Donald Trump has promised, on more than one occasion, not to “touch” Social Security when determining which programs he plans to cut.
However, that doesn’t mean that his administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) isn’t trying to get at the popular entitlement program.
According to the Washington Post, the acting head of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, has resigned from her position rather than giving DOGE access to “sensitive government information.” King, who quit on Sunday, had worked for SSA for more than 30 years.
CNN: We have some breaking news for you. The acting head of the social security administration has resigned. Their departure comes after she refused to provide DOGE staffers access to sensitive information. pic.twitter.com/eA16DGXWaD
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 18, 2025
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Leland Dudek has been named acting commissioner of SSA, while Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, Frank Bisignano, awaits confirmation. Per the Post, Dudek has “posted positive remarks on social media about DOGE’s efforts to cut costs and 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 told the newspaper. “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.”
Martin O’Malley, the former mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland, was commissioner of the SSA during the Biden Administration.
“At this rate, they will break it. And they will break it fast, and there will be an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley told the Post, especially about the choice of Dudek to lead the agency on an interim basis. “To pick an acting commissioner that is not in the senior executive service sends a message that professional people should leave that beleaguered public agency.”
You don’t need to be a coder to figure this out. Simply type: tab age
You’ll discover a smattering of 99 year olds, a few 100 year olds, a couple of 101 year olds, and a pileup of 150 year olds, but no-one in their 130s or 140s. That’s a clear sign you’ve discovered a coding… pic.twitter.com/CKjG67rqKj
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) February 15, 2025
In recent weeks, what happened at SSA has matched the goings-on at other agencies, such as the IRS.
This week, Elon Musk posted a graph to X, which appeared to show fraud going to Social Security recipients over 100 years old. However, many experts pointed out that this was likely due to a coding error.
Photo courtesy of SSA.gov.
