From the Washington Post:
The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration left her job this weekend after a clash with billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service over its attempts to access sensitive government records, three people familiar with her departure said Monday. Michelle King, who spent several decades at the agency before being named its acting commissioner last month, left her position Sunday after the disagreement, the people said. President Donald Trump appointed Leland Dudek, a manager in charge of Social Security’s anti-fraud office, as acting commissioner …
In selecting Dudek, Trump bypassed dozens of other senior executives who sat higher on the agency’s leadership hierarchy, touching off alarm in and around the agency, which has already faced years of budget and staffing difficulties. …
According to the New York Times “Before he was named, Mr. Dudek posted comments on LinkedIn praising Mr. Musk’s team and saying he had been assisting its efforts, according to people who saw his posts. Mr. Dudek has deleted his account.“ comments on LinkedIn praising Mr. Musk’s team and saying he hYou thought I was joking when I said that some high Social Security officials would face horrible decisions during the Trump Administration.
64 comments:
“Mr. Dudek posted comments on LinkedIn praising Mr. Musk’s team and saying he had been assisting its efforts, according to people who saw his posts. Mr. Dudek has deleted his account.”
This is basically saying “I gladly undermined my agencies leadership!” Except he realized he said the quiet part out loud and that’s why he deleted his account.
very sad...
Finding waste and fraud in Social Security will only help to strengthen it and allow the nearly depleted trust fund to last longer! The only issue, with some, is in the misinformation that DOGE and Trump want to end the program- we all know that that would never happen. People say that Musk is greedy and wants to "line his pockets with our money"- FACT CHECK: He has more money than any one could ever spend,, he doesn't care about "more money", he is doing us a favor for no pay! It seems that those trying to stop him, just don't want "some things" uncovered, and so a good question to ask is Why don't they and what are they afraid of?
Below is what Mr. Dudek posted publicly to LinkedIn Friday at 5:50pm ET. No press has reported on it.
"Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are my own. They do not reflect the official position of the US Government or the Social Security Administration.
Colleagues:
At 4:30pm EST, my boss called to tell me that I had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. They want to fire me for cooperating with DOGE.
I confess. I helped DOGE understand SSA. I mailed myself publically [sic] accessible documents and explained them DOGE. [sic]
I confess. I moved contractor money around to add data science resources to my anti-fraud team to examine Direct Deposit Fraud.
I confess. I asked where the fat was and is in our contracts so we can make the right tough choice. Lt's [sic] end the revolving door of an executive being a fed one day, letting a fat cat contract, and then walking out the next day for that contractor.
I confess. I bullied agency executives, shared executive contact information, and circumvented the chain of command to connect DOGE with the people who get stuff done.
I confess. I work long hours. I work odd hours. I get the job done.
I confess. I talk to agency partners, advocates, and others about our challenges. I'm honest. I won't reveal PII, FTI, or sensitive information. I educate.
I confess. I post uncomfortable truths on Linkedin. I have a lifetime of posts in me.
Everything I have ever done is in service to our country, our beneficiaries, and our agency."
King was one of the best advocates for the public and the workers I've ever seen or heard of at the headquarters level. She was very good at her job, and the agency won't be as good without her. Hope yall are ready to ride this ride, because things are about to get nuts
Head of Social Security resigns after clash with Elon Musk
How many federal employees got a memo saying they personally own government data and have to prevent the President or his representatives from seeing it?
When was that memo sent?🤔
https://mol.im/a/14407481
The wolfs on Wall Street are salivating.
@11:03. No employee owns government data; they are stewards hired to protect the use of confidential information from untoward incursions of billionaires, felons, and other criminals for their personal unsanctioned, unexpressed purposes.
Histrionic much? Sounds like a complete nut job
Good riddance King! How incompetent was she? Every other agency has either returned to the office or has plans, while King is still bumbling trying to figure out how many workers are remote. Not a good look. We had an election and there is a new executive, King cannot decide she owns the data. Dudek did the right thing. If DOGE fails then the voters can sound in. Otherwise, we work for the executive.
