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Over the long President’s Day weekend, the Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner, Michelle King, resigned after a dispute with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over the Elon Musk-led group’s efforts to access sensitive government records. However, President Trump quickly appointed Leland Dudek, a manager in charge of SSA’s anti-fraud office, as the new acting commissioner.
“I will lead this agency in an open and transparent manner,” said Dudek. “My first call as Acting Commissioner was to our Inspector General's office to provide them an opportunity to oversee and review any and all agency activities, including my actions past, present, and future. Transparency is at the heart of good government."
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DOGE was created via executive order from President Trump and is a temporary department within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.
King resigned after more than 30 years of service, after refusing to provide DOGE staffers at the SSA access to the sensitive records. Dudek, who has been supportive of DOGE’s efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, will serve as acting commissioner of SSA until President Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Frank Bisignano, is confirmed by the Senate.
Principal Deputy Press Secretary at the White House, Harrison Fields, said Bisignano, the CEO of financial software giant Fiserv, is expected to be "swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks."
King’s resignation comes as Musk has recently been scrutinizing alleged Social Security fraud, claiming to have found instances of Social Security benefits being sent to people “that are 150 years old,” he said during a White House briefing, as well as uncovering 20 million people who are listed in the SSA database as over 100 years old. There is a 2023 report by the SSA inspector general Gail Ennis, which identified about 19 million people born in 1920 or earlier with no death certificate on file - although only 44,000 of whom were still receiving benefits.
SSA, which manages Social Security payments for about 72.5 million retirees, disabled people and children. SSA funds have been projected to be depleted around 2035. The agency has a list of every Social Security number that has ever been issued as well as work and pay history and banking information for millions of Americans. SSA also keeps the medical records of Americans who have applied for disability benefits.
Related: Senators demand quick implementation of Social Security Fairness Act, in letter to SSA
Earlier this month, Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) sent a letter to former Acting Commissioner King, along with led 26 colleagues, in calling for the immediate implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act, which President Biden signed into law in early January.
The new law, which has been decades in the making, provides full Social Security benefits for 3 million public employees who draw public pensions - such as former police and firefighters. However, the new law, which will boost Social Security retirement payments to those public sector retirees will now be delayed.
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Lynn Cavanaugh
Lynn Varacalli Cavanaugh is Senior Editor, Retirement at BenefitsPRO. Prior, she was editor-in-chief of the What's New in Benefits & Compensation newsletter. She has worked for major firms in the employee benefits space, Vanguard and Willis Towers Watson, as well as top media companies, including Condé Nast and American Media.
