Michelle King, the acting chief of the Social Security Administration, stepped down from her position after refusing to provide Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” with access to sensitive data at the agency, according to multiple reports.
King left her position on Feb. 16, leading President Donald Trump to appoint Leland Dudek, a manager at SSA’s antifraud office, as acting commissioner until Trump’s official nominee Frank Bisignano is confirmed by the Senate, according to reporting from the Washington Post.
A White House spokesperson confirmed in a statement to several news outlets, including NBC News, that King is no longer leading the Social Security Administration.
“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. In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security antifraud 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,” the spokesperson said in the statement.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from P&I.
King had been at the Social Security Administration for more than 30 years, according to her LinkedIn.
To replace King, the White House "had to really dig down into the bureaucracy," according to Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group focused on protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Altman told P&I that there were many officials senior to Dudek, but the White House appointed him so he would cooperate with DOGE.
Dudek had posted positive remarks about DOGE's efforts on his social media, the Washington Post reported, though his LinkedIn page is no longer accessible.
Altman added that she's "quite confident" DOGE already has access to SSA's sensitive information, which "would be a treasure trove for a scam artist."
“SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans,” Altman said in a Feb. 17 news release. She noted that older adults are especially vulnerable to scams, and a data leak “would make the numbers of scams skyrocket.”
“There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred,” Altman said in the news release.
The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to an inquiry on whether DOGE has such access.
Speaking from the Oval Office next to Trump, Musk told reporters on Feb. 11 that there are people in the Social Security system that are 150 years old.
"That is not happening," Altman said, though she added that such claims "undermine confidence" in the system, so "(DOGE) can say, 'Hey, we're not cutting benefits. We're cutting waste.'"
The development comes after a similar situation took place at the Treasury Department. David A. Lebryk, the department’s top career official, announced his retirement Jan. 31 after clashing with Musk and his team over access to Treasury’s payment systems, according to the Washington Post.
Reports that DOGE then gained access to Treasury’s payment systems led to both a lawsuit and a bill aimed at stopping Musk and his team from having such access, among other things. A federal judge extended a temporary block on DOGE’s access to the Treasury’s payment systems Feb. 14, which stemmed from a separate lawsuit on the matter, according to Reuters.
Musk and his DOGE team have faced staunch opposition from congressional Democrats and other progressive groups in their efforts to slash government funding, which include moves to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Their efforts are likely to cause staffing cuts, among other possible changes, at the SEC and Labor Department, which could significantly alter the way the agencies operate, former SEC and DOL staff told P&I.
