Social Security administrator backs out of ‘shutting down’ agency

The head of the Social Security Administration (SSA) said Friday that he wouldn’t be “shutting down the agency” after a federal judge backed up a temporary restraining order issued against Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting panel.

SSA chief Leland Dudek, an appointee of President Trump responsible for implementing cuts from Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said Friday that the court had clarified its position on its restraining order and that the agency would continue working.

“I am not shutting down the agency,” Dudek said in a statement. “SSA employees and their work will continue under the [temporary restraining order].”

Dudek has indicated he’s not the one running the show at the SSA, but is rather following orders.

“I am receiving decisions that are made without my input. I have to effectuate those decisions,” Dudek said in notes on a meeting he took with legal aide attorneys, as reported by The Washington Post earlier in March.

Dudek described the DOGE team that’s calling the shots at Social Security as “outsiders who are unfamiliar with nuances of SSA programs” but said he and his colleagues “have to let them see what is going on at SSA," according to the meeting notes that were obtained by the Post.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander issued an opinion that said the DOGE team was engaged in a “fishing expedition” at the SSA and that it hasn't provided “even a single reason” it would need access to the trove of personal taxpayer data it is seeking.

“Defendants, with so called experts on the DOGE Team, never identified or articulated even a single reason for which the DOGE Team needs unlimited access to SSA’s entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government,” the judge wrote.

She said the restraining order against DOGE “serves the public interest.”

DOGE has been running roughshod through the federal government, making huge cuts at agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and accessing programs as diverse as the Treasury Department’s international payments system and the IRS.

The SSA is slated to close dozens of offices this year as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal government, according to multiple media reports.

Tens of millions of Americans receive retirement and disability benefits from the SSA, according to agency figures. In 2023, 72 million people were on some form of Social Security.

Topics

Social Security chief backs down on threat to shut down agency after DOGE ruling

The acting social security commissioner is backing down on a threat to cease operations at the agency after a judge blocked DOGE staffers from accessing data.
NBC News - 3d
Judge slams Social Security chief for agency shutdown 'threats' after ruling barring DOGE access

A federal judge reprimanded Social Security's acting commissioner on Friday after he told the media that a recent ruling may force him to shut down the agency.
CNBC - 3d
Acting Social Security chief now says he won't shut down agency after DOGE ruling

A federal judge blocked the agency from granting personnel affiliated with DOGE access to agency systems containing personally identifiable information.
ABC News - 2d
Social Security chief: DOGE access to systems revoked after court order

Leland Dudek, acting commissioner for the Social Security Administration (SSA), said as of Monday the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) no longer has access to the agency’s systems in an ...
The Hill - 1h
The C.F.P.B. Remains Alive as the Trump Administration Tries to Shut it Down

Court orders have paused, and at times reversed, the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the consumer watchdog agency.
The New York Times - Mar. 15
Republicans want Musk to shut up about Social Security

Senate Republicans want Elon Musk to stop talking about Social Security, and the Department of Government Efficiency to leave it alone. Musk’s statement that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and ...
The Hill - 5d
Social Security's plan to get overpayments back

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced its plan to recover 100% of overpayments to beneficiaries. CBS News' Lindsey Reiser reports.
CBS News - Mar. 10
Why Social Security’s Future Could Be in DOGE’s Hands

Trump promised that Elon Musk’s DOGE wouldn’t touch Social Security. But DOGE is already making cuts to the agency.
Inc. - Mar. 9
Changes at the Social Security Administration | 60 Minutes

After a 2023 60 Minutes report, Social Security said it would claw back no more than 10% of a person’s monthly check to recover an overpayment. That changed earlier this month under President Trump.
CBS News - 1d