The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, stepped down and was replaced following demands from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for access to beneficiary data, according to reports.
What Happened: King, a veteran of the agency, stepped down from her role this week amid escalating tensions between DOGE and her agency, reported The Washington Post. DOGE employees attempted to gain access to an internal data system on multiple occasions containing sensitive confidential information of Americans.
The Social Security payments, which make up approximately $1.5 trillion or 20% of the annual federal spending in the U.S., are at the center of this ongoing disagreement.
Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works told ABC News, “It’s your entire earnings record. If you’re a beneficiary, it’s your benefits, it’s the name of your spouse and when you got married and if you got divorced, and all kinds of information. And most sensitive, if you’ve applied for disability benefits, all of your medical records.”
On the incident, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields stated, "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.”
Why It Matters: This development comes after a series of clashes between King and DOGE. King, who served at the agency for over 30 years, was replaced by Leland Dudek, a manager in charge of Social Security's anti-fraud office, after her exit.
Previously, there have been reports of a dispute between Musk's representatives and David Lebryk, the Treasury's highest-ranking career official, who ultimately announced his retirement on Jan. 31.
On Monday, Democratic lawmakers raised concerns regarding the close involvement of DOGE at the IRS putting the security of taxpayer information at stake and the potential for delays in refund processing.
These events coincide with reports of federal workers turning to encrypted messaging amid the DOGE fallout. There are also reports that Elon Musk’s X is blocking links to Signal.me, a URL shortener used by the private messaging app Signal, which Musk has previously endorsed.
Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative has received a lot of criticism over the lack of transparency. Previously, Billionaire entrepreneur, Mark Cuban, challenged the DOGE operations and suggested that Musk should collaborate with the Democrats to work with his DOGE teams to offer a more transparent view of the project’s operations.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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