Sounds like a real douchebag
Musk's confirmed in his public posts and comments that he is largely ignorant of how SSA programs work, by calling things fraud that are easily explained by legitimate SSA programs and operations. Giving someone largely ignorant about SSA programs the power to indiscriminately hack away at systems and staff vital to American senior citizens and people with disabilities is dangerous and foolish.
In an interview with Fox News, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump had dispatched Musk and DOGE to identify fraud at the Social Security Administration.
"And so their goal in going into the Social Security Administration is to identify three things. Number one, to identify duplicate payments and to end them. Number two, to identify payments that are going to deceased people who are no longer living and should no longer be receiving that money. And number three, to protect the integrity of the system for hard working Americans who have been paying into it their entire lives," Leavitt said.
"So rest assured to all of the people watching your show tonight, if you paid into the system honestly, you will continue to receive your Social Security checks," Leavitt added.
The Privacy Act of 1974
The Privacy Act of 1974 is a federal law that governs our collection and use of records we maintain on you in a system of records. A system of records is any grouping of information about an individual under the control of a Federal agency from which information is retrievable by personal identifiers, such as name, social security number, or other identifying number or symbol.
Under the Privacy Act, Federal agencies may not disclose information without consent unless certain exceptions apply to the disclosure. The Privacy Act provides protections to individuals in three primary ways. It provides individuals with:
the right to request their records, subject to Privacy Act exemptions;
the right to request a change to their records that are not accurate, relevant, timely or complete; and
the right to be protected against unwarranted invasion of their privacy resulting from the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of their personal information.
If the trump administration dismantle social security in a substantial way,republicans will lose control for the next decade or more.
Another cultist with untreated mental illness, a head full of wacky conspiracy theories, and no respect for rules and laws. Just what SSA needed at the helm during this difficult time.
This is going to be great for criminals. No need to buy your victim’s SSN off the dark web. Just ask ChatGPT for it instead!
Exactly what do you think the result of firing or driving away nearly all of SSA’s employees, many of which have decades of unique and unwritten knowledge of its systems, will be? In what deluded alternate reality could that possibly result in a stronger program?
You are mentally ill, and have fallen victim to a cult.
It’s PII, and these people are not background checked and have no good reason to need this info. They do not work for SSA. It goes against all of the disclosure training we have received over the years.
Not anymore. They’ll somehow find a way to convince themselves it was all Nancy Pelosi’s fault and continue voting for whichever republican says the most dehumanizing things about Hispanics and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The President has no right to my private information.
To 849: No I am not mentally ill, and if you cannot diagnose me then you are just guessing when it comes to SS. They are looking for fraud and waste- who in their right mind would not want to get rid of fraud and waste? If they let some employees go, it only means that they were not performing well, or that they found a quicker, more efficient way if doing things. A STRONGER PROGRAM will be one where waste is cut and the Trust fund pays out less to people who should not get it or who are dead. There is a possibility that money is being stolen. The reasonable thing to do is stop panicking, and see what happens, that is what I am doing. I am 20+ years on SSDI and cannot afford to have benefits lost or a less efficient SS. Give them the benefit of the doubt and see what happens- everyone is panicking for nothing! It's just an audit!
There are laws about privacy that the Executive has to follow
1. Does anyone who works at SSA really think there are “duplicate payments”? 2. Benefits get sent to dead people when deaths are not reported from neglect or from intentional fraud. 3. So they will protect the integrity of the program by violating the rules design to protect the integrity of private data.
They don’t lie because they are stupid. They lie for a specific purpose.
“To pick an acting commissioner that is not in the senior executive service sends a message that professional people should leave that beleaguered public agency,” Martin O’Malley, the Social Security commissioner under the Biden administration, said, according to the Post.
956 is getting CDRed for sure. They are going to review everyone on the rolls aggressively and it’s going to be ugly- all in the name of reducing fraud. Be carful what you wish for. As for Elon doing this for free how great!! lol the great hero of libritarians Milton Friedman wanted you there is no such thing as a free lunch.
This frontline employee will shed no crocodile tears over the departure of King.
