Current Events > it BEGINS!___Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient info

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://wtop.com/government/2025/02/social-security-head-steps-down-over-doge-access-of-recipient-information-ap-sources/

WASHINGTON (AP) The Social Security Administration s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the officials departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Acting Commissioner Michelle Kings departure from the agency over the weekend after more than 30 years of service was initiated after King refused to provide DOGE staffers at the SSA with access to sensitive information, the people said Monday.
The White House has replaced her as acting commissioner with Leland Dudek, who currently works at the SSA, the people said.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields released a statement Monday night saying: 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 anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner.
Fields added, 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.
Kings exit from the administration is one of several departures of high-ranking officials concerned about DOGE staffers potential unlawful access to private taxpayer information.
DOGE has accessed Treasury payment systems and is attempting to access Internal Revenue Service databases.
Since Republican President Donald Trump has retaken the White House, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk has rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies while avoiding public scrutiny of his work through the DOGE group.
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the preservation of Social Security benefits, said of DOGEs efforts that there is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred.
The information collected and securely held by the Social Security Administration is highly sensitive, she said. SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Securitys means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income.
If there is an evil intent to punish perceived enemies, someone could erase your earnings record, making it impossible to collect the Social Security and Medicare benefits you have earned.
The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, receive Social Security benefits.

Yeah, my SSI was cut off last year and I'm trying to get back on

Looks like it's time to get a job...
>_>

People resigning in protest aren't heroes

lilORANG posted...

People resigning in protest aren't heroes

this is a soft firing

she would not give them access so they had a talk and then she resigned

https://www.newsweek.com/social-security-warning-issued-benefits-interruption-2032594

The former Social Security Administration (SSA) commissioner has said that benefits could be interrupted due to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) audit.

Why It Matters
Musk, selected by President Donald Trump as head of the DOGE, has been tasked with finding ways to streamline government processes and cut spending. But the unofficial government agency's approach to the task, and its access to government payment systems and personal information, have been met with backlash from some lawmakers, government officials and advocacy groups.
Musk has said Social Security is rife with fraud and erroneous payments, and that the federal agency has been making payments to long-dead recipients. This weekend, acting commissioner Michelle King resigned from her role over DOGE's alleged access to SSA data.

What To Know
Martin O'Malley, the Social Security commissioner under the Biden administration and a former Maryland governor, has heavily criticized DOGE's intervention in the federal agency, which manages and provides benefits sent to some 73 million Americans every month.
"At this rate, they [DOGE] will break it. And they will break it fast, and there will be an interruption of benefits," O'Malley said, according to a report by the Washington Post newspaper. Newsweek has contacted the SSA for comment via email.

O'Malley also took issue with the appointment of Leland Dudek, a manager in charge of Social Security's anti-fraud office, as acting commissioner, instead of other high-ranking officials at the federal agency. Dudek will head up the SSA until Frank Bisignano, President Trump's nomination, is likely appointed via a Senate confirmation hearing.
"It's a shame the chilling effect it has to disregard 120 senior executive service people," O'Malley added. "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."
DOGE at the SSA
Elon Musk has said that DOGE staffers have been auditing the SSA, and has since claimed on various occasions that people that are hundreds of years oldand therefore deadare claiming Social Security benefits. Earlier this week, he published part of a spreadsheet that he claims shows millions of long-dead people still claiming benefits.
During a White House appearance with President Trump last week, Musk said that a "cursory examination of Social Security" showed that payments were being sent to people "that are 150 years old."

What People Are Saying
New acting Commissioner Leland Dudek said in an email seen by ABC News: "I will lead this agency in an open and transparent manner. 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."
Harrison Fields, White House spokesperson, released a statement Monday night that read: "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 anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner."
What Happens Next
Dudek will be acting commissioner until Trump's nominee, GOP donor and businessman Frank Bisignano, is likely confirmed by the Senate in the coming months.

Maybe DOGE having access to everyone's highly sensitive personal information is what will finally lower the price of eggs

These fucking idiots already got hacked less than a week after starting their fucking stupid shit DOGE website. Fuck all of them.

lilORANG posted...

People resigning in protest aren't heroes

Depends how you look at it imo. Which brings more attention? If sitting there accepting firing claims you are budgetary waste. Or, resigning and providing oneself opportunity to establish a narrative of corruption.

Aren't Republicans currently claiming DOGE isn't an official government agency, and that Musk has no control over this stuff?

So, they'd have no issues with security tossing him out on his ass then, right? Dragging him out and calling the cops. Using violence to subdue an intruder. Even tazing or shooting if things got out of hand.

resigning is a reasonable thing to do when put in an impossible position.

lilORANG posted...

People resigning in protest aren't heroes

i don't think they are claiming to be heroes? what a weird post.

they are just refusing to be a part of this deeply immoral and illegal regime and what it's doing to federal government programs.

Trump's own voters are going to be fucked over by this the most.

ERfollower posted...

Trump's own voters are going to be fucked over by this the most.

That's been true of Republicans for decades, it's just faster now.

ERfollower posted...

Trump's own voters are going to be fucked over by this the most.

ah but if it hurts dems even a little bit then burning my house down was all worth it

WingsOfGood posted...

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the preservation of Social Security benefits, said of DOGEs efforts that there is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred.
The information collected and securely held by the Social Security Administration is highly sensitive, she said. SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Securitys means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income.
If there is an evil intent to punish perceived enemies, someone could erase your earnings record, making it impossible to collect the Social Security and Medicare benefits you have earned.
The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, receive Social Security benefits.

What else is new?

BTW they do not need to erase your record. They could change the ssn on the entries. Ever have an employer enter your ssn wrong and tell you Just save your paystubs take it up with SSA when you retire?

I already know there is going to be a lot of bull-shit in store for us medicaid and medicare recipients for the next 4 years. I had filled out one of the continuing disability review letters last year around june, which is a normal thing to do about every 5 years or so. Its kind of suspicious how I get yet another letter in the mail roughly a week ago asking me the exact same "so are you still permanently disabled? You sure you sure? You absolutely, positively sure? You been working? If so where at and how much? List the last 20 times you have been seeing doctors for any of your issues. List the last 20 times you have been admitted to the hospital. Your doctor confirmed you can't work right? You sure?.

*Slight exaggeration, but that is how these reviews are, lol. Like I said though normally you only need to do this every few years, but I have to do it back to back soon trump, the muskrat and his fresh out of highschool stooges start snooping around.*