“There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is.”
Michelle Del Rey
Washington D.C.
Tuesday 18 February 2025
THE INDEPENDENT
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The acting Social Security commissioner was replaced Sunday after the Department of Government Efficiency demanded data for people obtaining benefits.
Michelle King spent decades at the agency before her departure this week amid an ongoing battle between her agency and DOGE, which made several attempts to access highly sensitive information, according to several media reports citing government sources.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read more
The acting Social Security commissioner was replaced Sunday after the Department of Government Efficiency demanded data for people obtaining benefits.
Michelle King spent decades at the agency before her departure this week amid an ongoing battle between her agency and DOGE, which made several attempts to access highly sensitive information, according to several media reports citing government sources.
The Independent emailed the Social Security Administration and the White House for comment.
Social Security manages the pension payments of 70 million Americans. Other benefits include disability and Medicare. The agency holds troves of highly personal data relating to work, pay and health histories, and includes residential addresses.
Social Security payments account for about $1.5 trillion, or a fifth, of annual federal spending in the United States.
Nancy Altman, who heads the group Social Security Works which promotes the expansion of the program, told The Washington Post: “What I know is that DOGE wanted access to SSA’s sensitive files – the same way they’re trying to do at Labor and Treasury – and the acting commissioner wouldn’t give it, and she was replaced.”
She noted to The New York Times that the data includes “our bank information, our earnings records, the names and ages of our children, and much more.”
Altman told the Post: “There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is.”
A manager for the agency’s anti-fraud office, Leland Dudek, was appointed to replace King by President Donald Trump. Frank Bisignano, Trump’s nominee for Social Security commissioner, must still be vetted and confirmed by the Senate in the upcoming weeks before he can take over.
Several people within the agency were concerned about the Trump administration’s appointment of Dudek, who is not in the upper echelons of the administration, and without the experience the top job requires.
Dudek has written several positive social media posts about DOGE’s efforts to slash government spending, The Post noted.
Martin O’Malley, the Social Security commissioner under the Biden administration and a former Maryland governor, warned that the Trump administration is out to “break” the Social Security system.
“At this rate, they will break it. And they will break it fast, and there will be an interruption of benefits,” he told The Washington Post.
A White House statement on the situation emphasized: “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.”
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told Fox News that Musk had been directed to identify what she called “fraud” in the agency, and promised that benefits for seniors would be protected.
Over the weekend, Musk took to X to call Social Security potentially “the biggest fraud in history.”
He claimed that “millions” of people listed as between the ages of 100 and 150 years old are collecting benefits, though has yet to provide evidence of that. Some experts believe age anomalies may be linked to arcane coding that occurs when a number value is missing in a date.
King did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. She had worked at the agency since 1994 and at the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy and the Office of Budget, Finance and Management before that.
The Social Security Administration is not the first agency from which Musk’s DOGE has tried to extract highly personal data. The department has also requested access to Internal Revenue Service files. That agency maintains taxpayer information, Social Security numbers and taxpayers’ bank account information.
DOGE has appeared to gain access to data held by the National Reconnaissance Office, an intelligence agency that designs and maintains U.S. intelligence satellites.
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