@ 9:56AM - You may not be mentally ill, but you ARE delusional. What Musk and his minions are doing is NOT just an audit. THEY ARE LIARS, CORRUPT AS HELL and invading every person that has PII data at IRS and SSA! Get your head out of the sand and pray you along with other beneficiaries on SS and/or the SSI rolls don't lose the benefits you worked for and are entitled to for paying into the system. And yes, I know SSI is paid out of the general funds, however many of those on SSI have in the past paid into the system. IF Musk and his minions don't know what each agency does nor how they operate, which seems to be the case, then a chainsaw shouldn't be used so quickly to dismantle the agencies and programs they administer or fire so many employees at one time.
Yes, there is fraud, waste and abuse (by beneficiaries and at times, employees of SSA), but when budgets and staffing are cut, because Congress doesn't do their jobs year after year after year, it difficult to sometimes find the fraud with beneficiaries. The agency no longer has Field Representatives which would go out and visit people, job sites, or those who could not go or come into an office. It's much easier to find fraud with employees because there are guardrails in place with systems in place.
Musk AND the President are spewing lies upon lies and our country and people will be the ones to suffer. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!
Is Dudek even capable of serving in an acting capacity? Under the vacancies act, he had to be in the role of "first assistant" to the Commissioner. SSA has about a dozen of those roles, but I cannot even find Dudek or his office on the Org Chart.
Yes, there are duplicate payments and are common enough to have their own DPOT numeric. See POMS GN 02406.300 Original and Courtesy or Replacement Check Cashed.
Haha. He sounds so proud of himself. Prouder now that he gets to be a direct stooge. Evil stays winning.
You do realize this is bigger than your dislike of Michelle King? Every single American should be enraged about their information being accessed illegally. And the installation as acting commissioner of an employee who doesn’t think he has to follow the law or policy if HE believes otherwise is a threat to everyone. Social security and democracy only work when we adhere to the laws and checks and balances that are in place.
Meanwhile, I spent 45 minutes on the phone today to schedule an appointment at my local office to figure out what to do when my house sold the other day, just to be told after the wait to call back another time. 10 days to report things?? How? Pen and paper I guess... might as well get used to going back 50 years into the past.
Don’t worry. I’m sure closing all of the field offices and turning the 800 number over to an unmanned robotic voice activated system will make this far easier next time around. Enjoy all the reaping, voters!
Let’s be clear. He was not a manager in charge of anything. He was non-supervisory. He jumped to the front of the line because he cozied up to the Musk bros.
Before being named as the new Acting Commish, Dudek was a GS-15.
Hold on folks, this is just Feb. It is going to get much worse. Much, much worse. Living through a historic event always sucks.
If you are on SSDI I would start praying and looking for another source of income that will last a few years. The first thing they will do is cease benefits on longtime claimants. They they let you provide medical proof of continuing disability on appeal. The appeal will take years- even before Trump it takes a minimum of 2 years. And you have to pay for an attorney if you hire one. No contingency on cessations.
After they cease, they can claim they have saved the Government money!! And it will be true if you fail to show ongoing disability and/or during your 2 to 4 year appeal
And, the claim by Musk that people age 150 on the rolls, he already knows this is false. They popped up initially because these are the claims where someone is receiving benefits on a parent’s account or a deceased spouse. He was told this immediately but chose to still announce this as fraud.
Is this considered evidence of fraud? The fact that there is a code for this indicates that there are processes in place for retrieving the duplicate payments.
Lol. Laws and rules are for democrats only. Where the hell have you been for the past 8 years.
Oh, Stephen, I’m not asserting, [I] don’t think anyone would assert that, Stephen,” Keilar interjected.
“Then WHY ARE YOU NOT CELEBRATING THESE CUTS? If you agree there is waste, if you agree there is abuse, if you agree there is corruption, why are you not celebrating the cuts, the reforms that are being instituted?” Miller cried. “Every day that no action is taken the entire salary of American workers that are taxed disappears forever.”
“Stephen, let’s calm down,” Keilar said. “We’re not having a debate—
He was a Management Analyst. He had at least 5 or 6 people above him. Definitely not capable of being ACOSS, but then again looking at the cabinet members I guess he fits right in. Little does he know, he’s helping to get rid of his own job. What a sucker. Oh yeah - an SSA employee died of a heart attack at headquarters today despite a co-worker’s attempt to revive the person. Russell Vought wanted to bring trauma and boy did he.
