OAN Staff James Meyers
9:57 AM – Tuesday, February 18, 2025
The acting Social Security Administration’s chief stepped down from her role after multiple requests from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access recipient data, according to multiple reports.
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Acting Commissioner Michelle King left the agency after over 30 years of service. According to The Associated Press, she allegedly refused to provide DOGE employees with sensitive information that was requested.
Michelle King will be replaced by Leland Dudek, who will be the acting commissioner until the Trump administration nominee Frank Bisignano is confirmed.
Dudek oversaw the SSA fraud investigation office, and then she resigned to become the acting commissioner.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields spoke about the move on Monday, 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.”
He added that Trump is committed to appointing “the best and most qualified” people to work on behalf of the American people, “not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long.”
King’s departure adds to the list of several high-ranking officials who have left their post, as DOGE continues their work of finding wasteful spending across multiple federal departments and agencies.
Bisignano, who is the CEO of financial titan Fiserv, will have to wait until he is confirmed by the Senate as Dudek will lead the agency in the meantime.
However, people in opposition are claiming this is a breach of private information.
Nancy Altman, the president of the advocacy group Social Security Works told The Associated Press, “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 Security’s 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,” she said.
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