead this 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,” Dudek wrote in the email.
When asked for comment, White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields reiterated the White House’s expectation that Bisignano will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
“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 said in a statement.
Social Security – which provides benefits and retirement income for Americans – has databases with personal information of its millions of beneficiaries. Doge, which is not an official government department, has been tasked by President Donald Trump with cutting US government jobs and other spending.
Meanwhile, the Senate will vote on confirming Trump’s pick to run the FBI and his secretary of commerce nominee
And later today a joint interview with Trump and Musk will air on Fox News
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on Fox News, and Elon Musk was once again a major topic of discussion.
The Washington Post was the first to report King’s departure.
Leavitt described Musk as a “special government employee here at the White House” and said he serves “at the direction of the President of the United States”.
Musk “has been tasked with overseeing Doge on behalf of the President”, Leavitt says.
Leavitt describes the work of Doge staffers as “onboarding at respective agencies” and says that they are helping secretaries at those agencies cut waste.
For context, Doge is not a government department and some if its cost-cutting measures have been blocked by courts. A judge stopped the agency from accessing personal data held within US Treasury records.
And while controversial, a poll by the BBC’s US partner CBS News has suggested Doge enjoys broad popular support.
The poll indicated that a majority of Americans – especially Republican voters – supported its work, even if they disagreed over how much influence Musk should have personally.
Political opponents and government watchdogs accuse Doge of acting without transparency and spreading misinformation about government spending – and accuse Musk of overstepping his authority as an unelected official.
Critics highlight Musk’s potential conflicts of interest, given the billions in contracts his businesses hold with the US government. Trump and Musk deny that any issues will arise.
Multiple groups including unions and state attorneys general have sued Doge and the wider Trump administration over their plans, and Democrats accuse them of tampering with funding approved by Congress that is outside the president’s scope. The White House denies that the work has broken any laws.
Several times, the courts have stepped in to halt the cost-cutting moves, at least once blocking Doge directly when a judge stopping the agency from accessing personal data held within US Treasury records.
When speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Musk said he expected to be scrutinised for his work, but insisted that Americans had voted for “common sense” government reform.