Did you ever think that Dudek is just being ambitious. He saw the way the wind was blowing and figured he could become supportive of Trump and Musk as a way of getting ahead. Slick move if you ask me.
I have nothing but the highest respect for Michelle. She’s smart, compassionate, and the type of leader that SSA needs in these crazy times. I’ve worked with her a lot over the years and always been impressed with her dedication to SSA and the public that it serves. Trump and Musk can try and spin this however they want, but this is nothing but the start of the gutting of the agency. Dudek seems like just another syncophant who has no interest in anything but fealty to Trump. God help us all.
Nobody knew that Trump and Musk would be this extreme, Charles, including you. You issued generalized warnings that SSA employees may have to resist Trump policies,. , but that doesn't seem to be an option if you're being fired.
Besides for most SSA employees like myself our jobs are the same no matter which party is in power. We process the claims the same way and resistance is not applicable.
SSA has been in need of a leadership overall. We've had round after round of talking heads at the top. We have for far too long had massive disconnect from field needs and what higher levels support/provide. We've long been an agency where higher levels suggest they like feedback but yet when feedback comes, it's dismissed as unhelpful, complaining, or out of touch. I don't know where Michelle King fits in all of this. O'Malley was a con artist - plain and simple. This new fella? Scary stuff how he got put in place. I suppose in the end it won't much matter, since it should be very short term, but I have no understanding of what makes him qualified. The eye test would say he's completely unqualified. It all makes for good entertainment, but I think we all should be about tired of the drama.
O’Malley was the best commissioner we have had in a long time. He was tackling issues the right way - by asking employees what they would change. Then he held people’s feet to the fire to get stuff done. Sure, he’s a politician but he is an effective leader who seemed to want to leave SSA in better shape than he found it. I’ll take that any day over someone who wants to rule from their NYC penthouse.
Please please take a look at the heritage foundation plan for disability. It lays it out. Vought is in charge of OPM, Vought was a heritage guy, project 2025 is a heritage thing. musk and DOGE is a distraction a mere canard:
Proposed changes
End direct payments
Ending direct payments to representatives could save $9.3 billion between 2023 and 2032, according to the Heritage Foundation.
Shift to a flat benefit
Gradually shifting to a flat benefit structure could reduce mandatory spending, notes the Heritage Foundation.
Related Policies
Disability Insurance: Eliminate the “Grid” Factors
Disability Insurance: Update the Official List of Available Jobs in the National Economy
Disability Insurance: Allow Use of Social Media
Disability Insurance: Eliminate the Reconsideration Stage
If we’re on SSDC or looking to file I’d be worried. Super worried. They are coming for you and I’d bet my pension on it. If you are on DIB or SSI (or filing) they think you are a grifter and there is no way to convince them otherwise. They will se you went to a concert in Facebook and use that to deny you. It’s totally coming.
Charles do a post for your frustrated claimants to let them know about this!
The convicted felon is using the Project 2025 playbook and during the election he denied any involvement. He is now telling us to trust DOGE and his minions. We have seen this movie.
For someone with mere “suspicions,” as Leavitt put it, Musk has been steadily ramping up his public claims about fraud at the Social Security Administration. Last week, he claimed that DOGE’s review of the SSA had uncovered people marked as 150 years old who had been receiving social security benefits.
“Now, do you know anyone that’s 150? I don’t know. They should be in the Guinness Book of World Records.… So that’s a case where I think they’re probably dead,” Musk said during an appearance in the Oval Office.
He repeated the claim on X Sunday, attaching a chart of how many people in different age brackets had received social security benefits, suggesting that more than 16 million people whose ages were marked between 110 and 370 years old were receiving social security benefits.
@5:49 yeah, a self-centered opportunist, exactly the kind of person you want looking out for the most vulnerable people in our country and a giant pot of money. I suppose it's not entirely irrational to admire the prowess of the hyena as it chews your entrails.
