WASHINGTON − The top official of the Social Security Administration quit over the weekend after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency 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, the president's 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 governments in a push to drastically cut federal spending and gut the federal bureaucracy. In recent days, DOGE has also sought direct access to Internal Revenue Service computer systems that have 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 Americans listed as 150 years old.
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 said almost none of the deceased individuals were receiving payments.
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.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...icial-michelle-king-resigns/79056807007/
