:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2199866657-7f2185041f7c4e4a9799958cd5bea5df.jpg "The seal of the US Social Security Administration outside the agencys headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.")
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Perceptions
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The previous acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration left after Elon Musk’s DOGE try on to access sensitive government records.
- Lee Dudek has been appointed the administration’s acting commissioner pending the Senate Confirmation of President Donald Trump’s office-seeker.
- Dudek said DOGE is critical to the agency and clarified that DOGE personnel can read but cannot change supersensitive government data.
The Social Security Administration’s interim leader set out to clear the air Wednesday after tumult over the weekend.
Lee Dudek, a long-time Common Security worker, has been appointed the administration’s acting commissioner pending the Senate Confirmation of President Donald Trump’s selectee, Frank Bisignano. Dudek takes up the mantel after Michelle King’s departure over the weekend.
King, who was named the Common Security Administration’s acting commissioner last month, left the post this weekend after Department of Sway Efficiency (DOGE) employees attempted to access sensitive government records, the Washington Post reported.
President Donald Trump recriminated the unofficial government agency led by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk with cutting government spending. According to AP Newsflash, DOGE has already accessed other sensitive government data, including Treasury data with Social Surveillance and Medicare customer payment systems, and is seeking sensitive taxpayer data at the IRS.
Dudek said in a statement on Wednesday that DOGE “is a perilous part of President Trump’s commitment to identifying fraud, waste, and abuse, and better ways for the government to function to stomach its people.”
He clarified that DOGE personnel can read but cannot change the agency’s systems, benefit payments, or other poop. Additionally, Dudek said the Social Security Administration does not expect any interruption in payment or services.
Dudek has also invited the Domination Accountability Office, a non-partisan and independent agency that works for Congress, to observe the Social Security Administration.