But later in the filing, the DOJ attorneys claimed Musk "has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself — including personnel decisions at individual agencies." They noted he formally works under the White House, not as a member of DOGE. The DOJ says DOGE doesn't have authority to direct personnel actions.
A declaration from Joshua Fisher, director of the Office of Administration, attests to the above, and also notes that Musk is not the DOGE administrator.
Scripps News has asked officials to clarify who, then, is administering DOGE. The White House has so far not issued a response.
The worst kept secret is that Lil X is running DOGE!
I don't recall meeting Ms. King, but I would like to say I admire her courage. She stood up to abuse of authority with her job and probably more on the line. I see you, and those in the DOJ who did the same, and appreciate you for doing the right thing for the public that you have faithfully served for many years.
It may be coincidence but the woman who died at work was the chief data architect of the electronic data warehouse, the system the doge minions were/are trying to get access to. Seems that she would be a key doge interview given she can help acquaint them with how the system is set up so they can plunder it. oops, audit it. Whether this was a factor in her death, i.e., stress at being in that position, is a guess. But it would hold together.
^^^^^^ above is so very true. Put your seat belt on and hang on.....it certainly is going to get nuts.
Has anyone from HQ in authority released information about that misleading chart that unfortunately has gone viral? If not, why not? Saying something vague about AUX benefits doesn't cut it. Perhaps the folks at HQ can't explain it.
^^^^^ I second the above statement. Truth will outweigh the lies. It just may take a while. Praying the country will be in act by that time. Good for you M. King and the DOJ employees who resigned because they had spines and moral compasses. Unlike, the Republicans who are cowtailing to Trump and Musk. The entire scenario playing out in this country is so very sad.
RE: 8:01 and the plans for disability under Project 2025, much of their wish list would require an act of Congress. Even with a repub-controlled Congress, they would need 60 votes to accomplish things like ending direct pay to reps or switching payments to a flat benefit structure. That seems highly unlikely. Other changes, like modifying/eliminating the Grid Rules, changing DOT, or eliminating recon, can be done by regs and would not involve Congress. However, such a process would takes months to accomplish. There is a required public comment period that would allow pressure to be applied. If I recall, there was a push to make the Grid Rules harder during the Bush years. The fact that this change would have instantly caused scores of recipients to be kicked off SSD due to CDRs caused the powers that be to reconsider.
Irene Triplett (January 9, 1930 – May 31, 2020) was the last recipient of an American Civil War pension. Her father fought for both the Confederacy and later the Union in the war. Triplett's father died in 1938 at the age of 92, after which she collected his Civil War pension of $73.13 per month from the Department of Veterans Affairs; her cognitive impairments qualified her to inherit the pension as a helpless child of a veteran. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Triplett
@9:50- You won’t get more of a comment from SSA than the cursory one today form the new acting comissioners . You can’t call DOGE liars or show they are incorrect when the only reason you have a job is because you got on your knees for them
It s sad that people purporting to be SSA employees post such hysterical misinformation here.
Nobody is proposing to eliminate Social Security and SSI.
Nobody is proposing to eliminate all SSA employees and replace them with robots.
Nobody is proposing to close all field offices.
By nobody I mean, of course, no one in the administration who has a scintilla of authority.
All the problems surfaced so far by DOGE come directly from SSA’s own OIG reports, which are public records. All the numbers are SSA’s own. The problems with the Numident file, the Death
Master File, and the Do Not Pay files are well known.
The vast majority of SSA employees have the lowest possible security clearance. The DOGE auditors all hold higher clearance.
.
You are correct. Nobody has done these things, yet.
Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency also gained access to a sensitive system that controls federal payments. While the moves are part of Musk's long-stated promise to slash government spending on behalf of President Trump, what may be surprising to many is the team of young engineers assisting Musk. From an investigation at Wired:
The outlet "has identified six young men—all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records—who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles in Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency ..." They hold what the magazine calls "nebulous" job titles at DOGE such as "expert," and at least one appears to still be in college.
"What we're seeing is unprecedented in that you have these actors who are not really public officials gaining access to the most sensitive data in government," Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, tells Wired. "We really have very little eyes on what's going on.
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