After a disagreement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on the Elon Musk-led group’s attempts to get confidential government documents, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration reportedly quit over the weekend.
According to a Monday Washington Post story, Michelle King, a career government employee who had worked for SSA since 1994, resigned on Saturday due to the DOGE dispute and was replaced by Leland Dudek.
According to the publication, Dudek, who has backed DOGE’s initiatives to eradicate waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, would operate as SSA’s interim commissioner until the Senate confirms Frank Bisignano, President Trump’s choice to head the agency.
Since Trump launched the cost-cutting program, DOGE employees embedded at SSA reportedly requested access to confidential documents in the same way they have at other government agencies, including the Treasury Department.
Treasuries of personal information are held by SSA, which oversees Social Security benefits for over 70 million Americans.
For millions of Americans, the government contains banking information, employment and income records, and a list of all Social Security numbers ever issued.
The medical records of Americans who have sought for disability benefits are also maintained by SSA.
It’s unclear what particular information DOGE requested that caused King to resign.
“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,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields in a statement.
“In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner,” Fields continued. “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.”
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King resigned at a time when Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, has been investigating allegations of Social Security fraud. Musk claims to have discovered cases of 150-year-olds receiving benefits and suspiciously wealthy federal employees who he believes are engaging in self-dealing.
After learning that 20 million people are recorded in the Social Security database as being over 100 years old, the former CEO of Tesla and X, who is now a special government official, expressed shock on Sunday.
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Musk remarked on X, “This might be the biggest fraud in history.”
Every year, the Social Security Administration disburses around $1.5 trillion in benefits. Trump has promised not to reduce senior citizens’ social security benefits.