WASHINGTON − The top official of the Social Security Administration quit over the weekend after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sought access to sensitive records containing the private information of Americans, according to a source familiar with the dispute.
The White House confirmed the departure of Michelle King, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, who had worked 30 years in the agency that oversees retiree and disability benefits received by 73 million people.
President Donald Trump replaced King as acting commissioner with Leland Dudek, who has led Social Security’s anti-fraud office, according to the Washington Post, which first reported King’s exit. Trump is seeking Senate confirmation of Frank Bisignano, president and CEO of Fiserv, as his pick to lead the Social Security Administration full-time.
“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,” spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement. “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.
The clash came as Musk’s team of DOGE employees has fanned out across federal agencies in a push to drastically cut federal spending and restructure the federal bureaucracy. In recent days, DOGE has also sought direct access to IRS computer systems that contain vast amounts of sensitive data.
Dudek, the new acting head of Social Security, has previously praised DOGE’s efforts to cut government costs and search for fraud in multiple social media posts, the Post reported.
Musk has alleged widespread fraud in the Social Security Administration and made unsubstantiated claims that Social Security payments are going to deceased Americans listed as 150 years old.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that King didn’t resign but was instead fired as he echoed similar claims.
“Resigned or got fired?” Trump said when asked about King’s departure. “I think got fired. You know when you fire someone, they always resign and then they say, ‘We resigned.’ But when you have numbers like that, I think really it’s got fired.”
“Now the big thing is,” Trump said of the alleged deceased Social Security recipients, “how many of these people got paid?”
A 2023 report from the inspector general for the Social Security Administration found 18.9 million Americans born before 1920 were listed in the Social Security database but lacked death information on their records. However, the report stated that almost none of the deceased individuals were receiving payments, undercutting the claims of Musk and Trump.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a Monday night interview on Fox News, strongly rejected any suggestion that DOGE’s work in the Social Security Administration will jeopardize Americans’ Social Security checks.
Leavitt accused the media of “trying to fearmonger the American people” into believing the Trump administration is going after their Social Security benefits. She said Trump directed Musk and the DOGE team to “identify fraud in the Social Security Administration” by finding duplicate payments and erroneous payments to deceased Americans. She said Trump wants to protect the integrity of the system.
“Rest assured,” Leavitt said, “if you paid into the system honestly, you will continue to receive your Social Security checks.”
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